I have been thinking on Isaiah 41 since this morning when we prayed and you shared your thoughts with me. What beautiful promises for God's servants. The Jewish people are no different from us. They probably thought of many reasons to fear as they begin their long journey home. The reason not to fear, however, is a very big one...The Lord was with them and would go before them and work on their behalf. The Lord is with you...Toni...He tells us three times in this chapter to fear not.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand.’
Isaiah 41:13 13 For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, ‘Fear not, I will help you.’
Isaiah 41:14 Fear not, you worm Jacob,You men of Israel! I will help you,” says the LORD And your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel.
He calls them my servant...which is honorable...but then he calls them a worm. We are His servants by God's grace. Worms are who we are in ourselves. They went ahead in faith and made ...this is my favorite part...mountains into molehills...This is my prayer for you...a servant of God by His grace that you will walk by faith and by His grace make this mountain you are facing a molehill. Then there is also the picture Isaiah gives of a desert becoming a garden. That so reminds me of Psalm 84:
5 Blessed is the man whose strength is in You,
Whose heart is set on pilgrimage.
6 As they pass through the Valley of Baca,
They make it a spring;
The rain also covers it with pools.
7 They go from strength to strength;
Each one appears before God in Zion.
Toni...He will perfect those things that concern you...He will be your rear guard...your Light in the darkness...Your strength and your song...He will make the crooked places straight. Our God will do it...He is faithful...His grace will be there in the nick of time...Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.
Next, the Israelites looked ahead as we always do and become anxious...(21-29) Our God knows the future...He has everything under control...no need to worry...His love and His plans for us are perfect.I think of what Warren Wiersbe says here about Psalm 33:11..His plans come from His heart and His heart is one of love for us...so we need not fear.
I read the following on Randy Alcorn's blog. It was part of an email sent to him by Sono Harris (Gregg Harris' wife and Joshua Harris' mom) to encourage him during a bout he was having with depression. The entire email is encouraging but here is how she ended it:
"Oh, Randy, it seems that His servants who are used in special ways often experience commensurate trials. These trials are simultaneously burdens God gives to keep them utterly dependent; and thorns which pin back the veil that hides His face. In a fallen world, they are gifts."
How beautiful is that....thinking and praying for you tomorrow.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Thoughts on fruit...Galatians 5:22-23
Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.
What is the purpose of our life here on earth? The Bible tells us it is to glorify our Father in heaven by bearing fruit. John 15:8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit;
Again, as with my last post, all I need do is look to Jesus to confirm this. What did He do...He spoke and did only those things that His Father told Him. He emptied Himself and became obedient to the Father even to the point of death...the death of the cross. In fact, WE WHO BELIEVE, the Bible tells us are His fruit. We are the joy that was set before Him! We are the reason He willingly laid down His life! Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
A word on what fruit is and what it is not...
Fruit is born of the Spirit...it is not produced by human effort..it comes from a life submitted God as Jesus was submitted to the Father. It comes from a life spent in study, prayer and meditation of the Scripture. Fruit can be distinguished from works because fruit has life in it...it bears more fruit...works do not. Fruit glorifies God not man. It nourishes those around you and points them to Jesus. (not to you) Works are of the flesh and the Bible tells us that in the flesh nothing good dwells. (see the verses immediately preceding Galatians 5:22 for the works of the flesh) Even the word "work" implies sweat but the word "fruit" implies something that obviously grows and develops over time and is beautiful. The fruit discussed in Galatians is the fruit of character...becoming like Jesus. And fruit is singular...the first fruit is love...divine love...sacrificial love and the others (joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) all flow from that love. And as in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 all can be used to describe Jesus. Fruit is produced in the life of a believer as he beholds His Savior. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.-- 2nd Corinthians 3:18 It is a product of moment by moment decisions in a believer's life to surrender his will to God and walk in His Spirit.
What does the Bible say about bearing fruit:
John 15:4-5 says this: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
So in order to produce fruit we need to abide...to abide means to dwell with...all you really need to do to abide is to spend time with Jesus! Stay close...This was such a relief to me...I do not have to get up in the morning and say...what can I do today to produce fruit...I don't have to grit my teeth or do lots of works...I just have to stay close to Him. How do I stay close...by spending time in His word. As I do that the fruit is produced...it takes time...but it comes...then more fruit, then much fruit. I like to think of the tree in Psalm 1. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. What a beautiful picture of how a believer should look as he makes a practice of spending time with Jesus.
What does the Bible say about abiding in Him as it relates to obeying Him: John 15:10 says: 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. So those moment by moment decisions we make to do what the Lord is telling us to do at any given point in time.
What does it say about obeying Him as it relates to loving Him: John 14:23 says,“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. So if we love Him, we WILL keep (obey) His word. If there are areas of our lives then where we are not in obedience to the Word than we are putting those things before Jesus. In essence we are saying that we love them more than we love Him!
What does the Bible say about loving Him as it relates to knowing Him? John 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. God reveals Himself to us in His Word as we diligently seek Him.
How do I bear fruit...by abiding...how do I abide...by obeying...how do I obey...by loving Him...how do I love Him...by knowing Him through His word...Stay the course...Stay close to Jesus...immerse yourself in His Word...the fruit will come and it will be precious.
James 5:7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
What is the purpose of our life here on earth? The Bible tells us it is to glorify our Father in heaven by bearing fruit. John 15:8 By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit;
Again, as with my last post, all I need do is look to Jesus to confirm this. What did He do...He spoke and did only those things that His Father told Him. He emptied Himself and became obedient to the Father even to the point of death...the death of the cross. In fact, WE WHO BELIEVE, the Bible tells us are His fruit. We are the joy that was set before Him! We are the reason He willingly laid down His life! Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
A word on what fruit is and what it is not...
Fruit is born of the Spirit...it is not produced by human effort..it comes from a life submitted God as Jesus was submitted to the Father. It comes from a life spent in study, prayer and meditation of the Scripture. Fruit can be distinguished from works because fruit has life in it...it bears more fruit...works do not. Fruit glorifies God not man. It nourishes those around you and points them to Jesus. (not to you) Works are of the flesh and the Bible tells us that in the flesh nothing good dwells. (see the verses immediately preceding Galatians 5:22 for the works of the flesh) Even the word "work" implies sweat but the word "fruit" implies something that obviously grows and develops over time and is beautiful. The fruit discussed in Galatians is the fruit of character...becoming like Jesus. And fruit is singular...the first fruit is love...divine love...sacrificial love and the others (joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) all flow from that love. And as in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 all can be used to describe Jesus. Fruit is produced in the life of a believer as he beholds His Savior. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.-- 2nd Corinthians 3:18 It is a product of moment by moment decisions in a believer's life to surrender his will to God and walk in His Spirit.
What does the Bible say about bearing fruit:
John 15:4-5 says this: Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.
So in order to produce fruit we need to abide...to abide means to dwell with...all you really need to do to abide is to spend time with Jesus! Stay close...This was such a relief to me...I do not have to get up in the morning and say...what can I do today to produce fruit...I don't have to grit my teeth or do lots of works...I just have to stay close to Him. How do I stay close...by spending time in His word. As I do that the fruit is produced...it takes time...but it comes...then more fruit, then much fruit. I like to think of the tree in Psalm 1. But his delight is in the law of the LORD, And in His law he meditates day and night.3 He shall be like a tree Planted by the rivers of water, That brings forth its fruit in its season, Whose leaf also shall not wither; And whatever he does shall prosper. What a beautiful picture of how a believer should look as he makes a practice of spending time with Jesus.
What does the Bible say about abiding in Him as it relates to obeying Him: John 15:10 says: 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love. So those moment by moment decisions we make to do what the Lord is telling us to do at any given point in time.
What does it say about obeying Him as it relates to loving Him: John 14:23 says,“If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father’s who sent Me. So if we love Him, we WILL keep (obey) His word. If there are areas of our lives then where we are not in obedience to the Word than we are putting those things before Jesus. In essence we are saying that we love them more than we love Him!
What does the Bible say about loving Him as it relates to knowing Him? John 15:12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. God reveals Himself to us in His Word as we diligently seek Him.
How do I bear fruit...by abiding...how do I abide...by obeying...how do I obey...by loving Him...how do I love Him...by knowing Him through His word...Stay the course...Stay close to Jesus...immerse yourself in His Word...the fruit will come and it will be precious.
James 5:7 Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. 8 You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Galatians 1: 11-15
I just began reading in Galatians and have decided that I am going to camp out there for a while. I am also spending time in Isaiah and am being blessed especially through the memorization of the Servant songs. In reading Galatians 1 there were many verses that captured my attention and spoke to my heart. Galatians 1: 11-15 is one of them. It reads:
11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. 14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
I loved reading this! Even though Paul lived so long ago and lived such a different life than the one that I live, we have had a very similar experience when we came to know Him! I understand exactly what he means when he says "for you have heard of my former conduct..." Paul is incredulous about the change that has occurred in His heart He understands that this change had nothing to do with anything he did or even tried to do...he understands that it was all God. Paul says it best in Romans 1:16 when he says it is the "power of God to salvation to everyone who believes." It is a miracle of miracles when God changes your heart.
My own testimony is so similar to Paul's. When I cried out to God in desperation...not even believing that there really was a God...but just crying out in the thin hope that if there was He would hear me and HE DID! Psalm 40 says:
1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
3 He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the LORD.
Truly this is what happened to me as I sat on my couch with a bible I had just purchased in desperation. I began to read in Genesis 1 and then in a blink of an eye...God was there and changed my heart. There was no human explanation. I had tried every self-help book imaginable...God just reached down and pulled me up out of my own misery and selfish desires...So many things were changed at that moment. It was like a veil was lifted that had been over my understanding and now i understood...now the world made sense...everything that had been important before fell away and was replaced by the awesomeness of what was happening in my heart. The God of the universe had come to dwell and I would never be the same. The emptiness that I had felt just minutes ago was filled to overflowing...Jesus was there...My life was in the proper order now and my joy was full. Jesus was at the center.
Now when all this occurred to me in that moment I did not understand it. The only thing I knew was that many of my lifelong beliefs had changed dramatically, the sadness and grief I had been feeling were comforted and in perspective and all this through no effort of my own. I also had an overwhelming, irresistible desire to read His word. I took it everywhere...it was on my lap while I worked, at the table when I ate, under my pillow when I slept...I could not get enough of it...it was my necessary food...and remember I was in Genesis..a book I had tried to read many times in my life to see what all the fuss was about...you know...why the bible was a best selling book. It never made sense until I cried out to God in helplessness and need...until I saw my sin and was devastated. What was even more beautiful was the change that I then saw in my husband's heart and then in my daughter Suzanne's. You see this change in me was not seen only by me, it was seen by my husband who was bit afraid and definitely intrigued. There was something SO different about me that this avowed God hater picked up the bible and read it cover to cover in ONE month! I love what it says in Ephesians 2:
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
The rest is history...my life now and my life before. The first one living for myself and my own selfish desires which is the worst kind of bondage and in the end the Bible says leads to death versus my life now after God reached down and took charge ...the one I now live for Him by His grace. He has brought beauty from ashes. I am a bondservant which is a voluntary slave, to Him...leading not only to life everlasting but to all that He has for me in this life because as it says in Philippians 1: 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
What did I need to do for this miracle to occur in my heart. I needed to cry out to God, to admit my need, to admit to him that I am a sinner in need of His salvation. I needed to ask Him to come in to my heart and be my Lord. Now I really did none of this sitting on the couch that evening, but God who knows my heart saw it all and graciously reached down and saved me. Anything good you might see in me is Him!
11 But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. 14 And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, 16 to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went to Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.
I loved reading this! Even though Paul lived so long ago and lived such a different life than the one that I live, we have had a very similar experience when we came to know Him! I understand exactly what he means when he says "for you have heard of my former conduct..." Paul is incredulous about the change that has occurred in His heart He understands that this change had nothing to do with anything he did or even tried to do...he understands that it was all God. Paul says it best in Romans 1:16 when he says it is the "power of God to salvation to everyone who believes." It is a miracle of miracles when God changes your heart.
My own testimony is so similar to Paul's. When I cried out to God in desperation...not even believing that there really was a God...but just crying out in the thin hope that if there was He would hear me and HE DID! Psalm 40 says:
1 I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
2 He also brought me up out of a horrible pit,
Out of the miry clay,
And set my feet upon a rock,
And established my steps.
3 He has put a new song in my mouth—
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the LORD.
Truly this is what happened to me as I sat on my couch with a bible I had just purchased in desperation. I began to read in Genesis 1 and then in a blink of an eye...God was there and changed my heart. There was no human explanation. I had tried every self-help book imaginable...God just reached down and pulled me up out of my own misery and selfish desires...So many things were changed at that moment. It was like a veil was lifted that had been over my understanding and now i understood...now the world made sense...everything that had been important before fell away and was replaced by the awesomeness of what was happening in my heart. The God of the universe had come to dwell and I would never be the same. The emptiness that I had felt just minutes ago was filled to overflowing...Jesus was there...My life was in the proper order now and my joy was full. Jesus was at the center.
Now when all this occurred to me in that moment I did not understand it. The only thing I knew was that many of my lifelong beliefs had changed dramatically, the sadness and grief I had been feeling were comforted and in perspective and all this through no effort of my own. I also had an overwhelming, irresistible desire to read His word. I took it everywhere...it was on my lap while I worked, at the table when I ate, under my pillow when I slept...I could not get enough of it...it was my necessary food...and remember I was in Genesis..a book I had tried to read many times in my life to see what all the fuss was about...you know...why the bible was a best selling book. It never made sense until I cried out to God in helplessness and need...until I saw my sin and was devastated. What was even more beautiful was the change that I then saw in my husband's heart and then in my daughter Suzanne's. You see this change in me was not seen only by me, it was seen by my husband who was bit afraid and definitely intrigued. There was something SO different about me that this avowed God hater picked up the bible and read it cover to cover in ONE month! I love what it says in Ephesians 2:
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
The rest is history...my life now and my life before. The first one living for myself and my own selfish desires which is the worst kind of bondage and in the end the Bible says leads to death versus my life now after God reached down and took charge ...the one I now live for Him by His grace. He has brought beauty from ashes. I am a bondservant which is a voluntary slave, to Him...leading not only to life everlasting but to all that He has for me in this life because as it says in Philippians 1: 6 being confident of this very thing, that He who has begun a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.
What did I need to do for this miracle to occur in my heart. I needed to cry out to God, to admit my need, to admit to him that I am a sinner in need of His salvation. I needed to ask Him to come in to my heart and be my Lord. Now I really did none of this sitting on the couch that evening, but God who knows my heart saw it all and graciously reached down and saved me. Anything good you might see in me is Him!
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