Who is the Greatest...

"Then they departed from there and passed through Galilee, and He did not want anyone to know it. For He taught His disciples and said to them, "The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day." But they did not understand this saying, and were afraid to ask Him.


Then He came to Capernaum. And when He was in the house He asked them, "What was it you disputed among yourselves on the road?" But they kept silent, for on the road they had disputed among themselves who would be the greatest. And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, "If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." Then He took a little child and set him in the midst of them. And when He had taken him in His arms, He said to them,  "Whoever receives one of these little children in My name receives Me; and whoever receives Me, receives not Me but Him who sent Me."--Mark 9:30-37

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla,

This is so typical of us...of me!  Here Jesus is telling them that He is about to be betrayed into the hands of men who would kill Him and His disciples are arguing about which one of them was the greatest.  We so often make everything about us.  We relate everything to us and our situation. Matthew 17:23 even says they were extremely sorrowful after Jesus told them these things but apparently not sorry enough not to put their own aspirations and personal disputes aside and concentrate on Him. Our minds are so often on ourselves.  What hurts, how we look, what we are going to eat, what people think of us...what we think of them...the list is endless and oh, ever so boring.   I cry out with Paul here...who will deliver me from this body of death!

The disciples are too ashamed to tell Jesus what they were arguing about, but, of course, Jesus already knew.  The first lesson He teaches them is that the way up is down and the way down is up.   He who exalts himself will be humbled, he who humbles himself will be exalted.  He who loses his life here will gain it in the next...he who gains his life here will lose it in the next.  He who desires to be first shall be last of all and servant of all. If you really want to be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. take the lowest spot and serve all....Live for others instead of yourself.  What an example we have in  Jesus who came as a Servant and gave His life as a ransom for many. 

He then  places a little child in their midst and takes him in His arms as an example of the least among them.  This is such a beautiful picture...please don't miss it.   Jesus is saying that treating the least among us with kindness is truly an act of greatness.  These are the ones that cannot do anything for us...that cannot return our kindness....the ones that can only take and not give. Our God does not show partiality. We are to see people with His eyes and receive them in His name.  When we do, it is as if we were showing this kindness to God Himself!  Jesus spent much, much time with the common people and the least among men.  He took time with the weary, the sick, the afflicted, the aged and the young and yes even the rich.  We are to do the same.

Jesus makes the way of the cross so clear and His teachings really expose our wicked hearts revealing to us our wrong motives and self life in all its ugliness.  We are all guilty of favoritism, of selfish ambition, of conceit and a striving to be the greatest while stepping on or over the least. Praying that by the power of His Spirit working and living in us we can put off our own selfish desires and ambition and allow Him to live through us.

Love
Mom

Lord, Help My Unbelief!

And when He came to the disciples, He saw a great multitude around them, and scribes disputing with them.  Immediately, when they saw Him, all the people were greatly amazed, and running to Him, greeted Him.  

And He asked the scribes, “What are you discussing with them?” Then one of the crowd answered and said, “Teacher, I brought You my son, who has a mute spirit.  And wherever it seizes him, it throws him down; he foams at the mouth, gnashes his teeth, and becomes rigid. So I spoke to Your disciples, that they should cast it out, but they could not.”

He answered him and said, “O faithless generation, how long shall I be with you? How long shall I bear with you? Bring him to Me.” Then they brought him to Him. And when he saw Him, immediately the spirit convulsed him, and he fell on the ground and wallowed, foaming at the mouth.

So He asked his father, “How long has this been happening to him?” And he said, “From childhood.  And often he has thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.”  

Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.” Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” 

When Jesus saw that the people came running together, He rebuked the unclean spirit, saying to it, “Deaf and dumb spirit, I command you, come out of him and enter him no more!”  Then the spirit cried out, convulsed him greatly, and came out of him. And he became as one dead, so that many said, “He is dead.”  But Jesus took him by the hand and lifted him up, and he arose. And when He had come into the house, His disciples asked Him privately, “Why could we not cast it out?” So He said to them, “This kind can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting.”--Mark 9:14-29

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

Perhaps this dad saw the inability of the disciples to cast this demon out and it weakened his faith. and he began to wonder if it was possible that his son could ever be healed.  Nevertheless, he did the right thing and admitted his unbelief before His Lord.  Here are the dad's words in speaking to Jesus.


"But if You can do anything, have compassion on us and help us." 

Do you hear his doubt?  Jesus gently points out to him what power can be wrought by a believing heart by saying this:


"If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes." 

then



Immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" 


Looking to Jesus this humble man admitted his unbelief and asked Jesus to help him!  What a lesson for us.  Look to Him...His grace is sufficient for your every need...your every prayer...your every desire.  

The disciples failed in their ability to cast out this demon because they had been lax in regard to their own spiritual walks and had neglected prayer and fasting.  We need to be careful in this, however.  A close walk with Christ is not a checklist.  God doesn't give you victory because you fulfilled all his "requirements."  God sees the heart.  All your desires are before Him.  Manna is given daily...if we neglect God our faith will weaken...as will the power of our witness and our walk.  You see our lack of devotion to our daily walks comes from our heart that is filled with other desires that are not from Him.  If He were first in our hearts we would run to meet with Him and spend time with Him. It would be a get to, not a have to...a privilege not a duty.  Our faith is tended and cultivated by spending time with our Father in Heaven.  For our lives to be effective for Him we must be dependent on Him.  Time spent in prayer and the word demonstrates our reliance on Him...our want and need of His grace.  Our lives and our very countenance begin to reflect His glory.

Girls, you never know when you are going to need His power to work mightily in your life because you never know ahead of time what you will be facing tomorrow.  Assume the worst.  Spend time now in prayer...in fasting...in the word...so that those times of trial do not come upon you as a tsunami...prepare now while there is still time.  There is no substitute for the strength and stability that comes from spending time in His word daily.


"Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock.  "But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall."--Matthew 7:24-27


May each of us be wise builders and build now for the storms that come to try us...

Love
Mom

My Times are in Your Hands

As for me, here I am, in your hand; do with me as seems good and proper to you.--Jeremiah 26:14


Dear Girls,

I love this...Jeremiah speaking to his enemies says...here am I in your hand; do with me as seems good and proper to you.  Jeremiah truly knew that despite how it looked from the outside, he was always in the palm of God's hand.  He knew that whatever happened to him, God was controlling it all and protecting him.  God is near...we live in His presence.  He goes with you wherever you go.  He is not a God afar off....He is near at hand. 

What freedom and peace is ours when we come to that place of trust....where we can  say as Jesus did, "nevertheless, not My will but Yours, be done."  What a blessing to have such an awareness of His presence and an assurance of His care and of His perfect love that we can say as Jeremiah did..."do with me as seems good to you"...or as David did in Psalm 31:

 But as for me, I trust in You, O LORD; I say, "You are my God." My times are in Your hand; 
 
Praying that each of us can meet each moment with this kind heart attitude of explicit trust and acceptance of His will...That, by faith, we would walk with Him in agreement...and dwell in the shelter of His perfect love knowing  that He really does perfect all that concerns us and performs all things for us.

Love
Mom

Spurgeon On Psalm 1...

¹ Blessed is the man
         Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly,
         Nor stands in the path of sinners,
         Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
 ² 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.
        
 ⁴ The ungodly are not so,
         But are like the chaff which the wind drives away.
 ⁵ Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment,
         Nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous.
        
 ⁶ For the LORD knows the way of the righteous,
         But the way of the ungodly shall perish.

  Verse 1. "BLESSED"—see how this Book of Psalms opens with a benediction, even as did the famous Sermon of our Lord upon the Mount! The word translated "blessed" is a very expressive one. The original word is plural, and it is a controverted matter whether it is an adjective or a substantive. Hence we may learn the multiplicity of the blessings which shall rest upon the man whom God hath justified, and the perfection and greatness of the blessedness he shall enjoy. We might read it, "Oh, the blessednesses!" and we may well regard it (as Ainsworth does) as a joyful acclamation of the gracious man's felicity. May the like benediction rest on us!

Here the gracious man is described both negatively (verse 1) and positively (verse 2). He is a man who does not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. He takes wiser counsel, and walks in the commandments of the Lord his God. To him the ways of piety are paths of peace and pleasantness. His footsteps are ordered by the Word of God, and not by the cunning and wicked devices of carnal men. It is a rich sign of inward grace when the outward walk is changed, and when ungodliness is put far from our actions. Note next, he standeth not in the way of sinners. His company is of a choicer sort than it was. Although a sinner himself, he is now a blood-washed sinner, quickened by the Holy Spirit, and renewed in heart. Standing by the rich grace of God in the congregation of the righteous, he dares not herd with the multitude that do evil. Again it is said, "nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful." He finds no rest in the atheist's scoffings. Let others make a mock of sin, of eternity, of hell and heaven, and of the Eternal God; this man has learned better philosophy than that of the infidel, and has too much sense of God's presence to endure to hear His name blasphemed. The seat of the scorner may be very lofty, but it is very near to the gate of hell; let us flee from it, for it shall soon be empty, and destruction shall swallow up the man who sits therein. Mark the gradation in the first verse:

  He walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly,
  Nor standeth   in the way     of     sinners,
  Nor SITTETH    in the SEAT    of     SCORNFUL.

When men are living in sin they go from bad to worse. At first they merely walk in the counsel of the careless and ungodly, who forget God—the evil is rather practical than habitual—but after that, they become habituated to evil, and they stand in the way of open sinners who wilfully violate God's commandments; and if let alone, they go one step further, and become themselves pestilent teachers and tempters of others, and thus they sit in the seat of the scornful. They have taken their degree in vice, and as true Doctors of Damnation they are installed, and are looked up to by others as Masters in Belial. But the blessed man, the man to whom all the blessings of God belong, can hold no communion with such characters as these. He keeps himself pure from these lepers; he puts away evil things from him as garments spotted by the flesh; he comes out from among the wicked, and goes without the camp, bearing the reproach of Christ. O for grace to be thus separate from sinners.

And now mark his positive character. "His delight is in the law of the Lord." He is not under the law as a curse and condemnation, but he is in it, and he delights to be in it as his rule of life; he delights, moreover, to meditate in it, to read it by day, and think upon it by night. He takes a text and carries it with him all day long; and in the night-watches, when sleep forsakes his eyelids, he museth upon the Word of God. In the day of his prosperity he sings psalms out of the Word of God, and in the night of his affliction he comforts himself with promises out of the same book. "The law of the Lord" is the daily bread of the true believer. And yet, in David's day, how small was the volume of inspiration, for they had scarcely anything save the first five books of Moses! How much more, then, should we prize the whole written Word which it is our privilege to have in all our houses! But, alas, what ill-treatment is given to this angel from heaven! We are not all Berean searchers of the Scriptures. How few among us can lay claim to the benediction of the text! Perhaps some of you can claim a sort of negative purity, because you do not walk in the way of the ungodly; but let me ask you—Is your delight in the law of God? Do you study God's Word? Do you make it the man of your right hand—your best companion and hourly guide? If not, this blessing belongeth not to you.

Verse 3. "And he shall be like a tree planted"—not a wild tree, but "a tree planted," chosen, considered as property, cultivated and secured from the last terrible uprooting, for "every plant which my heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up:" Matthew 15:13. "By the rivers of water;" so that even if one river should fail, he hath another. The rivers of pardon and the rivers of grace, the rivers of the promise and the rivers of communion with Christ, are never-failing sources of supply. He is "like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season;" not unseasonable graces, like untimely figs, which are never full-flavored. But the man who delights in God's Word, being taught by it, bringeth forth patience in the time of suffering, faith in the day of trial, and holy joy in the hour of prosperity. Fruitfulness is an essential quality of a gracious man, and that fruitfulness should be seasonable. "His leaf also shall not wither;" his faintest word shall be everlasting; his little deeds of love shall be had in remembrance. Not simply shall his fruit be preserved, but his leaf also. He shall neither lose his beauty nor his fruitfulness. "And whatsoever he doeth shall prosper." Blessed is the man who hath such a promise as this. But we must not always estimate the fulfillment of a promise by our own eye-sight. How often, my brethren, if we judge by feeble sense, may we come to the mournful conclusion of Jacob, "All these things are against me!" For though we know our interest in the promise, yet we are so tried and troubled, that sight sees the very reverse of what that promise foretells. But to the eye of faith this word is sure, and by it we perceive that our works are prospered, even when everything seems to go against us. It is not outward prosperity which the Christian most desires and values; it is soul prosperity which he longs for. We often, like Jehoshaphat, make ships to go to Tarshish for gold, but they are broken at Ezion-geber; but even here there is a true prospering, for it is often for the soul's health that we would be poor, bereaved, and persecuted. Our worst things are often our best things. As there is a curse wrapped up in the wicked man's mercies, so there is a blessing concealed in the righteous man's crosses, losses, and sorrows. The trials of the saint are a divine husbandry, by which he grows and brings forth abundant fruit.

Verse 4. We have now come to the second head of the Psalm. In this verse the contrast of the ill estate of the wicked is employed to heighten the coloring of that fair and pleasant picture which precedes it. The more forcible translation of the Vulgate and of the Septuagint version is— "Not so the ungodly, not so." And we are hereby to understand that whatever good thing is said of the righteous is not true in the case of the ungodly. Oh! how terrible is it to have a double negative put upon the promises! and yet this is just the condition of the ungodly. Mark the use of the term "ungodly," for, as we have seen in the opening of the Psalm, these are the beginners in evil, and are the least offensive of sinners. Oh! if such is the sad state of those who quietly continue in their morality, and neglect their God, what must be the condition of open sinners and shameless infidels? The first sentence is a negative description of the ungodly, and the second is the positive picture. Here is their character — "they are like chaff," intrinsically worthless, dead, unserviceable, without substance, and easily carried away. Here, also, mark their doom, — "the wind driveth away;" death shall hurry them with its terrible blast into the fire in which they shall be utterly consumed.

Verse 5. They shall stand there to be judged, but not to be acquitted. Fear shall lay hold upon them there; they shall not stand their ground; they shall flee away; they shall not stand in their own defence; for they shall blush and be covered with eternal contempt.

Well may the saints long for heaven, for no evil men shall dwell there, "nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous." All our congregations upon earth are mixed. Every Church hath one devil in it. The tares grow in the same furrows as the wheat. There is no floor which is as yet thoroughly purged from chaff. Sinners mix with saints, as dross mingles with gold. God's precious diamonds still lie in the same field with pebbles. Righteous Lots are this side heaven continually vexed by the men of Sodom. Let us rejoice then, that in "the general assembly and church of the firstborn" above, there shall by no means be admitted a single unrenewed soul. Sinners cannot live in heaven. They would be out of their element. Sooner could a fish live upon a tree than the wicked in Paradise. Heaven would be an intolerable hell to an impenitent man, even if he could be allowed to enter; but such a privilege shall never be granted to the man who perseveres in his iniquities. May God grant that we may have a name and a place in his courts above!

Verse 6. Or, as the Hebrew hath it yet more fully, "The Lord is knowing the way of the righteous." He is constantly looking on their way, and though it may be often in mist and darkness, yet the Lord knoweth it. If it be in the clouds and tempest of affliction, he understandeth it. He numbereth the hairs of our head; he will not suffer any evil to befall us. "He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." (Job 23:10.) "But the way of the ungodly shall perish." Not only shall they perish themselves, but their way shall perish too. The righteous carves his name upon the rock, but the wicked writes his remembrance in the sand. The righteous man ploughs the furrows of earth, and sows a harvest here, which shall never be fully reaped till he enters the enjoyments of eternity; but as for the wicked, he ploughs the sea, and though there may seem to be a shining trail behind his keel, yet the waves shall pass over it, and the place that knew him shall know him no more for ever. The very "way" of the ungodly shall perish. If it exist in remembrance, it shall be in the remembrance of the bad; for the Lord will cause the name of the wicked to rot, to become a stench in the nostrils of the good, and to be only known to the wicked themselves by its putridity.

May the Lord cleanse our hearts and our ways, that we may escape the doom of the ungodly, and enjoy the blessedness of the righteous!

The First Hint of the Rapture in Genesis 5...

And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.--Genesis 5:24 

Enoch was raptured...He was raptured before the flood came...before the judgment of God occurred.  The bible says this of Enoch in Hebrews 11.


By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, “and was not found, because God had taken him”; for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.--Hebrews 11:5-6

The word walk used here implies a steadfast progression...a deepening and a furthering of the relationship as time passes.  This was Enoch's testimony.   He continually, by faith, walked with His Lord in a relationship that reached and affected every aspect of his life.  He was in perfect agreement with His Lord.  God desires were his desires...Enoch was in one accord with His Creator.  His testimony pleased God. I love what Matthew Henry says in regard to Enoch and this passage from Genesis:

"Enoch was the seventh from Adam. Godliness is walking with God: which shows reconciliation to God, for two cannot walk together except they be agreed, Amos 3:3. It includes all the parts of a godly, righteous, and sober life. To walk with God, is to set God always before us, to act as always under his eye. It is constantly to care, in all things to please God, and in nothing to offend him. It is to be followers of him as dear children. The Holy Spirit, instead of saying, Enoch lived, says, Enoch walked with God. This was his constant care and work; while others lived to themselves and the world, he lived to God. It was the joy of his life. Enoch was removed to a better world. As he did not live like the rest of mankind, so he did not leave the world by death as they did."

I so want to live this way and have this kind of testimony before God!

Enoch was transported to heaven just as the church will be transported to heaven prior to the beginning of the tribulation. What comfort God's people here on the earth can take in not only these words in Genesis 5 but also in these below....

 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus.  For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words. --1 Thessalonians 4:13-18

Because you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. --Revelation 3:10
 
"Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."--John 14:1-2
 
Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed—in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP IN VICTORY." "O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING? O HADES, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY?"   The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law.  But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. --1 Corinthians 15:51-58


 

Spurgeon on Sorrow and Grief...

You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book? --Psalm 56:8

Those who sow in tears Shall reap in joy.--Psalm 126:5

for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes." --Revelation 7:17

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away."--Revelation 21:4 



A smothered grief is hard to endure. 

Brethren, we sin when we either laugh or weep behind God’s back. Absence from God is the element of sin. When you cannot smile nor weep except by forgetting God and his law, then are you offending; but if you can get up to your great Father’s bosom, and bury your head there, you may sob away without stint; for that which he permits is evidently no offence. “Jesus wept,” but he never murmured. “Jesus wept,” but he never found fault with God’s dispensations. “Jesus wept,” sweetly in submission, not bitterly in rebellion. 2091.345

O dear friend, when thy grief presses thee to the very dust, worship there! 2457.134 

Tears are the diamonds of heaven; sighs are a part of the music of Jehovah’s court,
and are numbered with “the sublimest strains that reach the majesty on high.” ME616

Is it not sweet to believe that our tears are understood even when words fail! Let us
learn to think of tears as liquid prayers, and of weeping as a constant dropping of
importunate intercession which will wear its way right surely into the very heart of
mercy, despite the stony difficulties which obstruct the way. TD6:8

A tear is enough water to float a desire to God. 879.382

Why are we troubled? Is there anything worth shedding a tear for now that all is well
for eternity? 1343.154

When you are so weak that you cannot do much more than cry, you coin diamonds
with both your eyes. The sweetest prayers God ever hears are the groans and sighs
of those who have no hope in anything but his love. 1706.107

People die of bursting hearts when no tears relieve them. 2034.407

Turn the vessel upside down; it is a good thing to empty it, for this grief may ferment
into something more sour. Turn the vessel upside down, and let every drop run out;
but let it be before the Lord. 2457.134

When they begin to live to Christ they begin to mourn. Every child of God is born
again with a tear in his eye. Dry-eyed faith is not the faith of God’s elect. He who
rejoices in Christ at the same time mourns for sin. Repentance is joined to faith by
loving bands, as the Siamese twins were united in one. 3325.509 

A Gentile Woman's Faith

Then Jesus went out from there and departed to the region of Tyre and Sidon.  And behold, a woman of Canaan came from that region and cried out to Him, saying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed.” But He answered her not a word. And His disciples came and urged Him, saying, “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” But He answered and said, “I was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Then she came and worshiped Him, saying, “Lord, help me!” But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.” And she said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.” Then Jesus answered and said to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be to you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed from that very hour.--Matthew 15:21-28


Dear Girls,

Every time I read this story it fills me with emotion.   I cry out to Him for each of you daily...sometimes in tears...pleading for so many things   But mostly I pray that you would know God's Son, Jesus in a very special way.  That He would be your Rock, your Redeemer and your Refuge and that in times of trial and trouble you would run to Him and be hidden under the Shadow of His Wing.  That you would seek His face in everything and go boldly to His throne always to obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. I pray that He would be your Becoming One and become for you whatever you need. This mom's faith is such an encouragement to me!

This Gentile woman was crying out to the Lord on behalf of her demon possessed daughter.  I cannot imagine her anguish and pain watching her daughter live in this condition.

The gospel of Mark tells us that when Jesus went into this region He entered a house and wanted no one to know it, but He could not be hidden.  She came to Him despite His wish to be alone, fell at His feet and cried out to Him saying, "Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David! My daughter is severely demon-possessed."

The text in Matthew tells us that Jesus answered her not a word.  Uh oh.  Not an encouraging response.  The disciples then asks Jesus to “Send her away, for she cries out after us.” Jesus answers them by implying that because she is a Gentile she really does not have a right to come to Him.  Now, you would think this woman would give up....but no...the Scripture tells us that she came and worshiped Him saying, "Lord, help me!" 

Jesus gives another reply almost sounding like He is being mean...calling her a dog. But He answered and said, “It is not good to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.”  For the Jews one of the worst thing you could call them was a Gentile dog.  Jesus, however, is actually using the diminutive form of the word which is translated  as "puppy."   “The children” referred to the people of Israel and the bread to Jesus...the Bread of Life. This woman's faith just keeps building...amazingly she replies, “Yes, Lord, yet even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their masters’ table.”   What faith! What humility! What fervent desire!  What importunity! Jesus acknowledges her faith immediately and says to her let it be as you desire and her daughter was healed at that very hour.  I am so glad for this woman's example!  Jesus knew this woman's heart right from the beginning but he wanted to draw out her faith into full flower so she could serve as an example for us.

When I am tempted to give up in prayer I think on this woman and this story.  I think of how everything was so stacked against her and yet she persisted.  I think of her example of pure and simple worship.  In the end she spoke no proper "prayer" words just this....Lord, help me!  In testing...when it looks like God is not going to come to our aid...is when our faith is really tried and exercised.  We are able then to see the level of our own faith. Sadly, I am pretty sure I would have given up and kind of slunk away... If there is a burden on your heart from the Lord, keep praying don't give up...keep knocking.  He will answer.

Great faith is faith that takes God at His Word and will not let go until God meets the need. Great faith can lay hold of even the slightest encouragement and turn it into a fulfilled promise. “Lord, increase our faith.” --Matthew Henry.



Love
Mom

The Way of Cain...

" And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the LORD. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the LORD respected Abel and his offering, but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it." --Genesis 4:3-7

 Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

There is so much richness in Chapter 4 of Genesis and much application for us.  For now we are looking at verses 3-7.

Verses 3 and 4 tell us that Cain brought an offering to God of the fruit of the ground and Abel of the firstborn of the flock and of their fat.  Scripture goes on to tell us that God respected Abel and his offering but not Cain and his.  We come to God by faith and we obey in accordance with His revealed word to us.  The bible tells us to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams.  Hebrews 11:4 says this of Abel...

By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and through it he being dead still speaks.

Abel's offer was accepted because it was obediently given according to what God had prescribed. (though not recorded in Genesis)  Cain was not rejected but his offering was.  Why?  Because it was not by faith...it was not obediently given.  He tried to come to God on his own terms.  Abel came in humility on God's terms, Cain came in pride.   Our God sees the heart.   Cain's offering was not accepted because it was offered from a heart of pride and unbelief.  His offering revealed his wrong heart.  Our actions will reveal what our heart believes. 

Application for us...Our God is a God who sees.  He is not mocked.  He knows your motives behind all that you do.  God sees through our forms of godliness to our hearts.  Many of us come near Him with our lips but our hearts are far from Him.  This was Cain...a man having the form of godliness but with a heart that was filled with self-will.

When God did not accept Cain's offering, he became very angry.  The same things happens with people today.  They get angry with God because He will not accept them on their own terms.  They may want a relationship with Him, but they want one on their terms.  You cannot walk with God unless you are in agreement with Him. Your will, submitted to His will.  You cannot go your own way...you must go His. Jesus said in John 14:6 "I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through Me."

God speaks to Cain personally and tries to bring him back to the right path.  Cain, like many of us, resists and refuses God's gracious offer.  It is our way or the highway.  (which, as it turned out, is exactly what Cain got...instead of being a pilgrim, he became a fugitive and a stranger...wandering from place to place) 

I love what God says next and have used it often as a meditation verse and a verse to teach you, my children. 

So the LORD said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen? If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it."

God reminds Cain that if he had obeyed, his offer would have been accepted.  Cain did not go through the door that God had opened but attempted to be accepted by God another way...his way.  Next, He tells him that in choosing not to obey, he is giving way to sin...whose desire is for him...and unless he rules over it, it will devour him!  Wow! That is quite a picture and quite a warning. If we do not rule over sin, it will overpower us.  If we feed our fleshly desires often enough....they will rule.  If we, by faith, however, feed our Spirit our countenance will be lifted up and we will see as God sees and be accepted by Him.


Girls, I can't even begin to write what is in my heart at the moment.  Suffice to say this:  Sin is a fierce beast crouching at your door...its name is unforgiveness, bitterness, wrath, evil speaking.  To harbor and nurse these feelings in your heart is to give place to sin...to give Satan a foothold in your life.  Give in often enough and you will bring about your own ruin.
 
But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.--Romans 13:14

Love
Mom

Walking Together...

Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?--Amos 3:3

To walk with the Lord you must be in agreement with Him.  Your will submitted to His will.  His desires become your desires. You cannot have His presence if you are walking contrary to Him. You cannot go your own way...you must go His.  Most of us will not go His way until things stop going our way and we reach the end of ourselves. This is what happened to me and I am forever grateful for those burdens that brought me to Him.  I am grateful for the trials that even today draw me closer to Him.  Each one causing me to release my grip a little bit more on the things of the world and look up and set my mind on Him and the things above.

Sin makes you tired...it makes you weary and heavy laden.  Life does this also.  Illness, job loss, family problems, death of loved ones, betrayal, selfishness, and the day to day grind of daily living especially as we move on in years add up.  All of us have so many many burdens that could cause us to eventually lose heart. We give up and cope in whatever way we can with what life throws at us.  Unfortunately, most of our coping mechanisms in the end only cause more problems and increase our struggle.

Finally, some of us reach the point of  absolute helplessness and hopelessness and, in desperation, go to Him and by faith do as He asks.  We give up trusting in ourselves and trying to go it alone.  We take His yoke upon us...We allow Jesus to be lead ox and we follow Him.  He tells us not to steer or try to control but learn from Him because he is meek and gentle and in Him we find rest for our souls.  Jesus has placed inside of each one of us a burden to know Him and to fellowship with Him.  Go to Him by faith...confess your sin, express your need for Him and submit yourself to His Lordship and believe.  When you seek Him and His righteousness all the other burdens you face, will diminish in the light of His glory and grace. 



But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach):  that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.  For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.  For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, for the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.  For “whoever calls on the name of the LORD shall be saved.”--Romans 10:8-13

You Just Don't Get It....

"Also I gave you cleanness of teeth in all your cities. And lack of bread in all your places; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD.  "I also withheld rain from you, When there were still three months to the harvest. I made it rain on one city, I withheld rain from another city. One part was rained upon, And where it did not rain the part withered. So two or three cities wandered to another city to drink water, But they were not satisfied; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD. "I blasted you with blight and mildew. When your gardens increased, Your vineyards, Your fig trees, And your olive trees, The locust devoured them; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD.  "I sent among you a plague after the manner of Egypt; Your young men I killed with a sword, Along with your captive horses; I made the stench of your camps come up into your nostrils; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD.   "I overthrew some of you, As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, And you were like a firebrand plucked from the burning; Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD.  "Therefore thus will I do to you, O Israel; Because I will do this to you, Prepare to meet your God, O Israel!" For behold, He who forms mountains, And creates the wind, Who declares to man what his thought is, And makes the morning darkness, Who treads the high places of the earth— The LORD God of hosts is His name. --Amos 4:6-13

Dear Girls,

I took a brief respite to read a few chapters in Amos. These few verses hit me hard. Israel just did not get it.  God had tried everything to get there attention...famine, drought, agricultural diseases, plague and war but after each He says the same heartbreaking words to them.  I hear a Mom or a Dad's voice here...speaking to a wayward child.

Yet you have not returned to Me," Says the LORD.  


If you are going through difficult times, please consider that the Lord may be using them in an attempt to get your attention and turn you from your own way into His perfect one. He wants you prepared to meet your God...the Israelites were anything but prepared.  Are you?  They were ignoring His kindnesses and also His many attempts to get their attention and going their own way.  God, however, is not mocked. The time of pleading ends and judgment does come.   He always wins whether you acknowledge Him as God or not.  Later on in chapter 5, God tells them to seek Him and live.  Seek the Lord while He can be found.  A deep and intimate relationship with Him will bring about the greatest and most glorious dividends you can imagine. 

This kind of relationship with Jesus Christ is built over time.  It is built as you abide in Him.  It takes courage to take that first step and ask Him into your heart as your Lord and Savior. As you walk with Him day by day, it takes courage to yield your desires to Him.  But His grace is always there. You never have to worry about disappointing Him...your success is assured...He performs all things in accordance with His plan not yours.  And His plan is from a heart of love. (Psalm 33:11) 

Again, as I have said before in other posts, stay close to Jesus, abide in Him by staying in His Word. Gaze into it...allow it to show you His good and perfect will, to convict your heart of sin, to renew your mind and to transform you into His image. As you do this you will love Him more and more with each passing day and consequently trust and obey Him more and more. Increasingly, you will feel His presence staying your heart and your mind with His wisdom and His love.  Stay the course...immerse yourself in His Word...and His peace which is an outflow of the fruit of His Spirit...love...will flood your heart.

Love
Mom

The Secret Place of the Most High God...

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.  I will say of the LORD, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.”--Psalm 91:1-2


Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,


Our example for these verses has got to be Jesus Himself.  He lived His life here on earth in absolute unbroken communion with His Father in Heaven depending on Him completely to do the work that He was called to do. He did nothing out of selfish ambition or conceit, but only did and spoke those things that His Father in Heaven directed Him to do or say. He committed Himself utterly and completely to His Father.  Truly He dwelt in the secret place of the Most High!!  By faith, choose God as your refuge.  In Him, in Christ we will find all that we need not only for this life but we also find the promise of the next. 

As I read these two verses I wondered where the secret place of the Most High God was...I had an idea but there is nothing like looking through Scripture and allowing the interpretation to come through the word.  Here is what I found. The secret place of the Most High God is in His presence.  Read Psalm 31:20.

You shall hide them in the secret place of Your presence from the plots of man;

The secret place is in the very presence of God...the Holy of Holies...the Mercy Seat...the throne room of our Father in Heaven.  This is where our God hides us.  Hebrews says our access  is by faith and that we can come boldly to His throne that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. That is where we will find our help!  That is where we will find our rest, our strength and our peace...where Hebrews also says we find our strong consolation and lay hold of the hope set before us...in Him.  David speaks to this also saying this in Psalm 27.


One thing I have desired of the LORD, That will I seek: That I may dwell in the house of the LORD  All the days of my life,  To behold the beauty of the LORD,  And to inquire in His temple. For in the time of trouble  In the secret place of His tabernacle  He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. He shall hide me in His pavilion;--Psalm 27:4-5

The Psalmist deepest desire was to dwell in the house of the Lord and to live for His purposes...to spend time with God in communion, inquiring of Him and gazing upon His beauty and wondrous attributes. Do as David did and  hide yourselves in the tabernacle of God.

AND if you are dwelling in the secret place of the Most High then you are under the shadow of His wings.  The wings of the cherubim covered the mercy seat in the Holy of Holies and the Shekinah glory cloud hovered over the mercy seat.  It is there that you are sheltered...in the very presence of God. 

For the cherubim spread their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.

You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you.  And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, ..." --Exodus 25:22

The Lord told Moses in Exodus 33:14 that His presence would go with Him and that He would give Him rest.  God went before the Israelites on their journey through the wilderness in a pillar of cloud by day and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light.  When the cloud moved, they moved...when the cloud stopped...they stopped.  He was always with them...


In Him, the Bible tells us, we live and move and have our being. He is our covering...He is the Becoming One...He becomes whatever we need!  We (ME!) have Him  living inside. This treasure lives in our earthen vessel.  Whether we live or die, we are with Him.


Girls, meditate on this.  If you believe, this is your reality.  He, the God of the Universe, dwells inside each one of you.  You can commune with Him always...praying unceasingly.   Feeling desolate and alone..His presence is with you.  Feeling confused and unsure or in need of guidance...He is your truth and speaks to you through His word.   Feeling unworthy...He died for you...He is your life.  Feeling frightened...He is your peace and your rock.  Feeling grief and sadness...He is your comfort. Feeling weak...He becomes your strength.  Feeling attacked and persecuted...He is your strong tower and goes before you.  Pray and ask Him to increase your faith to live out your life in His presence. Your God, girls, does go with you...wait on Him and walk with Him in perfect communion.  Commit yourself to Him...Lift up your soul to Him.  Make God your habitation and take refuge under the shelter of His wings and abide in His perfect love. 

Love
Mom
 
The promises to those who take shelter in Him are powerful and many! Read them and be encouraged!

For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. --Psalm 27:5

You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah --Psalm 32-7

For You have been a shelter for me, A strong tower from the enemy. I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah--Psalm 61:3-4
 
Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings,--Psalm 17:8

How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God! Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings.They are abundantly satisfied with the fullness of Your house, And You give them drink from the river of Your pleasures.  For with You is the fountain of life; In Your light we see light.--Psalm 36:7-9

Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, Until these calamities have passed by. I will cry out to God Most High, To God who performs all things for me.--Psalm 57:1-2

then the LORD will create above every dwelling place of Mount Zion, and above her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day and the shining of a flaming fire by night. For over all the glory there will be a covering. And there will be a tabernacle for shade in the daytime from the heat, for a place of refuge, and for a shelter from storm and rain.--Isaiah 4:5-6
 
The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer; My God, my strength, in whom I will trust; My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.--Psalm 18:2

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.--Psalm 46:1

 Be my strong refuge, To which I may resort continually; You have given the commandment to save me, For You are my rock and my fortress.--Psalm 71:3

 I cried out to You, O LORD: I said, "You are my refuge, My portion in the land of the living. --Psalm 142:5

The eternal God is your refuge, And underneath are the everlasting arms; He will thrust out the enemy from before you, And will say, 'Destroy!' --Deuteronomy 33:27

My soul, wait silently for God alone, For my expectation is from Him. He only is my rock and my salvation; He is my defense; I shall not be moved. In God is my salvation and my glory; The rock of my strength, And my refuge, is in God. Trust in Him at all times, you people; Pour out your heart before Him; God is a refuge for us. Selah --Psalm 62:5-8

Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; 'For YAH, the LORD, is my strength and song; He also has become my salvation.' " --Isaiah 12:2

You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You.Trust in the LORD forever, For in YAH, the LORD, is everlasting strength. --Isaiah 26:3

BUT God...Genesis 3:7-24

 and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.--Genesis 3:7c

Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna, and Mikayla,

Do good to your enemies...God speaks from experience here.  When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, they became enemies of God.  God's response satisfied justice but it spoke so much more to mercy.

"You have heard that it was said, 'YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so?  Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect."--Matthew 5:43-48

No better way to describe our Father's response and reaction to Adam and Eve's catastrophic fall than perfect. 

Look at the last part of Genesis 3:7...and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.  The fig tree is the national symbol of Israel and the only identifiable tree from the Garden of Eden. This verse speaks to man's attempt to cover his sin and guilt with his own works.  We cannot reach up to God...But God who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loves reaches down.  No other religion is like Christianity in this way...none.  We have access to the God, the Creator of heaven and earth by faith in His Son.  This is how we draw near to Him who draws near to us in mercy and compassion.

And they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, "Where are you?" So he said, "I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself." And He said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?" Genesis 3:8-11


Here they are in the beautiful Garden hiding from the One who created them, walked with them, counseled them, and loved them.  Now they were experiencing feelings that they had not known before...shame, fear, confusion and guilt. God comes to them in goodness and kindness.  He did not come in anger but as He had come to them before.  "Where are you?"  God asks.  I am pretty sure God's voice here is that of a heartbroken parent whose child had just walked outside of His will and had literally placed the sentence of death on his own head.  God's reaction and response here was abounding with mercy and kindness.   Now God knew where they were and what they had done.  There is no where we can go from His Spirit.  What He wanted here from them was a confession.  Please don't miss the mercy here.

Their sin had caused them to hide from the Lord, which is what rebellion always does...it separates us from God. Adam and Eve would not have sought God after they had sinned...the bible says clearly in Romans 3:11 that none seek God.  God in mercy and love came to them.  When we confess our sin, it frees us from the guilt and the shame involved and releases its grip...it prevents us from going further down the road of sin and doing worse things.   God wanted this for Adam and Eve.  He wanted to bring about confession and repentance.  They instead responded by making excuses for their sin and exacerbating it. Adam blamed his wife for the sin and indirectly God for giving him such a woman and Eve blamed the serpent for beguiling her. 
Confession does not bring about forgiveness...that was granted at the cross...it does however bring about a change of heart and a change in direction.

I have seen this occur in my own children especially when they were young and had gone their own way.  I knew what they had done, but still questioned them and gave them the opportunity to bring their sin to the light and be released from it.  My desire was not to embarrass them but to relieve them of the burden and have them turn and go the right way.  In the beginning they would more than likely respond in the way that Adam and Eve did to God by playing the blame game.  BUT as they saw confession and turning exampled in the house and experienced the peaceable fruit of righteousness, they began to stop, sometimes even in the middle of their sin, and turn.  If you are a parent and are in the middle of a selfish tirade...turn things around by stopping mid scream and apologizing to your family for your behavior.  You pride might be hurt but the results of those kind of confessions and the fruit born in your children's lives will be so worth it.

Verse 15 abounds with mercy... And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel."  So after cursing the physical serpent, God curses Satan himself.

Here in the third chapter of Genesis the Gospel is first mentioned and a Messiah promised.   Satan and unbelievers are "your seed" and her Seed (Eve's) is Christ who will descend from her and all that are in Him.  It is important to note that the woman does not possess a seed; rather, she possesses the ovum, which is fertilized by the male's seed.  This verse then is the first indication that Messiah would be born of a virgin.  In the midst of sin and sorrow, we have hope!   Satan can only cause Jesus to suffer (bruise His heel) but Christ would one day destroy Satan with a fatal blow to his head.  Jesus came to earth to die.  By dying He conquered death and rendered Satan powerless against all who are saved...in Him.


Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! --1 John 3:1


More mercy in Genesis 3:21: Also for Adam and his wife the LORD God made tunics of skin, and clothed them.  Now in order to get tunics of skin, something had to die.  Blood had to be shed.  By all rights the first physical deaths that should have occurred were those of Adam and Eve. Instead, it was an animal...probably a lamb.  A sacrifice had to be made to provide a covering...this was a picture of the future sacrifice of the Innocent One, the Lamb of God, who is Jesus Christ and that without the shedding of blood there is no remission of sins.

More mercy in 3:22-24..."Then the LORD God said, "Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever"—therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken.  So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life."

God told man that he would surely die if he ate of the forbidden tree.  If he ate now of the fruit of tree of life they would live forever in their cursed condition. Out of compassion then, God drove them from the Garden of Eden and blocked the entrances and ruled out this possibility.

None of what I read in Genesis 3 makes sense in "my" world.  If I had created Adam and Eve, I would have destroyed them.  I would not have covered them and provided my only begotten Son as a remedy for their rebellion...I would have left them in their fig leaves with the sentence of death on their heads...that is if I didn't annihilate them first . BUT GOD, WHO IS RICH IN MERCY DID SOMETHING THAT IN OUR HUMANNESS IS IMPOSSIBLE TO UNDERSTAND. He responded in perfect truth, perfect justice, perfect righteousness, perfect mercy and perfect love.

"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!   "FOR WHO HAS KNOWN THE MIND OF THE LORD? OR WHO HAS BECOME HIS COUNSELOR?" "OR WHO HAS FIRST GIVEN TO HIM AND IT SHALL BE REPAID TO HIM?" For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever."--Romans 11:33-36

God's reaction to Adam and Eve's rebellion and sin shows us that we can never love too much.  That goodness really does overcome evil.  That when God speaks to us about loving our enemies, He means just that and speaks from a level of experience that we cannot even fathom.  God provided for them a covering that spoke of His promise that would cover them completely and eternally so that they could once again live forever with Him.  He would bring them back to life by His love.  As believers His grace and love is present in our hearts by His Spirit that dwells within us.  We are to shed it abroad and share it with those He places in our lives, despite how we are treated.  As Christians we are to walk as He walked and to love as He loved by the power of His Spirit. 

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.--Romans 5:8

And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others.  But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. --Ephesians 2:1-10

Love
Mom

Once again: Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! --1 John 3:1

The Kind of Faith that Saves...

What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, "Depart in peace, be warmed and filled," but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.  But someone will say, "You have faith, and I have works." Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works. You believe that there is one God. You do well. Even the demons believe—and tremble!  But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead? --James 2:14-20


Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

The key to the understanding of this passage is in verse 14.  What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him?  Note here that James is not saying that this person has faith, but that he is claiming to have it.   James is really asking if this kind of faith...the kind that is not evidenced in works, can save? Faith cannot be just an emotional or intellectual assent...it must be evidenced in active, committed obedience to the word.

I love the example he uses in verse 15 and 16.  Many of us profess compassion for the hungry, weak and poor among us, but if we do nothing, what does that profession mean.  It means that our professed compassion is a lie.  It is phony...fake...not real...there is nothing of substance behind it.  The same can be said for the kind of faith that is not evidenced in works...it is an empty profession. Talk is cheap, says James!

In an attempt to perhaps shock his readers James talks about the faith of demons.  Yes, demons have faith...it is clear from Scripture that they believe in the existence of God and the deity of Christ.  The Believer's Bible Commentary says that they also recognize Christ as judge, believe in the existence of hell and submit to the power of the word.  The man with dead faith believes only in his mind but the demons believe not only with their mind but also feel  their belief in their emotions...they tremble.  Belief can be of the mind and the emotion but if it is not of the heart and evidenced by a change in your behavior..i.e. a changed life...it is dead.  Verse 20 can literally be read this way.  "that faith without the works is dead." and also calls those who are claiming to believe and do not have works, foolish. Their belief is a sham...they are not saved.


With that said, however, it is important to remember that the bible is clear...no one is saved by works.  Salvation is entirely by grace.   

^" For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,  not of works, lest anyone should boast."--Ephesians 2:8-9

If it were by works, it would not be grace.  It should also be said that a profession of belief without genuine good works  (i.e. repentance and obedience to the Lordship of Christ) is dead...not real.   Our belief will be expressed in the new nature we receive when we believe.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.--2nd Corinthians 5:17
 
These verses in James remind me of a parable Jesus told that illustrates how true faith reveals itself through doing good to others.  Look at what the parable shows us about the relationship between faith and works and how the King is able to tell which are His true subjects.

"When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right hand, 'Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in;  I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' 

 "Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?'  And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.'

"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: for I was hungry and you gave Me no food; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink;  I was a stranger and you did not take Me in, naked and you did not clothe Me, sick and in prison and you did not visit Me.' 

 "Then they also will answer Him, saying, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to You?' Then He will answer them, saying, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life."--Matthew 25:31-46

Our actions will follow what our hearts believe.  God will separate his obedient followers from pretenders and unbelievers. The proof, so to speak, is in the pudding.  Our belief will be evidenced in our lives.  Do we treat all those God places in our lives as if we were serving Jesus Himself?  Make no mistake, your words, deeds and actions indicate what you really believe and think about Jesus' word to us. 


We were created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.  We are bankrupt and without hope in and of ourselves.  When we believe our Spirit is quickened to life in Christ Jesus.  When this occurs, the Spirit of God takes control of our thinking and we, by faith, begin to pour out the grace that has been shown us to others.  Look at one more example in Scripture...Zacchaeus and see how his life was changed when Jesus entered his heart.

Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho.  Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich.  And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature.  So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way.  And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.”  So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”

Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”

And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham;  for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”--Luke 19:1-10

Love
Mom

Refining Fire...Amy Carmichael

"One day we took the children to see a goldsmith refine gold after the ancient manner of the East. He was sitting beside his little charcoal fire. ("He shall sit as a refiner"; the gold- or silversmith never leaves his crucible once it is on the fire.) In the red glow lay a common curved roof tile; another tile covered it like a lid. This was the crucible. In it was the medicine made of salt, tamarind fruit and burnt brick dust, and imbedded in it was the gold. The medicine does its appointed work on the gold, "then the fire eats it," and the goldsmith lifts the gold out with a pair of tongs, lets it cool, rubs it between his fingers, and if not satisfied puts it back again in fresh medicine. This time he blows the fire hotter than it was before, and each time he puts the gold into the crucible, the heat of the fire is increased; "it could not bear it so hot at first, but it can bear it now; what would have destroyed it then helps it now." "How do you know when the gold is purified?" we asked him, and he answered, "When I can see my face in it [the liquid gold in the crucible] then it is pure."
—Amy Carmichael

Prayer and Importunity...by E. M. Bounds

OUR Lord Jesus declared that "men ought always to pray and not to faint," and the parable in which his words occur, was taught with the intention of saving men from faintheartedness and weakness in prayer. Our Lord was seeking to teach that laxity must be guarded against, and persistence fostered and encouraged. There can be no two opinions regarding the importance of the exercise of this indispensable quality in our praying.

      Importunate prayer is a mighty movement of the soul toward God. It is a stirring of the deepest forces of the soul, toward the throne of heavenly grace. It is the ability to hold on, press on, and wait. Restless desire, restful patience, and strength of grasp are all embraced in it. It is not an incident, or a performance, but a passion of soul. It is not a want, half-needed, but a sheer necessity.

      The wrestling quality in importunate prayer, does not spring from physical vehemence or fleshly energy. It is not an impulse of energy, not a mere earnestness of soul; it is an inwrought force, a faculty implanted and aroused by the Holy Spirit. Virtually, it is the intercession of the Spirit of God, in us; it is, moreover, "the effectual, fervent prayer, which availeth much." The divine Spirit informing every element within us, with the energy of his own striving, is the essence of the importunity which urges our praying at the mercy seat, to continue until the fire falls and the blessing descends. This wrestling in prayer may not be boisterous nor vehement, but quiet, tenacious, and urgent. Silent, it may be, when there are no visible outlets for its mighty forces.

      Nothing distinguishes the children of God so clearly and strongly as prayer. It is the one infallible mark and test of being a Christian. Christian people are prayerful, the worldly-minded, prayerless. Christians call on God; worldlings ignore God, and call not on his name. But even the Christian had need to cultivate continual prayer. Prayer must be habitual, but much more than a habit. It is duty, yet one which rises far above, and goes beyond the ordinary implications of the term. It is the expression of a relation to God, a yearning for divine communion. it is the outward and upward flow of the inward life toward its original fountain. It is an assertion of the soul's paternity, a claiming of the sonship, which links man to the eternal.

      Prayer has everything to do with molding the soul into the image of God, and has everything to do with enhancing and enlarging the measure of divine grace. It has everything to do with bringing the soul into complete communion with God. It has everything to do with enriching, broadening and maturing the soul's experience of God. That man cannot possibly be called a Christian, who does not pray. By no possible pretext can he claim any right to the term, nor its implied significance. If he does not pray, he is a sinner, pure and simple, for prayer is the only way in which the soul of man can enter into fellowship and communion with the source of all Christlike spirit and energy. Hence, if he prays not, he is not of the household of faith.

      In this study however, we turn our thought to one phase of prayer-that of importunity; the pressing of our desires upon God with urgency and perseverance; the praying with that tenacity and tension which neither relaxes nor ceases until its plea is heard, and its cause is won.

      He who has clear views of God, and scriptural conceptions of the divine character; who appreciates his privilege of approach unto God; who understands his inward need of all that God has for him-that man will be solicitous, outspoken, and importunate. In Scripture the duty of prayer, itself, is advocated in terms which are only barely stronger than those in which the necessity for its importunity is set forth. The praying which influences God is declared to be that of the fervent, effectual outpouring of a righteous man. That is to say, it is prayer on fire, having no feeble, flickering flame, no momentary flash, but shining with a vigorous and steady glow.

The repeated intercessions of Abraham for the salvation of Sodom and Gomorrah present an early example of the necessity for, and benefit deriving from importunate praying. Jacob, wrestling all night with the angel, gives significant emphasis to the power of a dogged perseverance in praying, and shows how, in things spiritual, importunity succeeds, just as effectively as it does in matters relating to time and sense.

      As we have noted, elsewhere, Moses prayed forty days and forty nights, seeking to stay the wrath of God against Israel, and his example and success are a stimulus to present-day faith in its darkest hour. Elijah repeated and urged his prayer seven times ere the raincloud appeared above the horizon, heralding the success of his prayer and the victory of his faith. On one occasion Daniel though faint and weak, pressed his case three weeks, ere the answer and the blessing came.

      Many nights during his earthly life did the blessed Savior spend in prayer. In Gethsemane he presented the same petition, three times, with unabated, urgent, yet submissive importunity, which involved every element of his soul, and issued in tears and bloody sweat. His life crises were distinctly marked, his life victories all won, in hours of importunate prayer. And the servant is not greater than his Lord.

      The Parable of the Importunate Widow is a classic of insistent prayer. We shall do well to refresh our remembrance of it, at this point in our study:

      And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God,neither regarded man; and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, "Avenge me of my adversary" And he would not for a while; but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you he will avenge them speedily.

      This parable stresses the central truth of importunate prayer. The widow presses her case till the unjust judge yields. If this parable does not teach the necessity for importunity, it has neither point nor instruction in it. Take this one thought away, and you have nothing left worth recording. Beyond all cavil, Christ intended it to stand as an evidence of the need that exists, for insistent prayer.

      We have the same teaching emphasized in the incident of the Syrophoenician woman, who came to Jesus on behalf of her daughter. Here, importunity is demonstrated, not as a stark impertinence, but as with the persuasive characteristics of humility, sincerity, and fervency. We are given a glimpse of a woman's clinging faith a woman's bitter grief, and a woman's spiritual insight. The master went over into that Sidonian country in order that this truth might be mirrored for all time-there is no plea so efficacious as importunate prayer, and none to which God surrenders himself so fully and so freely.

      The importunity of this distressed mother, won her the victory, and materialized her request. Yet instead of being an offense to the Savior, it drew from him a word of wonder, and glad surprise. "0 woman, great is thy faith! Be it unto thee, even as thou wilt."

      He prays not at all, who does not press his plea. Cold prayers have no claim on heaven, and no hearing in the courts above. Fire is the life of prayer, and heaven is reached by flaming importunity rising in an ascending scale.

      Reverting to the case of the importunate widow, we see that her widowhood, her friendlessness, and her weakness counted for nothing with the unjust judge. Importunity was everything. "Because this widow troubleth me," he said, "I will avenge her speedily, lest she weary me." Solely because the widow imposed upon the time and attention of the unjust judge, her case was won.

      God waits patiently as, day and night, his elect cry unto him. He is moved by their requests a thousand times more than was this unjust judge. A limit is set to his tarrying, by the importunate praying of his people, and the answer richly given. God finds faith in his praying child-the faith which stays and cries-and he honors it by permitting its further exercise, to the end that it is strengthened and enriched. Then he rewards it by granting the burden of its plea, in plenitude and finality.

      The case of the Syrophoenician woman previously referred to is a notable instance of successful importunity, one which is eminently encouraging to all who would pray successfully It was a remarkable instance of insistence and perseverance to ultimate victory, in the face of almost insuperable obstacles and hindrances. But the woman surmounted them all by heroic faith and persistent spirit that were as remarkable as they were successful. Jesus had gone over into her country, "and would have no man know it." But she breaks through his purpose, violates his privacy, attracts his attention, and pours out to him a poignant appeal of need and faith. Her heart was in her prayer.

      At first, Jesus appears to pay no attention to her agony, and ignores her cry for relief. He gives her neither eye, nor ear, nor word. Silence, deep and chilling, greets her impassioned cry. But she is not turned aside, nor disheartened. She holds on. The disciples, offended at her unseemly clamor, intercede for her, but are silenced by the Lord's declaring that the woman is entirely outside the scope of his mission and his ministry.

      But neither the failure of the disciples to gain her a hearing nor the knowledgedespairing in its very nature-that she is barred from the benefits of his mission, daunt her, and serve only to lend intensity and increased boldness to her approach to Christ. She came closer, cutting her prayer in twain, and falling at his feet, worshiping him, and making her daughter's case her own cries, with pointed brevity"Lord, help me!" This last cry won her case; her daughter was healed in the selfsame hour. Hopeful, urgent, and unwearied, she stays near the master, insisting and praying until the answer is given. What a study in importunity, in earnestness, in persistence, promoted and propelled under conditions which would have disheartened any but an heroic, a constant soul.

      In these parables of importunate praying, our Lord sets forth, for our information and encouragement, the serious difficulties which stand in the way of prayer. At the same time he teaches that importunity conquers all untoward circumstances and gets to itself a victory over a whole host of hindrances. He teaches, moreover, that an answer to prayer is conditional upon the amount of faith that goes to the petition. To test this, he delays the answer. The superficial prayer subsides into silence, when the answer is delayed. But the man of prayer hangs on, and on. The Lord recognizes and honors his faith, and gives him a rich and abundant answer to his faith-evidencing, importunate prayer.

Innocence Destroyed...

Then the eyes of both of them were opened,and they knew that they were naked;.--Genesis 3:7a,b

To My Sweet Daughters,

Satan had promised Eve that she would know good and evil if she ate the fruit of the tree.  Satan was right...Adam and Eve gained the knowledge Satan promised would come...but at what price.  They received it through disobedience so the knowledge they received was corrupted.  They did not know as God knows...in perfect holiness. 

Sin destroyed their innocence and guilt over their sin made them want to hide in shame. They now had to rely on their conscience to distinguish good from evil instead of God.  Guilt is not a bad thing. It is your conscience's early warning signal that you have sinned and need to repent and turn and go in the other direction. It is a gift from God. The last thing we want to do is ignore a guilty conscience or attempt to placate it.  Doing so will eventually cause our conscience to become hardened and seared and no longer know or care to distinguish right from wrong.  I don't think we can imagine the onslaught Adam and Eve's conscience must have taken at the moment when they gained the ability to see and know evil for the first time.  I can only liken it to a child's loss of innocence in learning that the world is not safe and that evil abounds.  Below is an excerpt from Corrie Ten Boom's The Hiding Place that speaks to this very issue so well. 

"And so seated next to my father in the train compartment, I suddenly asked, "Father, what is sex sin?"
He turned to look at me, as he always did when answering a question, but to my surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case off the floor and set it on the floor.

"Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?" he said.

I stood up and tugged at it. It was crammed with the watches and spare parts he had purchased that morning.
It's too heavy," I said.

Yes," he said, "and it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger, you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you."

Some knowledge is too heavy for a child to carry.  We need to protect what they see and what they hear.  The knowledge gained is not helpful or edifying and focuses their attention on the wrong things.  There is much time to learn about the evils of the world.  While they are young (and have ears to hear), it is good to teach them about Jesus and allow them to grow in His grace and His knowledge.

As parents we begin to teach our children from the moment they are born how to be independent and responsible.  This is our job.  At the same time that we are teaching them independence from us we should also be modeling dependence on Him.  In short, we are to give them Jesus. Our Father in heaven's desire for us, His children, is the opposite of what we desire for our own kids.  He wants us to learn dependence...specifically dependence on Him.  Jesus is our model here. Look at His life on earth.  He said nothing and did nothing outside of the Father's will and depended on His Father in and for everything. While teaching our children to be self-sufficient and independent, we should also be training them up in the Lord.      This is our most important job.  It is our God given ministry.  Knowledge and independence gained without God is deadly and leads to the sin of pride and ultimately eternal separation from the Father.  Example to your children dependence on Him...their Creator...their Savior and their Lord.

Before Adam and Eve sinned they walked with God in the cool of the day and were in constant communion with Him.  They depended on God to answer all their questions both large and small. This is what God wants for us.  This is the intimate kind of relationship He wants to see us example to our children and to those He places in our lives. We are to walk with Him in total dependence moment by moment... to be in constant contact with Him. With the Lord we can always be a child...we can allow Him to carry our burdens, make perfect those things that concern us and rest in His arms when we are hurting, tired or afraid. The world is a big, scary place filled with sadness and anguish.  We are not in control...give your children access to the One to whom they can go to boldly  for grace and help in time of need. Make sure they know the One who embodies Hope...both in this world and in the next.  Do not let your children leave home without Him. They will need Him  to be their Savior, their Hope, their Rock, their Defender and their Strong Tower in the trials and storms of this life. 

There are no guarantees that in doing this your children will walk with the Lord, but thankfully the results are not up to us.  Our job is to do those works that He prepared beforehand.  Obey...give them Jesus and you have given them everything they need...the rest is between them and their Lord.

Love
Mom

Discontented and Deceived - Genesis 3:6

So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate. --Genesis 3:6


Dear Suzanne, Rebecca, Anna and Mikayla,

Satan is called a liar and a murderer from the beginning. (John 8:44) These  verses from Genesis 3 speak to why:


Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, 'You shall not eat of every tree of the garden'?" And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.' " Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." --Genesis 3:1-5

Satan's lies promise great things (look at vs 5 above) but always, always deliver death.  First, Satan planted seeds of doubt about God's word saying "Has God indeed said?"  Eve answered him and said that they were not to eat or "touch the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden." Eve added to the word...God had said nothing about touching the tree. In reply, Satan completely contradicts God and tells Eve that judgment will not occur and implies instead that God is perhaps holding out on her. Eve then succumbs to the temptation and eats the fruit. She then gave to her husband who also ate.  Yes, Adam and Eve gained the knowledge Satan promised would come...but at what price.  They received it through disobedience so the knowledge they received was corrupted.  They did not know as God knows...in perfect holiness.   It robbed them of their innocence and plunged humanity and the creation itself into a sentence of sickness, suffering and death.

Look at verse 6.  Eve was deceived.  She took the fruit and ate and then gave to her husband and he also ate.  Both disobeyed but 1 Timothy 2 says that Eve was deceived but that Adam sinned with his eyes wide open.  Uh oh... Adam's sin was willful...a direct transgression.   It was through Adam that sin and death entered the world.  I am sure this was not the legacy he wanted to leave to all of us...

And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. --1 Timothy 2:14

Romans 5 tells us that through one man sin entered the world, and that by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man's obedience many will be made righteous.  Therefore, as through one man's offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man's righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. How beautiful is that...out of Adam and into Christ when we believe!  Grace reigns through righteousness to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!!  All die in Adam, but those who put their trust in Jesus shall be made alive!

Eve fell into sin because she allowed herself to be taken in by Satan's lies...She became discontent because she looked at what she did not have rather than all the blessings of the Garden of Eden that surrounded her.  THAT IS SO LIKE US!!!!   We forget to be thankful.  We focus on the wrong things. We doubt God's love and goodness toward us and even question His motives.  Eve was not walking by faith but by sight. She succumbed to the lies of the world...the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life.   This is how believers are deceived and  fall  into sin.  We get our mind on the things of the world instead of setting them on the things above.

For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.  And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. --1 John 2:16-17


Eve believed the lie.   The word of God is the antidote for deception and sin.  David hid the word of his God in his heart to keep from sinning.  Girls, allow the Spirit of God to take control your thinking and your behavior by letting the word of God dwell in you richly.  Romans 12:2 tells us not to be conformed to this world but to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.  The word of God renews our mind. and it is by it that we know what is His perfect and good and acceptable will for us.
 
Be thankful...soak yourself in His word.  Walk with Him by faith in surrender to His Spirit.  Desire God  above all things. 

Love
Mom