Category Archives: Proven Path Ministries

Book Reviews, Proven Path Ministries

>Fierce Beauty Book Review

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>I have finished reading Fierce Beauty by Kim Meeder. There were so many moments in this book where my heart caught in my throat as I read words of strength and encouragement, words of confirmation, that this path that I am on is indeed the path that the Lord has set before me. (My ten year old daughter is currently reading it now.)

If you follow my FB page you would find quote after quote from this book. Kim shared stories of such courage and depth that I could not help but share a little from them along the way as I read through the book.

The book is centered on getting your focus off of you. We live in a day where outward beauty is worshiped and it doesn’t matter how ugly the inside is. All around us are young girls killing themselves to be beautiful before a fickle world and while they smile on the outside their insides are crumbling within them dying slowly and painfully. Then we older girls are so focused on maintaining our own youthful beauty that we completely miss the young girls around us following our lead into a pointless battle.

By God’s grace and mercy might we stop and look into the mirror of our God and judge our reflection by His eyes and not our own. Might we stop and look into the souls of the women around us and pull out the mirror of the Word and say look, Are you beautiful before your King because His opinion is the only one that matters?  

As you pour through the pages of Fierce Beauty you will gain renewed determination and purpose. If you are currently in a place of stumbling, a place of hopelessness, a place of frustration… if you will pick up this book and press on through it… I guarantee you that by the end you will have a face set like flint to get up and stand on the solid Rock of your God and take Him by His outstretched hand and walk on knowing that He is with you every step of the way. 

It is such a breathe of sweet air to me to know that my sufferings are never in vain. Kim shares her own times of suffering as well as the sufferings of others and she shows how God took these ashes and turned them into something beautiful and how in His hands our sorrow becomes gladness.

Kim shares toward the end of the book and says, “Friends, no matter how difficult this race of life gets and how lonely we might feel, we are not alone in our struggles.”

Here is what some others had to say about Fierce Beauty and you can also read an excerpt from the book to get a closer look inside the pages. I recommend this book for young ladies all the way up to not-so-young ladies. We all need reminded that true beauty begins on the inside and our focus should not be the condition of our outward appearance but the condition of our hearts.

Are we beautiful before our King?
Let us not fight a pointless battle, but let us fight the good fight of faith.
Let us never forget that our sufferings are not in vain nor are we alone in them.
May we all become fierce beauties.

FTC disclaimer: “I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review”

Proven Path Ministries

Church Adolescence

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I have one lesson left to complete a Precept Upon Precept study on Spiritual Gifts. I have loved this study. If you are interested in discovering your spiritual gift (and if you are a believer, you really should be) and understanding exactly how it Biblically is to be put into action I highly recommend this study.

This is not a question/answer survey. It will require time and effort to get through it, but when you finish the race what you will discover is freedom, purpose, and understanding… trust me… it’s worth it.

Now concerning spiritual gifts,
brethren, I do not want you to be unaware.
1 Corinthians 12:1

God doesn’t want you to be unaware, Paul does not want you to be unaware, and I do not want you to be unaware… so become aware. However, do not let your awareness come through the opinions and interpretations of man…

You know that when you were pagans,
you were led astray to the mute idols,
however you were led.
1 Corinthians 12:2

Go straight to Scripture.

There are plenty of ideas and imaginations of man attempting to explain and define spiritual gifts according to what fits in their own man made traditions and doctrines… be brave my friend… and be willing to go against the grain if need be… do not continue to be led astray… become aware.

In this study the first three weeks are an overview study of the subject of spiritual gifts and then the next nine weeks you will dig into each individual gift, the last week is a study on love.

 If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels,
but do not have love,
I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
 If I have the gift of prophecy,
and know all mysteries and all knowledge;
and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains,
but do not have love, I am nothing. 
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor,
and if I surrender my body to be burned,
but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3

As I was studying in the overview section of this study the Lord opened my eyes to something that I was surprised that I had not seen before. He has a way of doing that… and I adore Him for it.

As God begins to make us aware of spiritual gifts He uses the human body as an analogy to help us understand. As I was studying this illustration of the body in light of Ephesians 4 and pondering what it means to become to maturity, to go from children to a mature man… my thoughts went to that time period in between that we in our day have termed as “adolescence”.

You know that time.

If you have lived it, you know it.

You don’t recognize it when you are in it… only when it is behind you and you look back… with utter humiliation and head shaking good-griefs…

It’s that time when your father and mother become the most outdated and stupid and old-fashioned people you have ever met. It’s that time when what your friends say and do matters more than what your parents have taught you. It’s that time when you begin to question and rebel against every authority figure around you. It’s that time when you begin test life in a not so good way… more challenge life and those who have given you life and gotten you safely thus far.

As I pondered this and did a little research on adolescence and considered my own days in that dreaded fog of disillusioning it hit me that this is where the body of Christ is at today.

We live in a day when those in the church are questioning the Word of God. We have been questioning and challenging the authority of our Heavenly Father. We have put down His Book and have picked up the books of our peers. We have decided to listen to what our “friends” say and have consider the Word of our Heavenly Father out-dated and old-fashioned and for a different generation.

We have become immature little brats.

It’s time to grow up.

It’s time to get to the point that when we hear the word and advice of our “friends” we go and ask our Heavenly Father what He thinks about it before we follow it.

It’s time for us to hit that point that we look back and say… “you know what maybe Momma and Daddy ain’t as stupid as I thought they were, I might should listen to what they say, and follow what they have already taught me… my way ain’t turned out so good.” 

I had to ask myself what is one of the biggest signs of beginning to reach maturity?

My answer: When we realize that the world does not revolve around me and realize that we have a responsibility in this life and we get busy meeting it.

Church it’s time to grow up.

As a result, we are no longer to be children,
tossed here and there by waves
and carried about by every wind of doctrine,
by the trickery of men, by craftiness in deceitful scheming; 
but speaking the truth in love,
we are to grow up in all aspects into Him who is the head,
even Christ, from whom the whole body,
being fitted and held together by what every joint supplies,
according to the proper working of each individual part,
causes the growth of the body
for the building up of itself in love.
Ephesians 4:14-16
Proven Path Ministries

>Love Never Fails

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Love is patient…
1 Corinthians 13:4

Have you ever looked at the Greek definition of the word patient in this verse?
Patient in the Greek is makrothumeo and it means to be of a long spirit, not to lose heart, to persevere patiently and bravely in enduring misfortunes and troubles, to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others, to be mild and slow in avenging, to be longsuffering, slow to anger, slow to punish.

At the very root of this word is thuo and it means to sacrifice, immolate, to slay, kill, of the paschal lamb, slaughter. Love is patient.
… love is kind and is not jealous;
love does not brag and is not arrogant,
does not act unbecomingly;
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
The word unbecomingly comes from the Greek word askemon and it means deformed, indecent, unseemly. Love is not deformed or indecent. It is only love when it lines up with the design of God… His form… His image. Love does not act unbecomingly.
Love is not found outside the boundaries of God’s divine image and definition… outside the boundaries of our God is only lust and it is easily recognizable because it’s not sacrificiall, it’s not patient… it’s selfish and unseemly.

 …it does not seek its own,
is not provoked,
1 Corinthians 13:5

Provoked comes from the Greek word paroxuno and it means to make sharp, sharpen, to stimulate, spur on, urge, to irritate, provoke, arouse to anger, to scorn, despise, provoke, make angry, to exasperate, to burn with anger. Love is not provoked.
It’s amazing how much more gentle and understanding we are when we realize that the world does not revolve around us and our wants and desires. If we are not after getting our own way we are so much less likely to burn with anger… it’s when we are looking out for our own self-interest that tempers flair. 

…does not take into account a wrong suffered, 
1 Corinthians 13:5
 
The word wrong in the Greek is kakos and it means of a bad nature, not such as it ought to be, of a mode of thinking, feeling, acting, a base wrong, wicked, troublesome, injurious, pernicious, destructive, baneful.
Love does not add up all the wrongs no matter how wicked or troublesome, injurious they might be and judge another by them. Love does not take into account a wrong suffered.
 
 
…does not rejoice in unrighteousness,
but rejoices with the truth; 
1 Corinthians 13:6
 
Love does not take into account a wrong suffered, yet it still does not rejoice in unrighteousness. It doesn’t act like it never happened. It rejoices in the truth. It is truth that sets you free.  
 
…bears all things,
believes all things,
hopes all things,
endures all things. 
1 Corinthians 13:7
 
All things in the Greek is pas and it means individually, each, every, any, all, the whole, everyone, all things, everything, collectively, some of all types. Love puts up with the individuals that hurt us, it forgives the church that failed us, it hopes in the face of every obstacle, it endures any circumstance… It believes love will have the victory.
 
Love never fails.
1 Corinthians 13:8
 
Fails in the Greek is pipto and it means to descend from a higher place to a lower, to fall (either from or upon), to be thrust down, to fall under judgment, came under condemnation, to descend from an erect to a prostrate position, of those overcome by terror or astonishment or grief or under the attack of an evil spirit or of falling dead suddenly, the dismemberment of a corpse by decay, to be cast down from a state of prosperity, to fall from a state of uprightness, to lose authority, no longer have force, to perish, i.e come to an end, disappear, cease, to be removed from power by death.
 
Love is not removed from its power by death. It always has force. It never loses its authority. Love does not perish. It does not disappear. It does not end. It never falls from it place of uprightness. It can not be degraded. It cannot be destroyed. It can not die. It will never decay. Love never fails.  
 
Friend, if it fails… it wasn’t love.
 
So, precious one, what do you know of love?
Do you love?
Are you willing to really love?
 
Love can only be known by the actions it prompts. ~ W.E. Vine
 
Here in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 God has clearly laid out the actions that real love prompts and yet He has gone even further than to just put it in writing…
 
But God demonstrates His own love toward us,
in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
 
 

 

Proven Path Ministries

>Love Them to Hell

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>Giving a thumbs-up when we know better is the worst
kind of mean. We must not encourage friends who
are struggling with sin to simply grit their teeth and
try harder, for they can simply beat it. If they rely on
themselves rather than God, they’ll end up back where
they started—drowning their sorrows in their addictions.

We must also never assure people that regardless of whom they trust or how
they live, a loving God will take them and everyone to heaven. It may seem
harsh to warn people about hell, but if you believe that hell is real, it would be
unspeakably cruel not to tell them. We humbly share bad news, not because
it’s fun but because it’s the first step toward hope.
—Mike Wittmer

This was part of one my email devos this morning… and it reminded me of a conversation I had with my Shelby on our way to church last Wed night. The girls are in the Awana program at our church and Shelby was working on memorizing 2 Peter 1:5-8 and I was explaining to her the importance of accurately memorizing this passage.

Now for this very reason also,
applying all diligence,
in your faith supply moral excellence,
and in your moral excellence, knowledge, 
and in your knowledge, self-control,
and in your self-control, perseverance,
and in your perseverance, godliness, 
and in your godliness, brotherly kindness,
and in your brotherly kindness, love. 
For if these qualities are yours and are increasing,
they render you neither useless nor unfruitful
in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:5-8
 
We talked about how there are some passages with list in them that if you mix the list up it would not really affect the meaning of the verse, however the list within this passage is in a certain order for a very important reason. So we began to break it down.
 
I asked her “where is love in this list?”
She said, “last”
I asked her “why is it last?”
She said “I don’t know?”
I asked her “Why isn’t it first in the list?”
She said “I don’t know?”
Then I said, “Do you know that you can “love” someone straight to hell?”
She was silent.

I went on, “What if you “love” someone and you are just always “nice” to them and “love” them no matter what they do, but you never tell them that what they are doing is wrong and never tell them that God’s wrath will come on those who continue to live the way they are living because you “love” them too much to hurt their feelings and you don’t want them to be upset or mad at you?” 
She said, “Ohhhhh…”
Then I said, “Now lets go back and look at the list.”

In her translation, the list started with goodness.
I asked her “where do we get goodness?”
She noticed that it said to add goodness to her faith.
I asked her “what faith?”
She said, “faith in Jesus” and then she went on to explain to me how faith in faith is useless and our faith is only as good the object of our faith… (proud Momma!)
I asked again, “so where do we get goodness?”
And then I shared a passage from the gospels with her…
 
A ruler questioned Him, saying,
“Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good?
No one is good except God alone.
Luke 18:18-19
 
She replied, “we get goodness from God!” 
So I asked her “what’s next in the list?”
She said “knowledge”
I said, “so we must add knowledge to our goodness and faith and where do we get knowledge?”
She said, “the Bible”
I said, “right, the reason you are memorizing Scriptures and reading the Word of God is so you can add knowledge to your goodness and faith. What comes after knowledge?”
She said, “self-control”
I said, “So as we grow in knowledge you gain self-control, because the truth begins to control you not your emotions. What’s next?”
She said, “perseverance”
I said, “if you have self-control what will you do when hard times come?”
She said, “PERSEVERE!”
I said, “right! and what does James tell us about perseverance?”
 
 Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial;
or once he has been approved,
he will receive the crown of life
which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.
James 1:12

Then I said “as we persevere through trials and temptations we become more like Christ because He persevered first and we realize more and more how temporary this life and world is. And what’s next in the list?”
She said, “godliness”
I said “we can only become like Christ as we persevere through trials and in doing so realize that we count all as loss as compared to knowing Him and being with Him and loving Him and being loved by Him. We also realize that He never lets us down, He always sees us through, He never breaks His Word, and we can trust Him even to death. What’s next in the list?”
She said “brotherly kindness”
I asked her, “was Christ kind to everyone?”
She said, “yes”
I said, “we can be kind to all men… even if we don’t yet “love” them or even like them, if we have reached godliness after persevering, because we have grown in self-control, so we can control our own actions, because we have grown in knowledge and have realized but for the grace of God there go I, Christ controls us, God controls us, and we make decisions according to our knowledge of Him and His Word and not our own thoughts and feelings. What’s next?”
She said, “love”


I said, “Now do you see why love is last?
She said, “YES!”


Could you “love” someone or be kind to someone who was mean to you or others if you did not already pass through the other steps? Or could you tell someone that you really wanted to like you that what they were doing, the way they were living, will send them straight to hell if you had not started with knowledge?

When we reach 2 Peter 1:7 “love”, we can love someone enough to tell them that the way they are living, the choices they are making, their unwillingness to submit to the authority of Christ, will send them straight to hell because God’s wrath will fall on those who practice such… and we can do it in knowledge with kindness… and because we have reached love through these ways we will never be unfruitful or useless in the kingdom of our God.


We won’t “love” people to hell we will love them to the LORD.

 
 
Proven Path Ministries

>Brandmarks of Christ

>In my quiet time this morning, the Lord took me to Psalm 22. I suppose it may seem strange to some that as the joyous day of the birth of our Christ quickly and soon approaches… the Lord carried me to His death. The Lord has carried me there quite often these last few days and even weeks. My focus this Christmas season has not been on the birth itself as much as it has been on what He was born to do. He was born to die.

And ladies and gentlemen so where we.
We were born to die to ourselves.
We were born to die to this world.
And it is only in our death that we live.

Reason with me for a moment.
Jesus was God in the flesh.
Born into this world as baby just like you and me.
Jesus did not stay a baby.
He grew.
He aged.
What would have happened if Christ had refused to go to the cross.

I believe He would be a very sad site today.
An eternally alive Spirit trapped in a 2000 year old body of flesh that has aged with the years and suffered the consequences of this natural world.

Where is the glory in that?

Jesus was the Word made flesh that came and dwelt among us. Dwelt in the Greek is skenoo and it means to tabernacle to abide in a tent. Jesus did not come with the virgin birth to set up a permanent residence. He came just to pop a tent and stay a bit.
He showed us that we were not born to set up a permanent residence in this present body of flesh either. God has been trying to tell us that from the beginning.

 For you are dust, And to dust you shall return.
Genesis 3:19
The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.
Isaiah 40:7
 
As I read Psalm 22 this morning my heart rested on a particular verse.
 
For He has not despised nor abhorred
the affliction of the afflicted;
nor has He hidden His face from him,
 but when he cried to Him for help,
He heard.
Psalm 22:24
 
I know many who are hurting right now. Many who are afflicted. Many who are calling out to Him for help… help to just understand. As I was praying for these that I know that are hurting and afflicted this was the direction my prayer went.
 
Oh Father,
So many are afflicted right now. It’s a strange affliction. When we try and compare it with our brother and sisters in Christ who are being beaten, and hacked up, and imprisoned over the declaration of Your name, our troubles, our struggles, our afflictions seem weak and petty… but they are still our afflictions.
 
Then immediately Job popped in my head and heart.
And I continued in my prayer.
 
Job is our example… Oh Father, yes, he is isn’t he. His struggles are the same hurts we deal and fight in our nation, in our church. Oh thank You, Father for leading me to this book. Thank You for recording his story so that we might know how to respond in our affliction. Oh Father I love You!
My Jesus it’s in Your name I pray,
Amen
 
You know I do not if one day God will place me in a position to receive beatings, hacking, imprisonment for the declaration of His name, for my obedience to the name of my Jesus… but I do know that it is by His sovereign design that I am here in this place at this time. And I am none the less called to suffer for the sake of my Christ here than in a nation that would slice my throat in the open street because I said Jesus is Lord.
 
For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake,
not only to believe in Him,
but also to suffer for His sake,
Philippians 1:29
 
  that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection
and the fellowship of His sufferings,
being conformed to His death; 
in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:10-11
 
I will probably never bear the stripes of a whip on my back, the scars of shackles around my ankles and wrist, the weakness from hunger, the sickness from being thrown in a dark, damp prison cell… but I still will know the fellowship of His sufferings.
 
The sufferings of Christ were more than just the beatings by the Roman soldiers and the nails that bore in His hands and feet… His sufferings began long before that moment. He suffered also with the same sufferings that Job suffered. Ridicule from the religious, hurt from loss, pain from being misunderstood and ignored, and more.
 
So my brandmarks will not look like yours… but they are brandmarks all the same. And as I rejoice in every suffering… no matter what it might be… I manifest in my body that their is life in Jesus Christ, real eternal life.
 
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels,
so that the surpassing greatness of the power will be of God
and not from ourselves; 
we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed;
perplexed, but not despairing; 
persecuted, but not forsaken;
struck down, but not destroyed; 
always carrying about in the body the dying of Jesus,
so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. 
For we who live
are constantly being delivered over to death
for Jesus’ sake,
so that the life of Jesus
also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. 
So death works in us, but life in you.
2 Corinthians 4:7-12
 
 
Proven Path Ministries

Communion

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I sat at the table. Pete took a sip of his wine. There was no plate and no cup in front of me. “I wanted to introduce you to someone,” he said to me. “She and I are having Communion. The Lord’s Supper. The Table. The Passover meal.”

“I’ll take it with you.”

“No,” he said, “For you, Communion is tiny, tasteless wafers and a little plastic cup full of grape juice. Someone reads a few verses, you swallow the bread, you throw down the juice, and you think to yourself, Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins. You put the cup in the pew holder, and you’re done. Later someone comes by and cleans up the leftovers.”

“What do you think ‘Communion’ was like at first, Matt?

I shrugged. “I’ve never thought about it, I guess.”

“That first year after he died, do you think we threw back our cups, took five minutes to say thanks, and then moved on?”

He made a good point. I could spend more time than that reminiscing about a good meal. “Probably not.”

“We knew him, Matt. He changed our lives. Our thankfulness wasn’t some theological construct. It was deep and true and unstoppable.”

(excerpts from Imaginary Jesus)

I am not sure about you but I have to sadly admit that I have noticed that many see Communion Sunday as skip day… “Oh yeh, we can leave after Sunday School, it’s just Communion today”

Perhaps you are one of those.

How much more special would communion be if instead of waiting on a piece of cracker and a taste of grape juice,while sitting nicely in our pews, we instead chose to sit around a table… with bread and maybe even wine… and we truly spent that time focusing on what our Savior did for us.

Would you really have to worry about drunkenness if when you looked at that wine what you saw was Jesus blood shed for you, for your sins?

Would you really over-indulge in the bread (or the wine) if when you looked at it you truly saw our Savior’s body broken for you, for your transgressions?

Therefore whoever eats the bread
or drinks the cup of the Lord
in an unworthy manner,
shall be guilty of the body
and the blood of the Lord.

1 Corinthians 11:27

What if instead of a Sunday potluck fellowship, when the church gathered together to partake in a meal it was simply the Passover meal, the bread and the wine?

What if we gathered together and we simply remembered Him?

What if we sat and talked about the day we met Him?

What if we shared about how He had changed our lives?

What if we shared how He has walked with us and carried us since we met Him?

What if we purposely went into a joint Passover meal with a fellow church filled with a people of completely different background and ethnicity than ours and we united in Christ?

What if Communion Sunday was not “church skip day”?

What if instead of uniting to pick-it the abortion clinics, or uniting to fight legislation, or uniting to demand prayer in school, or what ever other political agenda we have at the moment, we united for the sake of simply remembering Him?

What if we had a Call to Remember and every church in our community, our county, our state, our nation, the nations… what if we called all our individual local congregations to come together at the same day at the same hour for Communion, to simply remember Him.

Nothing else.

No political agenda.
No pity party stories.
No martyr talk.

Nothing but a call to remember Jesus and to proclaim Him, His life, His death, His resurrection.
All and only about Him

How seriously do you take Communion?

Is it just something you do or does the weight of it sink deep into your soul and lift your heart and eyes to His beautiful sacrifice for your ugly and deceitful heart?

Is it a time for you to search the tray for the biggest cracker and the most full tiny cup while you whisper until you see everyone take their bite and drink their little cup and see your own cue, so you stop chatting with your neighbor long enough to absentmindedly pop in the cracker and throw back the juice and then complain about how dry those crackers were and you need some more drink to wash it down?

After this,
Jesus, knowing that all things
had already been accomplished,
to fulfill the Scripture, said,
“I am thirsty.”
John 19:28 

Maybe some make a joke of Communion so that they don’t really have to think about it…

Maybe some make Communion “skip day” so that they don’t have to remember and don’t have to examine…

I can ask all these questions because I have been there.
I know.
I have walked into the door and seen the table and thought “man, if I had known this was today we would have went on home… or just stayed home.”

I’ve been there so busy whispering to my neighbor that I have paid no attention to the reading of the Scripture, and I certainly was not examining myself, and I definitely was not remembering Him…

I was doing a formality, a religious duty, pass the tray grab the cracker, get the cup… 1-2-3 eat… 1-2-3 drink, let’s sing and go get some real food.

That’s never, ever, again the way I want to take Communion.
How about you?

Have you ever thought about that first Passover after the ascension of our Lord?

Is there any way it could look and feel like the minuscule communion cracker and miniature communion cup that we purchase in bulk at our local christian supply store in order to make it as quick and easy as possible?

Proven Path Ministries

>Fierce Beauty

>Only when we truly understand who our King is does our self-importance fade. Once freed from our pride, we can see how our purpose in this life is simple: to know Him. Our God is not passive in His care for us. He is a consuming fire. His love for each of us is both fierce and beautiful. Friend, God is calling you to …be beautiful, but not in the way the world demands. It was never His desire for you to focus on looking beautiful- He wants you to become beautiful. Contrary to this world’s declaration, you are far more than the sum of your exterior; you’re a vessel for the Living God. He’s calling you to take action, to become beautiful… to pick up your King’s sword of encouragement and fiercely defend those around you who are losing their battle for hope. By doing so, you become- in the eyes of the King- a fierce beauty.

~ Kim Meeder

So this is the beginning of my newest book that I am reading for review, Fierce Beauty by Kim Meeder. I cannot wait to get into it and read it!

This is a subject I am so very passionate about. The worth of a woman… oh how so many do not know their worth… settling for sinful lusts of eyes of the flesh… and throwing off their clothing of strength and dignity for the attentive momentary eyes of someone who is never willing to see past their exterior or really even cares to…

It breaks my heart.
It breaks my heart because I know what they are doing and why they are doing it and why even though they cry themselves to sleep most nights and regularly think of ending their lives over what they are doing and the choices they are making… they can’t find the strength to stop.

And all it takes is one phone call, one text, to set their hearts racing and emotions churning and heart wrenching…

It goes deeper than whether or not they had the perfect or worse childhood.
It goes deeper than whether or not they were, or were not, in church every time the doors opened.
It goes directly to the very core of their soul and to the very bottomless depths of their deceived and deceitful heart.

This is where we must reach them… our daughters, our sisters, our friends.

I don’t want them to get lost in the lie of the “perfect man” confusing butterflies and flowers with love. While the man of God who would adore her and build her up and love her with a commitment like Christ has for His church, stands over on the sidelines unnoticed because he is not willing or able to seduce her with lies…

So I hope to gain more insight and wisdom as I read this book… because I want nothing more than for my daughters to be fierce beauties, completely enraptured and captured by the gaze of their God and burning brilliantly in the consuming fire of His holiness.

 
Strength and dignity are her clothing…
Proverbs 31:25
 
 
Proven Path Ministries

>The One Who Refuses

>

“The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race” (Psalm 14:2). The conclusion: “All have turned away; all have become corrupt. No one does good, not a single one!” (Psalm 14:3).

That’s emphatically inclusive language! “Not a single one” includes you and me!

“Everyone has sinned,” Paul asserts. “We all fall short of God’s glorious standard” (Romans 3:23). Thankfully, there’s more. “Yet ……God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous,” Paul adds. “He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins” (v.24).

We have no right to despise those who choose not to believe in God. Rather, in love, we can thank God, who “chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in His eyes” (Ephesians 1:4).

~ Tim Gustafson

How do you respond to the scoffer?
How do you treat those who refuse to believe?

 
I read this devotional this morning and immediately my mind went to those in Scripture who refused to believe in the presence of Christ and how He responded to their unbelief, even those who scoffed…
 
The first that came to mind was the rich young ruler: 
 
As He was setting out on a journey,
a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him,
and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 
And Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good?
No one is good except God alone. 
You know the commandments,
‘DO NOT MURDER, DO NOT COMMIT ADULTERY, DO NOT STEAL, DO NOT BEAR FALSE WITNESS, Do not defraud, HONOR YOUR FATHER AND MOTHER.’” 
And he said to Him,
“Teacher, I have kept all these things from my youth up.” 
Looking at him, Jesus felt a love for him
and said to him, “One thing you lack:
go and sell all you possess and give to the poor,
and you will have treasure in heaven;
and come, follow Me.” 
But at these words  he was saddened,
and he went away grieving,
for he was one who owned much property.
Mark 10:17-22
 
In this passage we see that Jesus still felt a love for him. Jesus knew he would turn away. He knows our hearts better than we do… yet still He felt a love for this one who He knew would walk away from Him…  
 
Then my mind went to Jesus as He looked down upon Jerusalem:
 
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, who kills the prophets
and stones those who are sent to her!
How often I wanted to gather your children together,
the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings,
and you were unwilling.
Matthew 23:37   
 
As Jesus looked down from His glory in heaven before He came in the flesh and as He looked out upon Jerusalem as the Word made flesh, as He watched the scoffers, the haters, the unbelievers, those who so held to the lie and their own ways that they stoned and killed those sent to them by God…
 
Jesus still wanted to gather them under His wing…
 
He still loved them as a mother loves her children even though they be absolutely wretched in their behavior and actions… the mother who sits in the courtroom who watches her child being rightfully convicted of a murderous crime loves them no less than the mother who sits in the crowd to watch her child being honored with the Nobel Peace Prize… they love regardless… they just can’t help it. 
 
Jesus loves us regardless of our wretchedness or our righteousness…
He just can’t help it. 
 
So we who have believed.
We who have heard and have come to drink of the living water without cost
How are we to treat those who refuse to believe?
Those who refuse to come?
Those who scoff at the cross?
 
If we are His, then we are being conformed into His image, we are being led by His Spirit, so we should respond as He responds…
 
Feel a love for them
Long to gather them
 
For what have I to do with judging outsiders?
1 Corinthians 5:12
 
Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders,
making the most of the opportunity.
Colossians 4:5
 
so that you will behave properly toward outsiders…
1 Thessalonians 4:12 

 
Proven Path Ministries

>Healing

>This morning I will be teaching on the gifts of healings, miracles, and discernment.

and to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 
1 Corinthians 12:9-10
 
My heart this morning in this post is to share what I have learned from the Scriptures concerning healings.
First of all, does God heal?
Yes!
He most absolutely and positively does.
 
However, my heart breaks from one particular thought or belief or teaching that permeates through christendom. This teaching that the stripes of my Savior were meant to heal me of every physical ailment and that God is obligated to heal me here on earth simply because I claim it.I can’t claim what is not mine to claim. You see this life is no longer mine in Christ. He bought it at a price, a very high price. My life is His to do with as He pleases. I have no claim on it any longer. I don’t want claim on it. This life that I live now in this flesh I live by faith in Christ, for I died, and I live only in and through Him.

Let us look at the root of this teaching that so concerns me. We find it rooted in the interpretation of a passage found in Isaiah 53.

 
Surely our griefs He Himself bore,
And our sorrows He carried;
Yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken,
Smitten of God, and afflicted.
But He was pierced through for our transgressions,
He was crushed for our iniquities;
The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,
And by His scourging we are healed.
Isaiah 53:4-5
 
Precious one, let us let Scripture interpret Scripture:
 
When evening came,
they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed;
and He cast out the spirits with a word,
and healed all who were ill. 
This was to fulfill what was spoken
through Isaiah the prophet:
“HE HIMSELF TOOK OUR INFIRMITIES
AND CARRIED AWAY OUR DISEASES.”
Matthew 8:16-17
 
and He Himself bore our sins
in His body on the cross,
so that we might die to sin
and live to righteousness;
for by His wounds you were healed. 
For you were continually straying like sheep,
but now you have returned to the Shepherd
and Guardian of your souls.
1 Peter 2:24-25
 
The healings that Christ performed were to confirm His Diety. It was to confirm that He was indeed the Promised Seed, the Christ! They were to fulfill the Scriptures. The sickness that His wounds healed was our sin sickness. By His stripes we were healed of the leprous gangrene of sin. This terminal illness of sin is the one that we were promised deliverance from on and by that cross.
 
When we enter glory then we will be delivered from every affliction of this flesh… but until then:
 
strengthening the souls of the disciples,
encouraging them to continue in the faith,
and saying,
“Through many tribulations
we must enter the kingdom of God.”
Acts 14:22
 
We ought always to give thanks to God for you, brethren,
as is only fitting, because your faith is greatly enlarged,
and the love of each one of you
toward one another grows ever greater; 
therefore, we ourselves speak proudly of you
among the churches of God
for your perseverance and faith
in the midst of all your persecutions
and afflictions which you endure. 
This is a plain indication of God’s righteous judgment
so that you will be considered worthy
of the kingdom of God,
for which indeed you are suffering.
2 Thessalonians 1:3-5
 
For you have been called for this purpose,
since Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example
for you to follow in His steps
1 Peter 2:21
 
Can you praise God in your suffering?
Do you give more glory to God and praise Him more when he cures cancer or when He cures a sin sick to the point of dead heart?
Should we as the church give more credit over a deliverance from earthly pain than a deliverance from eternal hell?
Should we credit the stripes that our Savior bore to something as limited as earthly comfort? 
 
I am sorry but I have yet to find where God has promised me a life of wealth and comfort free from suffering, pain, illnesses, hurt, struggles, etc because of the cross.
No, what I read is that I am to take up my cross,
whatever that cross might be.
I am to walk by faith through whatever trials and toils that come my way and 
 
  “Though He slay me,
I will hope in Him. 
Job 13:15

Because this is truth.
Every suffering I go through God will use for His glory.
Nothing will be in vain.
I will look for His glory in suffering.
I will pray for mercy and ask for healing, but if that request is denied, I will know it was for God’s greater glory. His grander will. His eternal purpose. And I will praise Him still.

Sometimes the purpose of an illness is in fact to bring us home… and why on earth would you not want to go home if your Father is calling?

When Elisha became sick with the illness
of which he was to die,…
Elisha died, and they buried him
2 Kings 13:14,20
 
Why do we fight death so hard if we have been delivered from its sting through the victorious cross of our Christ? Why had we rather fight to cling to this life then surrender to the will of God for final freedom? Why is not our first response to an illness to ask God if He is finally bringing us home… or if this illness is to serve another purpose?
 
I beg of you, brethren, become as I am,
for I also have become as you are.
You have done me no wrong; 
but you know that it was because of a bodily illness
that I preached the gospel to you the first time; 
and that which was a trial to you
in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe,
but you received me as an angel of God,
as Christ Jesus Himself.
Galatians 4:12-14
 
What?
Paul, who had the power in the name of Jesus to heal others was afflicted with a bodily illness and could not heal himself?
Did Paul lack faith?
Was the stripes of Christ and the wounds of our Saviour insufficient for Paul?
NO!
 
His illness served a greater purpose!
The furtherance of the gospel!
The eternal deliverance from death due to the sickness of sin for all who would believe in God’s only begotten Son, the Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ!
Paul’s bodily illness, his eathly discomfort, served a purpose in God’s grander plan.
Greater Glory to God!
 
Was Paul healed from this illness?
 
Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,
for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself,
there was given me a thorn in the flesh,
a messenger of Satan to torment me—
to keep me from exalting myself!
2 Corinthians 12:7
 
Possibly not…
Did that lessen his faith?
Did this thorn cause him to shake his fist in the face of God and doubt Him?
Did you ever read of Paul saying, In the name of Jesus remove this thorn from me?
 
Greater Glory!
Greater Glory to God!
 
Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven…
 
And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw,
and He knelt down and began to pray, 
saying,
“Father, if You are willing,
remove this cup from Me;
yet not My will,
but Yours be done.”
Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him,
strengthening Him.
 Luke 22:41-43
 
Are we to pray for healing?
Oh yes, precious one we are!
But when God says no…
Then we trust that He will send us all the help we need to go through whatever we must go through for His will and purpose to be accomplished in and through us.
 
Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways! 
For WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD,
OR WHO BECAME HIS COUNSELOR? 
Or WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM
THAT IT MIGHT BE PAID BACK TO HIM AGAIN? 
For from Him and through Him and to Him
are all things.
To Him be the glory forever.
Amen.
Romans 11:33-36
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
Proven Path Ministries

>Got Grace?

>

“That’s it, Job! It’s your arrogance!” Eliphaz backs away and stares at him with that glare, saying, again, “You are getting exactly what you deserve!”
The style of communication Eliphaz employs is not that unusual to those who lack grace. It may not always be this brutal, but haven’t you noticed this tone when you’re around people who evidence no grace?
When you’re down, they kick you.
When you’re drowning, they pull you under.
When you’re confused, they complicate your life.
And when you’re almost finished, they write you off.
Other than that, they’re pretty good folks.
~ Swindoll
 
One thing that I have learned in this walk with Christ, is that the two best places to learn how to love your enemy is in your family and in your church. It also is the two best places to learn how to give and receive grace. 
 
You see I have met Eliphaz.
I have even looked at Eliphaz in the mirror staring back at me with stubborn defiance.
 
I have learned that the hardest time to give grace comes when it is to be appropriated to someone I know should know better… to someone I have helped over and over… to someone I have loved hard and long.
 
If we remember the context, this Eliphaz was Job’s friend. He was close enough to him that he felt he needed to be there for him physically. He was the friend who was close enough to show up. Yet, his words brought Job no comfort… because they came without grace.
Yes I know Eliphaz. I have met him. I have been him.
 
I remember when I first became wholly surrendered I began studying the Word like crazy and I still study it like crazy… would love nothing more than to just sit and study the Word and write about the Word and teach the Word from daylight to dark but for some reason the people in this house want to spend time with me and eat food and wear clean clothes and stuff like that.

(I mean really the nerve of some people, lol).

 
So as I grew in my knowledge, I grew in my arrogance. When I would hear of someone in a hurt or struggle I would think “well, if they would just do what God says right here then they would not be in that mess” 
I truly believe the only thing that kept me from saying some of the things I thought was because in all honesty I truly believed that I went through my sins and the struggles of my youth simply because I was ignorant of God’s Word, so I had little grace for those who were supposed to “know better”.
 
Mercy was not my gift… yet God would teach me.
 
You see I had mercy and grace galore for those who did not know better, but those that I thought should know better… well, go on and suffer the consequences of disobedience.
 
You see, I would look at them and think how I thought I would have made such different choices had I been where they were, knowing what I know now, then.
And what I have learned is that really it boiled down that my heart hurt that they would choose not to do what I so wished I could have and would have done… 
 
I am grateful that God has chosen to teach me grace through His word as well as through personal life experiences… I love learning to see life through His eyes and not my own… my eyesight has never been that good to begin with.
 
So Eliphaz is out there…
He might even be staring at you in the mirror…
He may only show up at certain times and with certain situations or people…
But here’s the thing… 
This Eliphaz who shows no grace, speaks no grace, needs grace.
Yep that’s right, he needs the grace that he doesn’t yet know how to give. 
 
So not only is God teaching me to give grace to those who are struggling and hurting whether it be just life or consequences of sin or bad decisions, He is also teaching me to give grace to those who have none of their own. Because as my Pastor said once they just need more knowledge of God. And not just knowledge in knowledge, but knowledge of God and His Christ…
 
Grace and peace be multiplied to you
in the knowledge of God
and of Jesus our Lord;
2 Peter 1:2
 
I’m left with one thought: “Lord, if you are teaching us anything through Job’s endurance, teach us the value of grace. Teach us about demonstrating grace. Show us again that grace is always appropriate. Always needed.
The person sitting near you in church next Sunday, the lady pushing that cart in the grocery store, the one who’s putting gas in his car at the next pump, the man behind you at the movies, waiting to buy his ticket, the student across from you at school. You have no idea what that person is going through. If you did, chances are you’d be prompted to show grace or to say a few encouraging words even quicker. Remember this please: grace is always appropriate, always needed!
“Amazing grace—how sweet the sound!”
~ Swindoll
 
So precious one… Got Grace?
Have you got it to give?
Are you willing to give it to those that ain’t got it and don’t give it?
but grow in the grace and knowledge
of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory,
both now and to the day of eternity.
Amen.
2 Peter 3:18