Diaphanous

honesty

I grew up learning that "honesty is the best policy". I still believe this! But I want to look at this word a little bit differently from what is traditional. First let me define "honest".  According to Dictionary.com "honest" means being honorable in principles, intentions, and actions; upright and fair. It also means being genuine or unadulterated. Sticking to principles and being genuine about those principles. Hmmm....





walls

I love the song, "If We're Honest" by Francesca Batistelli. The very first words to the song are,

"Truth is harder than a lie, The dark seems safer than the light"

I encourage you to listen to the whole song. It talks about how we like to hide because we are so messy inside. It states that we build walls so that no one can get through. And I agree! We hide what is inside and keep out what is perceptively hurtful. I think that everybody is tempted to build walls around themselves. It is human nature. The walls are about protection. We could talk about all sorts of different walls. One kind of wall, I think, that we, as Christians, tend to be all about is looking "as if". Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't it seem like we spend tons of energy keeping what's "messy" inside the walls?

being honest

So what does it mean to be honest then? In the context that I want to talk about, it means allowing people around you to see the REAL you. The person whom God created you to be. The unique and specially called you. But that "you" has been plastered with the ugliness and mud of sin. And we all know that about ourselves, whether we readily admit it or not. This is really the problem. How truthful are we about this ugliness inside of us? To be honest really does mean that we not lie to ourselves about the core of sin that deeply resides in us.




Be Separate

The principles of the world teach us to "look strong", "be tough", "be proud", "don't show your emotions", "don't reveal the soul". Here's a hard question (answer honestly): Do you really see a difference in how most Christians handle themselves from the people in the world? Generally speaking, I don't. I mean, this isn't a complete shame on the Church because we mature according to the pace of the Spirit of God. But, we do bear responsibility to a degree because if we hide who we are from the Spirit of God, then there is no growth or maturity in that. It really is no wonder why the world gets confused by the behavior of Christians. Honestly, the two do LOOK too much the same. I look too much the same! Not, mind you, that we are the same. Because, in reality, we are holy, we are washed, we are redeemed! In fact, the Spirit of the Living, One True God lives in us!




transparency

Does the Bible teach us to be strong? Well, Joshua was told to be "strong and courageous". But where did his strength come from? Paul tells us:

"My grace is sufficient for you, for power (strength) is perfected in weakness" 2Corinthians 12:9

It isn't our strength. It is the strength of God. Paul did not bluster on about how strong he was. But Paul did boast about his weaknesses. Just like Paul, we are weak too and we are broken...every human being is broken. It is natural to put up walls to hide our weakness... our brokenness. But, we aren't supposed to do what is natural. Not only did Paul not hide his weaknesses....he wore his weakness on the outside. Not only did he not hide it, he proclaimed it! In case I am not making this clear enough, Paul knew how to let those walls come crashing down and allow people to see his ugliness. Guess what else happens when we become so transparent that our weaknesses are found out....Christ in us is found out as well.

a testimony to healing

I had a dream when my son was 3 years old, that we lived in a glass house. Every person that drove or walked by could see what was happening in my house at any given moment. I felt both joyful and exposed when I woke up. I have never forgotten that dream nor how I felt when I woke up because I knew it was from the Lord. I believe that Lord was telling me that someday, I would no longer try to hide behind walls. Someday, I would allow myself to be seen. Someday, the  duplicity would be less. Praise God that even through my stubbornness, the Lord has not relented in His promise to me. I find that the road is challenging and painful, at times. The pain is beneficial and I now clearly see this. Somewhat like having a wound cleaned out. I had to give permission for the cleaning to begin. I had to come to realize that the pain is for my good and the glory of God.   

About the word "diaphanous"

The word came about around 1200...originally meaning "exempt, free from guilt".  Later it came to mean "sheer or sparse".  Eventually, the meaning evolved to "translucent, pure, unmixed".    In this definition there is the idea of  "very steep" with the notion of "continuing on without halting". 

                -excerpts from Online Etymolgy Dictionary.  www.etymonline.com

What an apt word.  I could not have invented my own word that would have better described the concept here. Truly we are "exempt and free from guilt".   Are you willing to take the next steps, to be "sheer, sparse, translucent or pure"? Will you be "unmixed" with the world?  Are you willing to climb the "very steep" path and "continue on it without halting"?  The Lord is ready and waiting to take you on this adventure.

Thoughts about Truth

I was finally able to access my blog.  Boy, have I missed blogging. But I finally got in!

I have been thinking much lately about how I allow the truth to affect my decisions.  I have also been thinking much about truth and my identity and how they play out together in my actions.   What do I think about most of the time?  In who and what do I find my identity?  How do I define myself?  How does what I think about play into who I am?  As a Christian, I am told in numerous passages that my identity can be found in Christ.  Here is my favorite one:

Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory.  Colossians 3:2

ONTRUTH

Indeed, a child raised in a Christian home is hopefully taught truth while they are young.  This is what most every Christian couple hopes to do for their children.  An excellent goal but here is a something to keep in mind.  A question:  Even if one grows up in a Christian home where the Bible is taught and truth discussed regularly, will that person still end up with a plethora of lies rolling around in their head into adulthood?  I think the answer is yes.  Why?  Because we are fallen sinful creatures who, in our flesh, would rather believe a lie than the truth.  Not only this, but as Christian parents we cannot always play interference with the multitude of hidden and private thoughts and perceptions that our children think about and adopt all by themselves. Just as our parents could not do so adequately for us, Christian or not.  AND... there is no such thing as a perfect parent so we will inevitably instill false beliefs into our child's brain.  Praise God that the Word of God can supersede the mistakes of any parent. And if you know, all too well, how many mistakes you made and struggle with it, you can know this:   There is grace for you!   Because the reality is,  regardless of parenting skills, children grow up and develop poor thought processes all by themselves too.  But I am not a fatalist! 

It is a good thing that children are taught a foundation of truth because  as they grow and mature the truth can deter some temptations for wrong thinking and it could eventually replace those deep-seated wrong beliefs that were adopted despite mom and dads best attempts.   Then, as an adult, the child that was given a strong Biblical foundation will, hopefully, have an easier job of recognizing and tossing out the lies.  Lies that were not taught to them as a child but inevitably come up in a life of living in a dirty world.    But even then, despite best attempts, regardless of the excellent foundation given them,  a lie or two or a thousand may sneak in.   All this to say,  I am not, you are not, our children are not immune to the effects of living in a fallen world.  Nor are any of us capable of peeling off the flesh that we must live with.  A fleshly tent that is at enmity with God.

BUT (love that word!), there may be some things that can take place to lessen the impact of living in this tent and living in this world.  I can't name them all but here is one that might get you going in your own thinking. One thing that is good, all the time, and I do mean ALL THE TIME is to be watchful and constantly mindful of  the existence of imbalance.  In other words,  how much "thought fodder" is being downloaded into the brain?   Another good question to ask oneself:  Is the Word of God taking precedence above the worlds offering of information?  This doesn't mean that a person would have to read more of the Bible than what they take in of other stuff. Ideally speaking, that certainly would be the choice.  Factually speaking, because we don't live in an ideal world, it isn't practical or possible.   I think it is more about how we intake information.  It also has to do with what we do with the information.  If I am reading the news, it certainly should not take the same place in my heart and in my mind as the Bible.  I would even venture to say that all information should be filtered through the truth of God's word...and maybe this isn't extremely practical advise but enough to work out a system of your own.   I suppose a good indicator of how we are processing information could be about what we think about the most...true in some instances but not necessarily always true. Perhaps it has more to do about what happens in our thinking when certain events take place in our life.   I think the goal would be to have words of truth readily available when a complicated or painful event takes place.  Better said, having the truth of God's word laying fresh on the mind for easy access at all times is the ultimate goal.  I learned along time ago to keep my keys in the same place everyday.  Is the truth of God's word placed in a high priority position where I don't have to dig for it too?  We are in the age of grab and go. Is the Word of God, packaged up nicely and laying conveniently in the reasoning center of the brain? Has the reasoning center of the brain been programmed with truth?  Maybe it was programmed well in childhood but has that programming continued into the adult years? In short, the truth needs to be fresh in the heart and mind so that I can apply it to situations and to information.  Keeping in mind that because of our current fallen state, truth is contrary to everything that onslaughts us.  It is and will remain to be so, until Christ returns, difficult and challenging to keep the truth forefront in our lives.  It is hard-work to maintain a proper thought life.  

I have hidden Your Word in my heart that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11

   

Fruit Inspection

I recieved some pretty negative responses to my whole idea that we as believers should not inspect each others fruit. However, this has driven to me study further and  I am even more convinced of my position.  Let me say exactly why I believe fruit inspection to be an unbiblical endeavor.  First of all, this is not to say that we should not keep each other accountable.  I think that keeping each other true to biblical standards has become a failing art in the church and  I am praying, that as a church, we discontinue our  habit of offense and accept exhorting words from eah other. Otherwise, my peeve resides  pretty much in the phrase  "inspecting fruit".  I have heard it used numerous times in reference to each others as believers and I cringe every time I hear it.

Mat 7:15-22
Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? 17 So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 So then, you will know them by their fruits.


Sheeps and Wolves....Believers and unbelievers.   A good tree....believers.  A bad tree....unbelievers.  Jesus did not die on the cross and create bad trees.  We immediately become a good tree and bear good fruit.....ALWAYS!!  "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.  When we start judging fruit then, we are really judging salvation because if we say that someone is bearing bad fruit, we are concluding that they are a bad tree.  For example,  we might say, "that person has not born any fruit".   We may furthur conclude that this person is not saved because of this.  I am to judge whether a tree is good or bad. This comes in handy when judging between false teachers and good teachers.   However, I think we must be very careful when we tread on this ground.

Gal 5:18-23
18 But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self- control; against such things there is no law.

The fuit of the Spirit....always good...always pleasing to the LORD: Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.  If I say about someone that I don't see fruit in thier lives, am I saying that I am around them 24/7 and I absolutely never see the Spirit of God working in their lives?  Hmmm.  I can't say that about anyone. Ah, but I can say that I see some DEEDS not fruit of the flesh. Perhaps you are like me, sometimes indulging the flesh.  That doesn't mean that  I am not saved, unless you believe that believers never sin.  I wholeheartedly disagree with this but that is another discussion.  It isn't pretty when I sin and I deserve to be called out on my misbehavior.  Judging someone's output is appropriate.  Judging someones salvation may not be appropriate.  If I have any inkling that someone may not be saved, I am not going to call them out on their behavior, I am going to speak the gospel to them in love...maybe for the hundredth time, hoping that at some point repentance kicks in.

Some might say that I am just picking on symantecs. Maybe I am.  But the words we use are important.  Afterall, it is 90% of the way we communicate with each other.   It is also the phraseology of the Bible.  If I endeavor to live my life as close to the Bible as possible then why not use the words that it uses correctly.   If I do so, then other places where I see the word "fruit", might make more sense to me.  If I understand what Jesus is talking about when He refers to fruit and trees, I am in a better place to understand those words when used elsewhere.  It might end up being a revelation towards other passages..."Gee, I never understood what this passage was talking about, but now that I understand, in the wholeness of scripture, what this phrase means, I totally get it now".  For me, it is a joyful thing when scripture is brougt to light.

Righteousness Part 4

Do we, as believers, need to labor for holiness? This question is almost as old as the Christian faith.  It is a question that has been preached and debated for centuries.  Denominations have split over the concept of holiness and what part we play towards our own holiness. I have no delusions that I am going to answer this question with great resolve. But there are some simple concepts that I would like to offer a reminder concerning. In and of itself, a desire for holiness is ...well... a holy cause. Though, I believe, that  the "how" towards this endeavor matters greatly.  The end does not always justify the means because the ends, if done with improper means, may end up looking like something other than what we or the Lord may want. The ends being holiness and the means being our flesh.  In other words: Is it possible that our zeal (I use this word as Jesus did speaking of the Pharisees) for God pushes toward something that is not pleasing to Him?  And on the other side of the coin; do we take the concept of holiness seriously enough?

The book of Romans clearly reveals that our righteousness is completely provided for and solely based upon the saving grace purchased through the precious blood of Christ. Holiness is part of the purchase agreement. Holy means to be set apart. We are set apart at salvation when we become part of the family of God. However, we are also commanded in scripture to play a role  in our own holiness:

2 Cor 6:14-7:1
“Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness? Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,
" I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE. Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE ," says the Lord. AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you. And I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to Me,"
Says the Lord Almighty.
Therefore, having these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
NASU

There are things that we do in our lives that can either make or break how the world sees us.  Remember that our first and primary purpose as believers is to worship God.  That worship comes through everything that we do! From the moment my feet hit the floor in the morning as I begin my day with fixing breakfast and lunches, I am either serving and worshipping the Lord in my attitude and words or I am not. If I am not worshipping the Lord in my attitude I am serving something else.   Out of this primary command comes how our lives look to those around us, which is called our testimony. If I maintain my attitude of worship through the day, my testimony will expose my supernatural affiliation with the LORD of LORDS. There is a very close link  between our testimony and holiness.  In this way, I very much believe that we have a very important part to play in being holy.

I have inadvertently run across many teachers and teachings that have broached this subject as well.  This last weekend I had the privilege of listening to Eric Cartier preaching at Rocky Mountain Calvary Chapel in Colorado Springs. This is not an exact quote from him but rather  a paraphrase from my notes:
 
  "The grace that we receive at salvation is the same grace that causes us to work for  the kingdom. Our service unto The Lord is designed for us not according to any works we have performed but according to Gods choice and design for us and his grace upon us to do that work.

As believers we should desire to do nothing more than and nothing less than what Gods purpose and design is for us. To do “more than” is to move past what God is doing in our lives and strike out on our own. To do “less than” is to forget our primary purpose and created design.  Ministry is not an earned position. It is the calling of every believer.  We need to remember that Gods ways are not our ways. God’s purpose for the Christian is not like that of an individual climbing the corporate ladder. We have been molded, as Americans, to believe that busy and working are what causes us to succeed. But in the kingdom it is the other way around. It is our “success” granted upon salvation completely through grace that spurs us on to those works that God has prepared for us beforehand (Eph 2:10). Work that does not cause us to BE holy but rather is the walking out of that holiness. That "work" is birthed from grace. It is birthed from love and gratefulness of our Savior. In which case, the work may be physically exhausting but spiritually igniting. Joy being a result from the work which provides strength for future work. It is a machine that is oiled by the Spirit. Physically burdensome?... yes! Emotionally?....yes! Spiritually?.... NO! Jesus did say "My yoke is easy, my burden is light"? Because His yoke spurred by His Spirit is light if we continue in His Spirit and not switch somewhere along the way to the flesh.  If there is no such love and gratitude to move us then there is no such holiness to walk in. Our endeavors may look holy but in the end they are empty and meaningless. We then become spiritually exhausted because it is us who carries ourselves and not the Lord.

When an individual is saved he/she immediately is deemed righteous and set apart (holy) unto God. Either you are part of the family of God or you are not. Does church attendance affect one’s membership status in the family? It may affect their testimony. It may cause one to forget what the Lord has done for them but it does not affect their holy standing before God.  It is pleasing to the Father that we remain in fellowship with others who love Him (Heb 10:23-25)  Through fellowship and the hearing of the Word together, the Holy Spirit is poured out into our lives making those challenges we face during the week endurable through the filling of the Spirit we gain at church. What if  one neglects to read their Bible? Less holy than the one who does? Not less holy but less able to walk in that holiness. Reading the Bible is to the believer; as food is to the body.  If one does not partake, one’s ability to access the impartation of the Spirit is diminished. I could say that a believer who chooses inattention to going to church and reading of the scriptures is weaker, more frail in the faith.  I should encourage and love the one who makes such choices. I should undertake the effort to spend more time fellowshipping with this one.  If I should shun them because they don’t make the effort themselves, do I not, on some level, disregard the price that was paid for them? Why would I treat my precious vehicle with more care and concern than my brother or sister in Christ who may be “out of gas“?  Yes, it is their responsibility to “fill up” for themselves, but sometimes people just need a hand and not a holiness speech.  Though there may come a time when the holiness speech may at some point be very well-suited and well received after the hand of help was offered. 

I remember Lot in the Old Testament. He made some very poor choices and he was not the picture of a holy man. But yet God called him righteous because he believed (2Pet2:7). Are there those around us who appear as Lot to us? Those who struggle with visible sin and who consistently make bad choices. It is not that they are not saved or less holy…dare we make such a statement as that would be to limit the blood and grace of Jesus.
Rom 2:1-5
Therefore you have no excuse, everyone of you who passes judgment, for in that which you judge another, you condemn yourself; for you who judge practice the same things. And we know that the judgment of God rightly falls upon those who practice such things. But do you suppose this, O man, when you pass judgment on those who practice such things and do the same yourself, that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you think lightly of the riches of His kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?
NASU

Nor is it appropriate to treat them with any less respect than we would treat a Christian  whom we truly admire and respect (James2:1-7).  Again, we are to walk in the holiness that has been granted us. They may not be walking thusly but we are still called to do so regardless of their choices. 

Recently I heard Charles Swindoll on the radio while driving.  Since it was a radio program and  I am unable to quote him word for word, as I am only going on memory, again I can only paraphrase. The thing that he said that really struck me was that we, as believers, are not called to be "fruit inspectors". "Fruit inspectors" was the exact wording he used. Fruit inspecting is the job of the Father.  We are just branches on the vine. The branches do not inspect the other branches for fruit. Our scope is too limited. We have a tendency anyway to focus in on the bad in peoples lives; for instance the fact that we don't see them at church or see them reading their Bible.  Actually, I don't see anybody reading their Bible unless it's open during church and they have their eyes focused on it.  Even then, how do I know that they are reading it? This isn't how the Bible defines fruit anyway...more about that later.  On the other hand, we are called to encourage and exhort each other with great patience, gentleness and love knowing that we are capable of falling into the very sin we exhort (Gal 6:1). 

As believers there are some things we are called to judge.
1 Cor 5:9-13
I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler — not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?  But those who are outside, God judges. REMOVE THE WICKED MAN FROM AMONG YOURSELVES.
NASU

And so there are those IN THE CHURCH that we are to carry out church discipline.  They are members of the family of God, the Church.  We have a right to issue out discipline in the love of God. We do not have the right to call into question their salvation standing.  We do not have a right to call them Unregenerate. Christians who bear the name loudly but also bear very loudly certain visible and abhorrent sin like alcoholism, drug addiction, idolatry,  and sexual immorality. We should not toss them to the wayside as hopeless. The thought makes me weep. If we carry out proper church discipline as described above, we may separate ourselves them for a time but not without hope and love and prayer for them. When there is proper repentance, will they not again be accepted into fellowship (2Cor2:3-11)? They are in as much need, if not more so, of the unending supply of Gods grace and mercy.  We have a responsibility in our own holiness to treat them with love.  

To me holy looks like the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 6:  love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, self control, faithfulness, kindness and gentleness.  There is no limit to these things. We can practice them in as much abundance as our hearts desire.   Remember that we are called to walk in the Spirit or speak His language. What is the language of the Spirit? Going to church every Sunday? Reading the Bible everyday?  This definition differs not at all from the language of the world because all those in the world do these things and more so and they truly are unregenerate!  These actions are imperative to our holiness journey  but they don’t make us holier than those who don’t do them. But what about those among us who claim the name of Christ but don't live like we think they should live? Remember, we aren't called to be fruit inspectors.  I am called to be a fruit bearer. So we show the world that we are Christians "by our love, by our love, we will show we are Christians by our love" for one another. I am afraid we have eaten our own alive because they don't add up to our standards.....eeek! That sounds like self righteousness. The very thing we strive against in our flesh we fulfill in abundance when we begin to question the availability of God's grace in other people's lives. Because we are the Church, our fruit is corporate fruit. In the very action of inspection, perhaps we have neglected production. Maybe the branch that doesn't produce will be tossed into the fire...but that isn't my job or for me to decide. The process of being productive does include helping (not inspecting) those around us to be productive....that's how we have thriving churches.   I, for one, do not want to treat the grace of God lightly. For myself, that is living a holy life:  obedience and submission to the Word of God; carefully and gratefully not taking the grace of God for granted. In my treatment of others it is supplying to them, out of the abundance I have been shown, the grace of God. In this I find that It truly is about finding the good in others around us and focusing in on that. 


Titus 3:5-7
He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit,  whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Righteousness Part 3

I have attempted to establish that our righteousness, at its very peak performance, fails miserably at reaching Gods expectations. If this is true, then, there must be another way, right? There is. First we must acknowledge our failure and must understand and completely comply with the new system that God has put in place for us to be righteous.

I will review what the old system originally looked like.  It was a structure of numerous rules that had to be carried out perfectly. It also entailed carrying out numerous types of sacrifices in order to atone for the lack of perfection in carrying out the rules.   These rules are called the "law" handed down through Moses from God. The law can be found in the book of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy in the Old Testament of the Bible. Romans is a book in the New Testament that speaks almost exclusively about the law.  Part of the message in Romans says, in a very small nut shell, that the law was too heavy of a burden. We are unable to carry out its commands according the expectation of God. Humans simply can not do it.  The most logical next question: why did God give us a law if he knew that we could not carry it out? The answer, in a very small nutshell:  BECAUSE THE LAW DEFINES SIN.

Romans 7:8

But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead.

Without the law, the word "sin" is meaningless.  What is sin? Sin means to miss the expectation of God in our actions, words and thoughts. Literally, it means to miss the target  when shooting an arrow. The sport of archery is the perfect analogy for explaining the law.   For analogy sake let's agree that the  arrow represents our actions, words and thoughts. The target represents the law.  At that time, it became God's expectation for every human hearing the law to then adjust his actions, thoughts, and words according to the law.  The law provides a target for every hearer at which to shoot.  Because it is so detailed, concise and thorough it is a very small target which makes aiming at it challenging and hitting it impossible.  If sin means missing the target and the target is so difficult to hit, where does that leave us? It leaves us understanding what we did wrong but nothing we can do about it.  So why did God provide such a small target...why have a target at all?  Without the target (the law) sin exists but humans have no definition.  This, then, would be analogous to shooting an arrow into the air aimlessly. What's the point in that?

At the beginning, after God created Adam and Eve, He gave them one single command, "Don't eat from this tree, the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil! You can eat from every other one in the garden but not this one."  God gave them a gigantic target.   In my own imagination, this target would look like the size of a barn with a bulls eye the same size as the target.  It appears to me that they aimed rather carelessly and missed horrifically.  All they had to do was hit that one rather large target....don't eat from this one tree.   When they did this, God no longer held onto the reigns of the knowledge of good and evil.  This knowledge was then transferred to humans as well.  Humans, whom God had created not to handle such information.  Maybe there would have been a day when we could have but we will never know.  But this knowledge was undefined and murky to humans.  They did not know how to make use of it.  

In a way, I can say that Adam and Eve bent that proverbial arrow which, remember, represents our actions, thoughts and words.   Even if the target is of manageable size and distance, if the arrow is not straight, we will not hit the target.   Now, let me summarize.   Adam and Eve bent the arrow that God gave them to shoot at His rather large target.   In response to this, several generations later, God gave the law to the Israelite nation (the Jews).   So using our analogy, we have a bent arrow with no aim until the very small target was furnished, the law.  Tell me, if it's hard to shoot at a target with a straight arrow how much harder would it be to shoot at a target with a small target and a crooked arrow?  Is  this God's fault that this all happened? One may think so but, in reality, it isn't.  Adam and Eve made that choice.  Did He know that they would fail?  He did but He also knew that when they failed He had another plan.  This plan has taken thousands of years to unfold and so I think that speaks to it's worth-whileness.  

The next logical question: there are so many who have never laid eyes on this law that I speak of? What about them? How can God hold to account something that has never been seen? When God dispensed the law, He did so to the Israelites/Jews only. Anybody who was not a Jew is called a Gentile. The Gentiles did not receive the law from Moses.  The rest of us received the law in another way.  

Romans 2:14-15

For when Gentiles who do not have the Law do instinctively the things of the Law, these, not having the Law, are a law to themselves, in that they show the work of the Law written in their hearts, their conscience bearing witness and their thoughts alternately accusing or else defending them.

Everyone else,  no matter who you are, where you live, whether it be in the remotest part of the untouched jungles of Africa, received God's indelible expectation on the heart....THE CONSCIENCE. Our conscience is the answer to that question. And, our conscience is not much different than the ten commandments.   The Jews received a law, part of which, was literally written in stone and the other part preserved through written tradition in great detail.   That, therefore, leaves us all accountable to HIM, who created each of us.  One of the reasons why the world does not want to acknowledge that there is a God.  If they acknowledge, then His expectations for His created go right with it. 

Romans 1:20-22

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools...

I am here to tell you that we have failed, every one of us, to follow our consciences.   Gentiles have failed along with the Jews to hit the proverbial target that God gave to them.   We have all ignored our conscience at least once.  

How does anyone ever hope to be holy and righteous which is the requirement of God?

Knowing full well that humans could not live up to the standard...which was never his intent, he supplied the once and for all sacrificial atonement for our consistent failure.  Atonement is an odd word that is not much used in the USA. It means: satisfaction or reparation for a wrong or injury; amends. According to the old system, atonement or reparation for wrong doing (sin) was performed through various animal sacrifices and by releasing a scape goat into the wilderness (Leviticus 1-7, 16,17,22). The scape goat was ceremonially prepared to carry the sins of the people into the wilderness where they would be forgotten (Leviticus 16:8-10). This system, as I have stated, did not entirely fulfill God’s desire of having a righteous people.  He knew that it would not fulfill his desire but He went ahead with this primary plan anyway….why?  So that the plan He would reveal in time would be appreciated that much more.  Here is an analogy.

Let’s say that a child daughter does not regularly do her household chores.  The desire is for her to do her chores.  Her chores are good for her and  these chores will teach her responsibility for the time when she is an adult.  But, no matter what is done or said she won’t do them.  So a system is set up. For every chore that she does not do, she owes 30 min on her bed doing nothing but reading a book.  If she fails at every one of her chores…the next day she owes 2 hours on her bed plus she has to do all of her chores for that day.  And it goes on and on for months like this.  This becomes a very heavy burden to her and the parent.   She is losing out on her favorite past times and time with her friends. The burden, after several months of this, is excruciating so it’s time to bring forth grace.  This probably wasn't going to work but she needed to see that there are consequences for wrong doing.   One day the parent says, “Ok Gertrude, you still didn’t do your chores yesterday so I am going to do them for you and I will spend time on your bed for the chores that you did not do yesterday.”  What do you think her response is going to be?  If she is very lazy child who simply does not care about me or chores I might get, “I don’t care” for a time.  But most likely after a few days of this she is going to say eventually, “Mom, I will do my own chores” and she does them from that day forward.

God in His graciousness, understood that the law, the failure of following it, and the numerous sacrifices were too much…but they were His way, in His complete omniscience, of showing us that there was only way to fix the problem….the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.  Not only was He the ultimate sacrifice for every sin committed by every person, He was the scape goat which removed those sins forever from the presence of God. But, it is a gift of forgiveness that must be accepted and He asks nothing in return.  He does not force anything on to anyone…If you want to receive His forgiveness He will give it to you through acknowledging that you are in need of it and by acknowledging that the penalty for your sin has been paid. And after this you need to repent or turn away from the things that you, in your heart, know were offensive to a loving God.  In this you can be righteous in His eyes too.  Start reading the Bible and start learning about the Savior who gave His life that you could have life.

Righteousness Part 2

Last blog I talked about a possible definition of righteousness and the righteousness of God. Today, I want to talk about self righteousness. I want to give a reasonable definition of self righteousness. I have been pondering and praying about how to go about this as there are various methods.  This is, of course, what I came up with but I encourage you to look at self righteousness from other angles that I don't.

Self Righteousness

Isaiah 64:6-7
For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment...

Proverbs 12:15
The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.

Proverbs 16:25 AND  Proverbs 14:12
There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

These last two verses are exactly the same which tells us something.  I was taught by a pastor that if the Jews really wanted to get something across or wanted there to be emphasis, it would be repeated three times. There are at least two more verses that are similar in the Bible, therefore, it is a subject of great importance in the Bible.

 Lets talk about the first verse:
This is what the Bible says our righteousness amounts to : a filthy garment. Filth to the nth degree. The farthest away from pure and clean one can possibly get. "Disgusting, throw in the garbage, don't want to deal with it" filth. This is the final word on what our righteousness amounts to. Can it, therefore, go without huge explanation that self righteousness is something to be avoided? The last three verses speaks to what happens when we follow a self  righteousness path. Two verses says death and one says that is is the path of fools.

 But what is self righteousness? I have 3 thoughts for you to consider.
1. Calling what is God's definition of sin, "not sin"
2. Calling what God does not consider sin, "sin"
3. Accepting God's standard of sin,  but handling it apart from God.

An example of #1: Breaking any of God's commandments and then, in order to avert the pain of a guilty conscience, one justifies their actions by any number of excuses.  A self righteous person will set up their own  scale system so as to make ones sin seem less weighty.  This is  self righteousness.  If you ask anyone in our culture, who isn't  yet saved, if they are a good person they will inevitably say yes.  However, we see from Romans that this is not the case. We are all sinners. We have all broken at least one commandment causing us to fall short of the standard that God set up. If you do not understand this point please read the prior blog.
Romans 3:12
All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one." 
Basically, this example looks like a person who does not know Jesus personally or who chooses to skirt His Word entirely. 

A simplistic but effective example of # 2:  Some may say that a messy house is sinful. First of all lets see what the Bible says about this:
Titus 2:3-5
Older women likewise are to be reverent in their behavior, not malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine, teaching what is good, so that they may encourage the young women to love their husbands, to love their children,to be sensible, pure, workers at home, kind, being subject to their own husbands, so that the word of God will not be dishonored.

And so older women are to be: reverent, not gossipers, not drunks and teachers of good things. Younger women are to: love their husbands, love their children, be sensible, be pure, workers at home, be kind, be subject or submissive to their husbands.  This is all to be done so that the word of God is not dishonored.

If you would like please read Proverbs 31 because it is too long to quote here. This describes a woman who submits to her husband, clothes her family, provides food and nourishment for them.

There is nothing, that I can see, in either passage about messiness being sinful. Scripturally speaking, where would one find the definition of messy?  Hmmm....good question.  I don't think it is there...but am open to anyone who believes differently.  Here's my defense.  I have a friend who keeps an immaculate home.  Mine seems messy in comparison to hers. I also a friend who keeps her house in a bit more disarray than mine. Who is to say which house is good and which house is bad? Could I fly to India, walk into the home of a godly Indian woman who has a dirt floor and declare her to be sinning because of her "messy" floor? I challenge you to look at the standards that you have set up for yourself and others.

Using this example, we can, hopefully, understand that making a standard that is not first determined by or through scripture could fall into the category of self righteousness. If one wanted to define what messy was for themselves....being not a life and death issue..... this would not fall into a self righteous category.  But if I take my formula for messy and measure every one of my friends against it?....not gonna make happy friends am I? Sometimes the Bible  gives no directive in an area. In that case, in order to avoid self righteousness, we too should remain neutral on the subject.  Being a godly woman encompasses so much more than keeping a house clean, doesn't it? And being a Christian encompasses so much more than following a rule. Let's steer clear of setting up standards and keep to God's standards, shall we?

#3: We get our biggest example, scripturally, from the Pharisees.  They knew the law, forward and backward. They considered themselves righteous concerning it. In other words; according to them, they knew it and they followed it. This is different from example #2 in that the Pharisees were actually attempting to follow God's canon.

If you would take the time to read John 8:1-11 as again I am short on space here. In this passage we see that a woman was caught in the act of adultery.  Knowing that the law taught that anyone who was caught in this act was to be stoned to death, the Pharisee were sure they had trapped Jesus by asking him, "Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?" But Jesus says to them, "He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”  Jesus perfectly reveals how sin is to be dealt with. Perhaps she did deserve to die.  ENTER  MERCY.  Jesus was the only one that could have thrown the stone that condemned her and he would have been completely justified in so doing. Why? Because Jesus is perfect....sinless. Everybody there agreed that her action was indeed sinful. There was absolutely no debates between Jesus and the Pharisees on this point. Sin is sin and needs to be called  what it is or else we fall into self righteousness #1.  So what was wrong with what the Pharisees did? Why was Jesus always picking on them?  Is it possible that they were trusting in their own human understanding of the law to carry out the law? Or if they understood the law, they carried out judgment in their own human  deductions? Is it possible that they judged themselves righteous according to their own comprehension of God's ways? And not only this but took all the credit for such action (not that it looked good or was good to anyone else)....causing none of the glory to fall to God but on how they looked. What about mercy? Mercy is foreign to us...is it not?  It surely falls into God's ways and not our ways. Therefore, I deduce that it did not even enter their minds. If it had they would have used it against Jesus or they wouldn't be "the Pharisees" that Jesus condemned.  It was cut and dried for them...she should be stoned.  The Spirit of God drives mercy and grace. The Pharisees never saw it coming because they were not, in any way shape or form, relying on the Spirit of God.  This fatal flaw has a name: operating in the flesh and its also called legalism. The flesh never has the whole picture. Wait this is an understatement....the flesh never has a clear picture period.  Jesus always sees the whole image perfectly.
Galatians 6:1
Brethren, even if anyone is caught in any trespass, you who are spiritual, restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness; each one looking to yourself, so that you too will not be tempted.

I represented self righteousness in 3 ways but really these are only 3 different symptoms of self righteousness.   There are numerous symptoms of self righteousness. Self righteousness boiled down to it's ugliest character is really this: doing it our filthy way; a human natural way, a way that makes sense or feels good to our earthly comprehension; the flesh. When we try to live Christian lives with  the strength of the flesh we come out, for all the world to see, including our children, looking like hypocrites. Is it no wonder that a "Christian" culture looks unappetizing to a hungry world?

Gal 5:16-24
 But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh .  For the flesh  sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh ; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law.  Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.


If you don't like the way I say it here....read the whole book of Galatians...actually...even if you do like the way I said it here....read Galatians anyway...it says it soooo much better!

Righteousness Part 1

Reading the book of Romans has been adventurous. As a fiber loverI likened 

the reading of it to the unraveling of a skein of yarn. One who knits or crochets 

may understand this. As the skein draws closer to the end of itself it becomes a little 

tougher to just pull yarn and it tends to appear to be  knotted up. Though it isn't 

knotted up at all. Therefore, trying to undo knots that aren't knots actually 

produce knots.  Am I knot making sense? Haha. All that needs to be done is to 

take a very close look at the yarn to determine where it is simply tight loops arounds 

other loops. Realizing that analogies only work to a certain point, unraveling Romans 

was similar for me. There are no "knots" that that needed to be untangled rather a close 

look at the context. Concepts that appear to be contradictory are, in reality, wrapped 

tightly around the heart of the gospel. Untangling is unnecessary.  Gentle probing and

fingering does the trick. So it is when reading the Word of God.  By taking a full year to 

mentally finger and probe I gained the opportunity to  begin to appreciate the 

continuity. I realized that sin, justification, faith, belief, righteousness, and grace, 

to name just a few, are all strung  along a single strand.  So when I, for unknown reasons, 

focused in on the concept of righteousness I found that all of the other concepts 

tightly related freely fell upon my understanding as well.  And so without further 

delay I want to share what I am learning about righteousness.

Righteous means the  state of being right. Righteousness is the ongoing state of 

being right.  I was taught in school not to define a word using parts of it so here 

is another definition: the condition of having the perfectly suited response, reaction 

or attitude toward a subject or circumstance. In the process of dissecting

the concept of righteousness other elements appear.   The first is the element of 

defining what is right.  The claim of being right holds the claim to know what 

"right"  looks like.  When I say that I am right, I make that statement 

 according to my definition or someone elses. This is called 

the standard.  I use a ruler to measure my daughters height. I can either use

 an inch ruler or metric ruler.  In this instance there are two "standards" in which 

to measure. 

Secondly, righteousness  also contains the element of justification. 

Justified means to defend through assurance or certainty.  If I am "right"  then 

I am also justified. Justified also means aligning oneself with a standard and 

"measuring up to" said standard. It works in reverse as well. For example,  if she

 is justified or believes that she has the right to behave in a certain way then she 

is convinced or justified of her right thinking and action.  Therefore, if one claims 

to be right then one is also making the claim of being justified, 

just or having the right in their dealings.  
 
Now to put  this into into practice concerning an understanding of the righteousness 

of God and self righteousness. First a look at the righteousness of God.   This should be 

simple enough.  What an under statment.

God is right in all of His dealings and is therefore just in all of His dealings or 

put another way...He has the right to behave how He deems fit. He is always right 

therefore He is 100% righteous.  He needs not make any excuse or explanation for 

what He does because He set it up and He adheres to His own standard accordingly. 

And since the standard is defined by God everything that is wrapped up in righteous-

ness is also defined i.e. sin, holiness, grace, mercy, redemption (or the gospel), 

love, and judgment.  This being an incomplete list.  Sin is missing the target of 

His defined standard.  Grace and mercy are then defined and embossed upon by the 

definition of sin.  Grace and mercy or the lack thereof are the platforms from 

which sin is handled. If sin is not defined by God's standard then neither is 

grace and mercy.  And so it goes for redemption or a proper understanding of the 

gospel and judgment; neither of which can be comprehended without God's 

predetermined definition of right and wrong.  His love? How can anyone begin to 

understand the depth of love He has for us without understanding His character 

which is wrapped up in His righteousness or Holiness and consequentially His plan 

of redemption through grace,  mercy and judgment.  Without perceiving  His love, 

we are left guessing about His just action of judgment. And without understanding 

His standard displayed through His love His actions could be interpreted as 

tyrannical.  So how does anyone recognize, comprehend or understand  the 

righteousness of God?  Through the gospel:

Rom 1:16-17
For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation 

to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.  For in it 

the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE 

RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH." 
NASU
 

And through extension, His son, Jesus Christ:
Romans 1:1-5
Paul, a bond- servant of Christ Jesus, called as an apostle, set apart for the 

gospel of God, which He promised beforehand through His prophets in the holy 

Scriptures, concerning His Son, who was born of a descendant of David according to 

the flesh, who was declared the Son of God with power by the resurrection from the 

dead, according to the Spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we 

have received grace and apostleship to bring about the obedience of faith among all. 

the Gentiles for His name’s sake...
 
Through the Word of God, or the Holy Scriptures we see the details of righteousness

 displayed in the  WORK  of the cross because this work was declared right by God. 

And so, the righteousness and or holiness of God perfectly displayed through Christ.

In conclusion, the righteousness of God and everything that is entailed in it lays down

 the foundational standard for us to view and for us to measure ourselves against. 

Not only this but it works in reverse as well in that all of these things; grace,  mercy, 

redemption, judgment reveal the righteousness of God. 

Want to know more about the righteousness of God, read Romans!

Fixing the Eyes

What is the Word of God?  It is the living and eternal words of God that have been set down into temporal pages in order that we may see, experience, and understand the Living God through it.  Thank God that He gave us such a script so as not leave us floundering in wonder of His character and expectations.  It is a standard in which to constantly measure our lives against.  Not only this, but it is the standard that God set up that we can constantly measure Him (or our ideas of Him) up against .  How can one possibly expect to live any sort of religious life without such a book?  Almost every religion in the world has endeavored to have such a book.  These religious leaders have  realized that if there is not some sort of "standard"  by which to define themselves, their followers are left groping in want for a belief structure.  Even those that don't have any "formal writings" become or create those components for themselves because they comprehend deep inside the need for such. 
     
In a conversation with a  friend of mine one day I asked, "Who is your god?"
      She replied, "the universe". 
      I said, "How do you know that the universe is god?"
      She answered, "because I have been doing much reading and this is the conclusion I have reached after the books I have read."
Hmmm...  So whether these books were deemed authoritative or not did not matter to her. She reached her own conclusion through her own self-authentication.  Her experience,  thoughts and feelings were the only stamp of approval she felt she needed. 
    
Is there something wrong with this picture? Well, gee....YA!!!  If, as a finite being who has a beginning and an end on this earth, and who has a finite perspective of everything around including self, then the question begs to be asked,  "how can a conclusion be reached about an infinite god (as that generally is an accepted concept about godness) through finite derived means?

Ok...This commentary is not meant to be a philosophical debate about such things.  What it is meant to do is cause the Christian to consider how much they may think like the one who has no god or a god of their own making.  Is there, in our lives, too much experience, thoughts and feelings raised up as a standard for how we live our lives?  Do we base so many issues on opinions, assumptions or attitudes because it makes sense to us?... Because it fits into our  world view? Is our world view a bit tunnel visioned? If the answer is yes, which it probably is....there should be some healthy fear brewing up inside.

We have rulers, yes?  A foot is a foot due to a standard that was set up by some person long ago and it has remained the same ever since whether we like it or not.  We can't say, "I don't like that "foot".  It is too short.  I am changing it because I don't like it".   Or, " You know that "foot" is no longer relevant to how this society says I should live my life...  I am going to be 6 feet tall now regardless of what the standard says".  Good luck talking your doctor into that one. 

We have a standard or a "ruler" in which to measure our lives up against as was stated earlier.  Although the argument that says, "the Bible is quiet on that issue" may be true for a small percentage of discussions, it is completely rather loud on a much weightier percentage of points.  The only way one will find out what it says on those subjects is to read  IT.... and understand it unfiltered by the opinions of others written or otherwise.  It is nothing short of foolishness to base our perspective on our opinion or the opinion of others because it feels right.
Prov 14:12
There is a way which seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

I pray that the Lord of all eternity will open our hearts and minds to purge the opinions based on perceptions drawn from ours and others' experiences, views or feelings.
Acts 17:11

Wealth

I am writing this post for a friend who has been through some very traumatic changes in her life.  It has been, I think, 3 years now since her life has been flipped upside down. And it hasn't been one of those situations that she was able to just grieve and get over it....rather it has just kept spinning her life around in circles.  This encouragement is for her but I make it semi-public because this encouragement fits for all of those who call Christ Jesus their Lord. 

Do you ever wish that you could just have more money and  buy those things that would make your life easier? These things that aren't necessities but would sure come in handy.  It isn't that you're greedy...not at all.  It's just that you tire of having to do things the hard way.  It would be nice to have pretty things too....or things that give life that little extra fun-ness. Yep...me too! The kids and I watched a show about a family who was very rich and had all the money to buy whatever they needed and wanted, materially speaking. They were in the middle of building the largest 1 family dwelling in the nation when Dad had to declare bankruptcy and they very nearly lost everything.  They were in for a real shock when Mom couldn't run to the store and buy the coolest shoes at every one of their whims.   I don't think any of us want this kind of life....na...as believers we know better!  But maybe  our culture duped us into thinking a little too much like, well, like an American.  I can't speak for you, but I know that I think all too much like an  American and not like a Christian.  Think for a moment what it means to "pursue the American Dream".   House, job, money, career...yep.  And those are all good things.  I whole-heatedly believe that God has blessed this country because of our God-fearing roots.  But where do we draw the line between pursuing that dream and pursuing Christ? Or are they the same thing? After all God did bless this country in terms of being able to pursue that dream so maybe they are one in the same. 

What does the American Dream entail....first and foremost I think we can say productivity.  Let's define that word: Having the power of producing, generating, or creating (Dictionary.com). Ok. So as Americans we try to generate or produce the means to survive...a shelter, clothing, and food.  Plus, the things we want: Good food, nice clothes, nice house, recreation, toys. Now let's define productive from the Bible and compare the two definitions.
The actual word productive is only used once in the whole Bible:  Luke 12:16-17
         
 And He told them a parable, saying, "The land of a rich man was very productive."

So we here that it refers to the producing a crop.  The fig tree was rebuked by Jesus for not producing figs.
Matt 21:19
        
Seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered.



So without belaboring the point too far. We see that in the simplest of terms that productive means to bear fruit.  And fruit being:
Gal 5:22-24

 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

And so how to the two compare?  Already we see a fairly big difference.  Being productive as an American is to work...Being productive as a believer is to bear fruit. Let's go a step farther. The definition of being sanctified.
Rom 6:19

I am speaking in human terms because of the weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves to impurity and to lawlessness, resulting in further lawlessness, so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, resulting in sanctification.

I could go on and on about what exactly this passage means but suffice it to say for lack of space and time that we are, as believers, in the process of being sanctified by the blood of Jesus.  What exactly does sanctified mean?  Being made holy...set apart or in the process of being changed into the likeness of Jesus....Yep....but what else or how does this practically play out in our daily lives? In the Greek it means set apart.  Set apart from what?  From the World and their purposes. Sanctified in the Enlish language is defined as being productive for a specific purpose. What is God's purpose for us? To bear fruit. How do we bear fruit?  By loving.  First by loving Him and then by loving the people that are around us. I like to place a colon after love in Galatians 5.  The fruit of the Spirit is love.  Love is joy peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control...there is no law against love and the way it is played out. We can do this as much as we want.

So as Christians we know that it is not our primary job to pursue the American Dream in terms of the beautiful house, and the beautiful clothes and beautiful food...(being the foody I am this is one is harder for me to let go of) ....right, this is a no brainer.  But  how much of the American Dream do we try to translate into our Christian lives...the beautiful ministry...the beautiful kids...the beautiful church...the beautiful conversions....the beautiful (insert your own).  Or we see our lack thereof and then guilt because we aren't producing according to the Christian American Dream (Gospel  according to me) guidelines.  All I can say here is....STOP IT!  Remember, "for by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is  the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast"
"As far as material fruit or wealth goes here is a great scripture:
Hab 3:17-19

Though the fig tree should not blossom
And there be no fruit on the vines,
Though the yield of the olive should fail
And the fields produce no food,
Though the flock should be cut off from the fold
And there be no cattle in the stalls, Yet I will exult in the LORD,
I will rejoice in the God of my salvation.  

The Lord GOD is my strength,
And He has made my feet like hinds' feet,
And makes me walk on my high places.

Ours is not the job to convert, to have the beautiful ministry, to have the beautiful church, the beautiful kids, the beautiful house, the beautiful life.....ours is to Worship the Lord and then to treat those around us with the love of God that He gives us while we worship.

Luke 12:31-32

 "But seek His kingdom, and these things will be added to you.   " Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom.  

Give me the life of complete submission to Christ and His ways.....the wealth that God has ordained as GOOD!

Can anyone say AMEN?

 

Rambling

Everything that is going through my head these days....
*my kids....need to work on doing more Bible focus time with them.
*My home town...love it here and pray for it's well being regularly.
*the prospect of having an empty nest....Lydia is 8 but it goes so fast and I am not looking forward to it. But I am too...ya know.
*the concept of submission as a believer....intrigued by the concepts that are fresh and new to me. Cant wait to share them.
*the upcoming wedding....overjoyed!
*resting in Christ...an underdeveloped skill in my life....this goes along with the submission concept too.
*fermenting....really want to get into this.
*the garden.....worked really hard on it, hope it produces some good stuff and hope I can preserve it properly which goes back to the fermenting.
*the future of our children in this country....concerned.
*the future of our country.....concerned.

Devotion Journal on Romans

I started reading Romans on January 1, 2013.  It has been a very interesting journey to say the least.  There are so many wonderful thought provoking tidbits and giant nuggets.  I have never spent an entire year reading a whole book before.  At times I get bogged down as I feel like I couldn't possibly be getting anything more out of a chapter having read it 50 times....I KNOW this is not true though and push on...making myself focus.  In this I have learned somethings about my own personal faith that I did not know before.   Here are some excerpts from my devotion journal for Romans.

From June 18 on Romans 4:    
This chapter talks about the faith that comes from God that is in God.  It is not faith in self that comes from self.  The world is full of talk about "believe in yourself".  The kids love to watch "Arthur".  Oh! the song at the beginning...."believe in yourself cause that's the place to start"...gets a rant out of me.  (my words now: I think they are quite clear on the truth concerning this point now).  Faith, as the world defines it, is faith in self or a self made image of god and is completely based on one's ability. This whole chapter makes it clear that I am incapable of maintaining a level of righteousness that God requires in my own strength and ability.  "For if Abraham was justified by works, he has something to boast about, but not before God. for what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was credited to Him as righteousness."  Rom. 4:2-3.   My only options are to either continue in my own strength and believe the lie that I can do it or believe, not just in God, but rather believe God. Grasping onto God who supersedes my own abilities exponentially. This is supernatural faith. A faith that in no way I am able to conjure up.  I can try to muster it up...and in the worlds eyes it may look like I am full of faith.  How often do I do this? So many say of so many others...."you are so strong!".   Hmmm. Am I so strong that I can look for all the world like I have faith?  I think I would rather be weak and have Him be strong in me.  I want  just enough ability  to maintain release into His hands.  Lord, help me...remove the cloak of my own righteousness and teach me how to put on Christ everyday and leave the work to You!

From April 21 on Romans 5:2
What does faith look like for me? I like the acronym:  Forsaking All I Trust Him.  This means to me that faith in Christ means that everything I do completely rides on Christ coming through for me.  I don't exercise this kind of faith near enough because I don't make many steps in my life that I need this kind of faith. I stay well within the realm of what I believe I can control or so I think.   And so I could  just leave this country and go on some missionary trip, I suppose.  With my dietary issues that would definitely be placing my life in His hands....hahaha.  But don't feel called. I don't feel called to start a big ministry. And I don't think it's right to make up a calling just so that I can feel like my life is bigger than what I can handle and so therefore my faith must be bigger.  Nope...don't think this is what God intends. Got to work it out though so here goes:   I am left with the thought that I must place all those little things of the day into His hands, surrendering all my mundane life issues that upset me to Him. The things in life that don't fit into my idea of being in control.  Ahhh...the definition of submission rolled into the bigger picture of faith.  Submission is letting go of my control and trusting in the control of something or someone else.  Here I see the ugly stronghold in my life.  My faith is not hindered by the fact that it is being challenged by a ministry, per se, but rather by the fact that I have trouble surrendering many of life's little challenges to Him. I have had the ministry.  I honestly don't see how that helped or hindered my growth in my faith in Christ in and of itself.  But  God gave me that calling for that time and hopefully I surrendered in it and grew. Ah ha.. The growth comes not through the calling but my ability to surrender within it whatever that calling may be. Be it planting a church, or starting a ministry or sitting quiet for a period of life, I need to learn the act of submission within it or surrender of control and faith that I don't have to wonder why or what or whatever ..this is where I am at...the verse goes on to say..."this grace in which we stand.."  So though I am "sitting" it out, for a lack of a better term, for a period of time, I am still to stand in the grace of God in surrender.  There is no time out  and I am not really sitting on the sidelines and watching the game. Luke 16:10-13: "He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much; and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much".   So am I here because I was unfaithful?  Maybe..I have definitely made some big mistakes, but I don't see it as negative.  What the Lord defines as "much" and what I define as "much" are completely different I am sure.  Human beings are so limited in our quantitative or even qualitative approach.  I think that the Lord, in His goodness and graciousness, and has an approach all of His own.  Thank You Lord...I love You!

From May 22 on Roman 4:19:
 This is really a very inspiring scripture on faith. Abraham considered the facts. The fact was he was 100 years old...the fact was Sarah had never bore children even in fertile years.  How much less would it be possible when she is well beyond child bearing years? The fact was that God had promised him to be a father. But it also goes onto say that in his consideration of the facts, Abraham did not waiver in faith. He considered the facts but did not allow them to change his level of belief that, no matter what God could fulfill the promise; despite any circumstances.   Lord help me...I need this kind of faith to be pleasing to You.

So anyway, I mostly just want to inspire anyone out there who might read this to read the scriptures regularly in a way that keeps you in the full counsel of the scriptures and then journal.....it is life changing. Journalling allows a mind to sort out the jumble of thoughts and emotions and helps to get them down in a form that is orderly.  Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:5: "We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ".  Journaling helps to fulfill this. I don't know about you but when I read something I have read so many times before, the words become blurry and I am scanning over them in an absentee mind sort of way.  When I am journaling, however, this helps to overcome this.  So reader...journal away!
 

Lunch Time!

Maybe you home-school and need lunch ideas or maybe you don't want your kids to eat the school lunches...I am the latter.....Here are some ideas for you and if you have any of your own ideas please leave a comment with your idea.

I also have a list of side serving ideas  to go with the lunches but I won't post those today....stay tuned for that blog.

I use a rotation of 24 different lunches so that my kids don't get bored.  Darren says, tongue in cheek, that I spoil them....Maybe! But I want them to enjoy what they are eating.  I won't post all 24 recipes on here but I will tell you what they all are.  Keep in my mind that these are all gluten free and only a couple of them have corn in them.

1. Hot Dog Pasta Salad
     1 Package gluten free uncured Hot dogs
     6 oz.  of uncooked pasta  (prepare according to package directions)
     1/4 c. mayonaisse
     2tsp Italian seasoning
     A dash of rice vinegar
     1 cup cold or frozen peas
    1/2 tsp of salt

    Mix all ingredients and refrigerate.  Serve cold in a Thermos.

2.  Chicken Salad w/ crackers
    Use Canned chicken.  My kids like celery, mayo and apples cut into their chicken salad.  I serve it in little plastic containers and let them dish it out with their crackers.

3.  Tuna or Chicken Casserole
    I am sure you all have a recipe for this one.  Don't cook your pasta all the way as it will continue to cook in their thermos.  Add a  veggie near end of cook time.  Serve with potato chips to crumble on top.

4.   Ham Sandwiches with lettuce and tomato

5.  Meatloaf Sandwiches
     This is a delicacy in my family.  My grandmother has passed down her steamed meatloaf recipe.  After it   has been chilled I slice it thin and separate the slices with wax paper and then freeze it for sandwiches.  As for the recipe:  basic meatloaf that it is steamed in a pot of water instead of the oven...this way you don't have a the crunchy top which is a bit more conducive to sandwiches.

6.  Salmon Pasta Salad
     Same as the hot dog pasta salad except that I use a can or two of deboned salmon and an appropriate fish seasoning.

7.  BLT Sandwiches on foccacia
     It is what it is....and it is good!!
     If you are interested in my gluten free foccacia recipe let me know and I will get it to you.

8.  Creamy Chicken Rice Soup
     Sounds like a lot of work but it really isn't.   Buy the skinless de-boned chicken thighs  or breast fillets that are flash frozen and put into a bag. 
1 cup of brown rice
4 cups water or broth
1-2 stalks celery diced
3-4 of your chicken fillets put whole into soup (you'll fix the size in a bit)
1-2 carrots cut up
Salt to taste
Onion powder to taste
1 cup milk of your choice ( I use rice milk)  Add after rice is cooked and  heat soup again till hot.
Pull chicken out after they are cooked with a pair of tongs  Allow to cool for a couple of minutes...cut up and add back into soup.

9.  Pizza Sandwiches
     I think everyone has their own version of these....get creative.

10.  Tuna Salad with crackers
    Very similar to chicken salad except I put green peppers, tomatoes, and hard boiled eggs in with the mayo.

11.  Mexican Salad
       1 can of black beans drained and rinsed
       1 head of Romaine lettuce coarsely cut
       1 Tomato
       Cheese
       Blue Organic Corn Chips
       1/2 lb ground beef (not necessary as the corn chips and  beans make a complete protein and so does     the cheese)
          Serve the corn chips in a sandwich baggie and let them add them to the salad so that they don't get soggy.

12.  Green Bean Sausage Casserole (so easy it is almost embarrassing)
       4 Sausages of your choice ( I like the Chicken Red pepper sausage from Costco) sliced to about 1/2 thick
       2 Cans of french cut green beans
       2 TBSP Italian Dressing or 1/2 TBSP of vinegar, 1 1/2 TBSP of oil and Italian Seasoning
       Place all into a bowl with a lid and heat in microwave until it is hot.

13.  Can of Kippers or Sardines served with Crackers
       Only one of my kids likes this the other eats the school lunch that day....nuff said.

14.  Ground Beef gravy on Mashed Pots.
       Brown 1/2 lb of ground beef with 1/2 chopped onion.
       Add 2 TBSP flour  to beef and mix well.
      Add 1/2- 1 cup chicken broth, beef broth or milk and stir till thick
      Add a frozen veggie toward end and serve over instant mashed potatoes in thermos.

15.  Left over Fried Chicken
       This is great with a quick version of potato salad.  Cook 2-3 whole potatoes the night before.  Place into fridge whole with skin on.  Next morning peel potatoes and coarsely chop.  Add mayo, a little mustard, salt and pepper....my kids love it.

16.  Scalloped Potatoes and Ham
      For the sake of time and space I am omitting this recipe...you can buy the box quick mix at the store if you don't want to cook from scratch which is amazingly easy.  Dice ham lunch meat into the mix after adding fluid and before cooking.

17.  Deviled Left over roast with Crackers
      Grind up your left over cold roast in a blender and add mayo....serve with crackers.

18.  Canned Chili
      Gotta love the really easy ones for those really hectic mornings!

19. Ham and Pineapple Pizza on foccacia.  
I bake the foccacia the night before.   I use a whole tomato ground up with a little tomato paste, lunch meat ham diced up and canned pineapple.

20.  Mediterranean Rice with or with out canned chicken 
       2 Cups Cooked brown rice
       1/2 chopped cashews, peanuts or almonds
       1/2 tsp turmeric
       Frozen peas that are already warmed.
       1/2 cup raisins
       1/2 tsp of salt
       1/2 chopped cooked chicken or canned chicken (opt)

21.  Spit Pea Soup with Ham
      Cook half to a whole bag of split peas with appropriate amount of broth or water (follow package instructions) the night before or place into a crock pot that has a timer and have it turn on in the night right before morning.
      Add diced lunch meat ham and heat until warm.  
      Add salt and pepper to taste.

22.  Salmon Chowder
      Follow any Chowder recipe using canned deboned salmon instead.

23.  Clam Chowder
       Same as above

24.  Sweet and Sour Chicken
       This recipe requires a crock pot that has a programmed timer. 
       1-2 oranges peeled and sliced
       1/4 cup soy sauce
       3-4 of those bagged flash frozen chicken thighs
       Place all in a crock pot right before you go to bed and program to come on when it is able to cook on high for 3-4 hours.
       Cut up chicken and oranges and serve over warmed pre-cooked rice in a thermos.