In all things God works... - Rom. 8:28

This verse is one of the greatest promises in the Bible...but I believe we often make it say to us what it doesn't really say.  We want to believe that it means everything in our lives will always be GOOD...rather than that God is always working!  In fact,  the "good" is actually defined a little better in verse 29 where it says that He determined ahead of time that we might "...be conformed to the image of His Son".  That's what is good about what God is doing...He is making us look and act more like Jesus!

 

What gives me the most confidence is that GOD IS AT WORK in me.  To those who love Him and are called (and answer), He does the work in us.  He cannot do His work in us if we haven't opened our hearts to receive Him as Lord and allowed His Spirit to do the guiding toward truth (John 16:13).

 

If God is at work in us...why do we live such defeated lives?  I believe one of the reasons is because we doubt He is able to rescue us from ourselves.  Holley Gerth in her book YOU'RE ALREADY AMAZING (purchased at Altar'd State, if you need an excuse to go shopping!) she says:

 

God has physically wired me with strengths

that let me fulfill his purpose for my life.  Our

divinely created strengths (fueled by God's power)

are actually supported by our weaknesses because

if we were good at everything, we wouldn't focus on

much of anything.

 

In other words, He has a plan for who He made you to be...you are already equipped to do amazing things - SERIOUSLY!!  In fact, she says: "when you attack yourself, you side with the enemy.  God is always for you - that means you can be too".

 

All that to say, if the God who created the whole universe thinks you are amazing - because He made you that way - then set out today to find out what He wants you to do.  He has already told us it is going to be "good"...so head out, friends, to walk that way with Him.

 

For further study: Genesis 1:26, 1 Chronicles 16:11, Psalm 73:26, Ecc. 11:5, John 9:1-5, Acts 5:38-39, 1 Cor. 2:9-10, Eph. 2:10, Phil. 2:12-13,1 John 4:12.

 

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Love,

Holly

 

 

  

Grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ - 2 Peter 3:18

Recently I noticed a spider in her web and she stayed in the same place forever...it seemed like.  She's not very pretty but thought you might like to see her:

 Our neighbor told me she was a good spider and to not disturb her...not something I planned to do anyway!!  It turns out the female Golden Garden Spider tends to often stay in one place throughout much of her lifetime...which makes me sad because it's in my space she is hanging out but also because it's a sad way to live.  That's not what our verse says today.  The Scripture is filled with admonitions for us as believers to "grow" in our faith...to NOT stay in the same place for long.

I can remember when Don was recovering from his cancer diagnosis in 2007 one of the verses that I felt the Lord impress upon me was the passage in John 15 on the vine and the branches...how we are to be the branches of His vine...always connected and always seeking nourishment - i.e., being fed - from Him....bearing fruit that lasts! Do a study on fruit-bearing and see how healthy fruit happens!  We can get stuck...and I have been stuck!  The Lord wants us to grow in our grace and knowledge of Him because He wants us to glorify Him...when we get stuck we usually are intent on glorifying me, myself and I. 

I believe the hymn "Spirit of the Living God" by Daniel Iverson  gives us the formula to grow in Christ:

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me;

Spirit of the Living God, fall fresh on me.

Break me, melt me, mold me, fill me.

Spirit of the Living God fall fresh on me. 

When we ask Him to fall on us, we are relinquishing control...He breaks our self-centered focus, He melts the habits that keep us independent from Him, He molds (or transforms us) to the image of Himself and then fills us to the brim with His holiness!  If those things are not happening in my life, I am stuck in one place...maybe for a lifetime....and it grieves Him and we are ineffective...useless.   Our nourishment comes from spending time with Him, in prayer and study, in assemblies with other believers and, in worship.  We can do that all day long...not just on Sunday mornings.

One suggestion for you is to order Kay Arthur's LORD, HELP ME GROW SPIRITUALLY STRONG  IN 28 DAYS...Amazon has it for pennies.  Ask Him - our great and awesome Vine - to give you a desire to get out of that web, to grow and develop a passion for Him and then help those around you to want to do the same.

For further study: 1 Samuel 2:26,  Psalm 92:12-15, Mark 4:26-32,  1 Cor. 3:6-7, 2 Cor. 10:15-18, Eph. 4:15-16, Col. 1:9-:10, 2 Thes. 1:3, 2 Tim. 2:15; 2 Peter 1:5-9.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

 

Be still before the Lord and wait for Him - Psalm 37:7

I apologize, sweet friends....this is the second blog in a row on "waiting".  I'm guessing the Lord is trying to get me see something I need more work on!  It appears from what we read about King David, he was struggling with the same thing.  This particular psalm has him fretting over the wicked vs. the righteous...you must read the whole psalm to see so much of our frustrations in our world today.  The good news is that last verse:  "The Lord helps...and delivers...he delivers them...because they take refuge in Him." 

We must be dependent upon our Lord in all that we do.  His presence is our strength!  In our pillow verse today we see that 1) we must be still 2) our stillness must be in His presence and 3) in our stillness we are waiting for Him...not necessarily what we want but what He wants.

We are so "activity minded" we are always looking for the next thrill...whether it be in pleasure, a meal, a relationship, an activity or whatever...stillness is not a priority in most of our days.  I have learned stillness from my sweet introverted husband whose very soul requires a great deal of quiet in order to do the work God has given him to do.  I am a chatterer...I have had to learn to be busy in quietness when he is close.  That's part of my assignment to care for him and I am grateful to have learned the value of it.

Oswald Chambers says:

When we are in an unhealthy state physically or emotionally,

we always want thrills.  In the physical domain this will lead

to counterfeiting the Holy Ghost; in the emotional life it leads

to inordinate affection and the destruction of morality;

and in the spiritual domain if we insist on getting thrills,

on mounting up with wings, it will end in the destruction of

spirituality.

Think about this:  for next week, add an hour of quiet/study/reflection ("before the Lord") for every day in the week.  See if you don't end the week in a better place than you did this week without it!

I'm reaching for my calendar right now!

For further study:  Psalm 40:1, Psalm 46:10, Isaiah 15-18, Isaiah 40:31, Zechariah 2:13, 1 Corinthians 15:58, Colossians 3:15-17, 1 Peter 3:4.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

Be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord - Ps. 27:14

Are you a good "waiter"...I'm not!  In fact I've never worked in a restaurant probably for that very reason!  Waiters need to be flexible, patient, eager, submitted, gracious and self-less.  I was in trouble from the first word!  The Hebrew word for "wait" denotes a stretching/twisting, a kind of tension in the enduring.  It is also expectant and hopeful.  Does it matter how we wait?  Yes, I believe it does.

The psalmist wrote about what it takes to be a good "waiter".  It takes strength and he knew that kind of strength only came from the Lord.  David had a long and blessed history with his Lord and he fully trusted him in whatever mess he was in this time.  I believe our frustration in waiting often comes from what James talks about in Ch. 4:1-4.  He says quarrels and fights come from "your desires that battle within"...I see in my own life that my frustrations and impatience come from the same place...wrong motives.  His blessings come to us when we are patient in our waiting.

Listen to Andrew Murray in WAITING ON GOD:

It is in waiting upon God that our eyes are

opened to believe in His wise and sovereign will,

and to see that the sooner and the more completely

we yield absolutely to it,

the more surely His blessing can come to us.

I am convinced God's purpose in our waiting is to learn to trust more fully in His best for us.  We need to change those wrong motives within to become someone He can use...no self-seeking ones on His team!

Our newspaper this morning has a story about one of our new NBA players to come to San Antonio.  There seemed to be a question about whether he could be a team player (which our Spurs are!)  or whether better stats for himself were his goal. The editor wrote:  "Sometimes when a player has been consumed with individual goals, he changes when he's around those who aren't".  I'm thinking that's one of God's purposes for us:  to be a part of a body of believers that glorifies Him and exemplifies in their lives their patient and constant dependence upon God.

I'm feeling a little stronger in my waiting today...how about you?

For further study: 2 Sam. 22:33,  Psalm 37:7, Psalm 40:1, Isaiah 30:18, Isaiah 40;31, Acts 1:4, Romans 8:23-25, Phil. 4:13, 1 Thess. 1:8-10, Titus 2:11-14.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

The LORD is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I fear? - Psalm 27:1

In the Old Testament, the word "stronghold" was the same as a "fortress", a place to hide, a refuge, a place of protection.  Our author, David, was very familiar with places to hide and held on for dear life to God as his stronghold.  In the New Testament we see a different kind of stronghold, one Paul was warning the Israelites about that "...sets itself up against the knowledge of God" (2 Cor.10:5).  One kind gives us freedom and safety, the other is something to be feared.  The world today will not help you hold onto God as your stronghold.  You will have to make a decision to do that.

In Martin Luther's hymn A MIGHTY FORTRESS IS OUR GOD, written in German, Thomas Carlyle translated verse 1 as:

A safe stronghold our God is still;

A trusty shield and weapon;

He'll help us clear from all the ill;

That hath us now o'ertaken.

Whatever are our strongholds, those things that hold us in bondage, are our choices, most of the time.  We can hold "strongly" to the "ill" of the world and it will have a powerful hold on us.  I know.  David knew.  Jesus knew.  When Jesus was tempted in the desert, the enemy tempted Him with things he was most vulnerable to.  He does the same with us...our areas of weakness are the places he sets the traps.  When we push God out of our lives, we have no power to fight them off.  We are restless, shameful, irritable, empty, stingy, critical and selfish. Unfortunately I recognize myself in that description.  BUT, when God is our stronghold, we have "love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control" (Gal. 5:22-23).  My choice.  Your choice.

Hebrews 12:1 says to "..throw off everything that hinders us and the sin that so easily entangles".  I recently finally acknowledged some of those hindrances in my life and am prayerfully making an effort to allow God to "change my thinking".  Back up to the 2 Cor. passage above; it says the way to break the wrong strongholds is to "...take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ".  Beth Moore in her LIVING FREE study says:  "Renewing the mind means learning to think new thoughts".  I can change the way I think and so can you! Open God's word and let it be your guide.

For further study:  Deuteronomy 33:26-27,  Psalm 18:2, Psalm 46:1, Isaiah 40:28-31, Isaiah 55:2, Galatians 5:1, Colossians 3:5, 1 Thess. 4:3-5, 1 Peter 5:8-11, 1 John 2:15-17.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

Dwell in the shelter of the Most High; rest in the shadow of the Almighty - Ps. 91:1

One of the things I have loved about getting older is that my convictions become clearer.  Some around me might not appreciate that about me, but I don't struggle with the grey areas as much as I used to.  You will be glad to know that I am also trying to be more gracious in sharing my convictions...I am quite aware not many really want to know them or hear them!

One of the things I've become convinced of is the law of cause and effect.  I haven't always wanted to acknowledge that the things we do bring results...one way or the other.  I am grateful to have lived in the world - and sometimes "of" it - long enough to come to realize we get to choose the standards we live by.  I choose to live my life by Biblical standards.  One of the Bible's best "cause and effect" principles is that obedience = blessing.  One of the first places it is mentioned is in Deuteronomy 30:16:

I command you today to love the Lord your

God, to walk in obedience to him, and to keep

his commands...and the Lord your God will bless you... 

I believe our pillow verse today is  a similar "cause and effect" principle.  When we "dwell" (remain or abide; see previous blog)  with our Lord, the result will be rest.  The word used for rest in the Old Testament denotes "peaceful living".  As I look around me today, I see so little "peaceful living" happening, sometimes in my own heart.  If I am not obedient to dwell with the Lord, the result will not be peaceful living.  Beth Moore says in her daily devotion book:

Obedience to our Father's commands

is the key to immunity from the enemy.

The enemy will convince us because culture/society is changing, we should be changing too...go with the flow, he will say.  The truth is there are all kinds of things that entangle me to keep me from obedience, and I let them.  No one forces me to make idols of material things, no one forces me to put selfish pleasure in front of time with God, no one forces me to learn principles from magazines...those are choices I make.  And I do not continue to make them any longer.

God does not change and His principles shown us in His word do not change.  Culture can and will make their own choices.  My security or freedom is not in rejecting Him, but obeying Him.  Why?  Because Psalm 91 goes on to say if we make Him our dwelling then His angels will "guard" us in all our ways.  That's my hope...what is yours?

For further study:  Deuteronomy 6:3, 1 Samuel 15:22, Psalm 1:1-6, Psalm 119:34, John 15:10, Acts 5:29,  Galatians 5:24-25, Hebrews 12:1-3, 1 Peter 1:14, 2 John 6.

May you be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

PRAY

Do you ever struggle with the complications of life?  Do you wonder if the circumstances are complicated or do our minds make it complicated?  Romans 8:7 says: "The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."  Easy choice...I choose life and peace!  My mind, however, has a mind of its own!!  It often goes where I don't want it to go and thinks thoughts that cause me to behave in ways I am not happy with.  My mind needs to be transformed by renewal in order to seek God's will for my life (Rom. 12:1).  I believe that's why we PRAY.  God doesn't need our prayers, He desires the communion and fellowship that causes us to know Him.


Isaiah 43:10 says God chose His people (that would be those of us who believe in His name and follow Him) that "you may know and believe me".  I believe we can know and believe Him when we spend time with Him in prayer and Bible study.  I didn't grow up knowing God...I knew about Him but I didn't know Him through a personal relationship with His Son Jesus.  As an adult I began to understand that in order for me to be able to do His will I had to know what His will was...and is!  I couldn't know Him or His will until I began to know His word.  And guess what?  When our culture changes, God's word does not!!

Tim Keller in his book  PRAYER; Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God talked about Paul and his prayers in the New Testament.  His prayer in Ephesians 1:18 specifically prays that: "...you may know him (God) better".  Keller says Paul is praying not for their circumstances to change, but that they would find "God's holiness wondrous and beautiful...and would avoid attitudes and behavior that would displease or dishonor him."  Paul knew that a fuller knowledge of God was much more important for the people than that their circumstances change.  That is true, says Keller, throughout all Paul's prayers in the New Testament.

I believe the level of an effective prayer life is directly related to our level of awe of God and who He is.  The more we believe we can control ourselves and our circumstances, the more shallow our prayer lives.  I have recently been convicted of a stronghold in my life and I will let go of that stronghold only as I pray to the Father to fill me up with Himself.  We must let go of the control of our lives.

How is your prayer life?  We are in a time of extreme anguish and confusion...we can do no less than PRAY fervantly. It is a great privilege we have to talk with our Father and the world is depends on it.

For further study: Deuteronomy 4:7, 2 Chron. 7:14, Proverbs 15:8, Matt. 11:24, Mark 1:35, Luke 21:36, Romans 12:12, Phil. 4:6-7, 1 Thes. 5:17, James 5:13-16.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,
Holly

I am the vine; you are the branches; remain in me...and bear much fruit - John 15:5

I love growing things!  My grandparents grew beautiful roses and gardenias; my mother at 91 is the "gardner" at her assisted living center.  Even living in Texas, I cherish the blooms that sometimes appear!  One thing I have learned: when a branch is separated from its nourishment, you get nothing from it...no fruit, no flowers, no life.  It remains withered and useless.

It's the same for you and me.  Our verse for today are Jesus' words to his beloved disciples the night before he died on the cross.  He wanted those he loved - and knew would carry on his work - to know this one thing:  without remaining (abiding) in Him, they would have no power and no fruit in doing kingdom work.

The Christian life is not about doing more, it's about abiding more.  "Abide" is to stay closely connected...He used that word more than 10 times in the chapter...do you think He thought it was important?  Listen to what Bruce Wilkinson says in THE SECRETS OF THE VINE:

In abiding, you seek, long for, thirst for,

wait for, see, know, love, hear, and respond

to...a person.  More abiding means more of

God in your life, more of Him in your activities,

thoughts and desires.

Our Vacation Bible School was this past week.  I had the most wonderful group of 4th Graders (showing them off in picture).  Some made professions of faith - the most important decision they will ever make!  I have prayed for them to become sturdy fruit trees for the Lord.  They will not do that apart from the indwelling Spirit's power.

He began a good work in you (Phil 1:6)...are you abiding with Him?

For further study: Psalm 23:6, Psalm 42:1, Psalm 91:1, Matt. 1:23, 1 Cor. 3:16, 2 Cor. 6:16, Galatians 5:22-23,  Ephesians 2:22, Ephesians 3:17, Colossians 3:16.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

For we are made by God to do His work - Eph. 2:10

I'm running to the One who knows me

Who made every part of me in His hands

I'm holdin' to the One who holds me

'Cause I know, cause I am

I know who I am 

I am sure, I am Yours

Lyrics from"Who I am" by Blanca

It's hard to read about the creation of the world in Genesis without realizing the attention to detail and the purpose for everything created - including us!  Gen. 1:26 says "Then God said 'let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness..."  We are His work made for His purposes!  We are His very own masterpiece...what an incredible mystery it is and yet what an incredible gift to be made by Him for Him!

Sometimes I am not very brave...if something breaks or doesn't work, I think it's the end of the world. How very sad that I let my emotions rob me of the joy (fruit of His Spirit!) of being His.  We are worthwhile not because of the circumstances of our lives, or what we do or even who we are...we are worthwhile because He created us as His very own with His own purposes.  

Darlene Sala says in her book CREATED FOR A PURPOSE:

No matter what you are today - or what you were

in the past - you are not a mistake.  You are a

potential work of art in which God wants to reveal His power, glory,

love, and creativity.  God can take your suffering and

turn it into a blessing for yourself and others.  Don't hold

a grudge against God.  Let Him work with you as you are

and turn your life into the masterpiece He has planned

for it.

So the question is:  how are you responding to His creation of you today?  I saw a little girl in the checkout line yesterday just go to the front of the store and do a cartwheel!  I just loved her freedom and her joy...guess what: she wouldn't have done that if she had let her joy be robbed!  My sweet friend, Chuck Musfeldt, said "it would be ungrateful to not have joy on the journey".  By the way, he is now with the Lord doing cartwheels, I think!

I say let's do a few cartwheels today and be about His work and His purposes.  If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, you have the potential within to be something wonderful!  There is no power in heaven or earth that can stop you from being an effective and beautiful work of art!

For further study:  Psalm 33:11, Psalm 139:13-16, Proverbs 19:21, Isaiah 43:7, Isaiah 46:11, Acts 5:38-39, Romans 12:1-2, 1 Cor. 12:2, Philippians 1:4-6, Revelation 4:11.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

I will sing of the Lord's great love forever - Psalm 89:1

If you happen to have read past posts (and thank you if you do!), you know singing and gratitude are two of my favorite things!  Many of my posts have these as key ingredients...I just am a happier person when I do both of them...they are related in my mind...when I sing, I'm grateful; when I'm grateful, I sing!  They propel me to be a better person.

The book of Psalms is essentially a hymnbook of the ancient Israelites and for hundreds of years these songs have been used in worship to celebrate God's goodness to a people who are His.  Almost half of them are written by David (today's was not) and every range of emotion is covered.  It is a means of focusing on God.  Max Lucado wrote today in his devotion about worship being the act of magnifying God.  "As we drawer nearer, he seems larger...our perception changes...like a magnifying glass."  That's what, I believe, singing does...it draws us near to Him.  It's not that He gets larger - He never changes - but our view of Him does.  Are you singing today?

It pleased me so on Easter Sunday to see Keith and Kristyn Getty showcased on a network news program with a program "In Praise of Hymns".  They are a very gifted couple who recently wrote the fabulous hymn "In Christ Alone".  One of my absolute favorites.

Keith wrote an article that gave 5 reasons  "Why You Need to Sing Loudly in Church".  In a nutshell those 5 reasons are:

1.  We are commanded to sing. (Scriptures cite more than 250 places "to sing")
2.  Singing together completes our joy
3.  Singing is an expression of brotherhood and unites generations.
4.  We are what we sing.
5.  Singing bears testimony to our faith.

Hope you might find and read the whole article.

It saddens me to watch people in church not sing...it is a terrible loss to the participant and a terrible witness to someone (young or old) standing next them looking for someone with joy.  I find myself singing along with the choir many times because I can't help but sing.  You don't have to have a gifted voice (I do not!) to sing with joy.  If your heart has joy in it, your mouth will sing it! Our worship, with singing a very important part, is known to the Lord.  He knows what we worship and how we worship.

Are you singing today?

For further study:  Deuteronomy 32:3, 2 Sam. 22:50, Psalm 30:4, Psalm 59:16, Psalm 101:1, Acts 16:25, Ephesians 5:18-20, Colossians 3:16-17, Hebrews 13:15, James 5:13.

May you be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,
Holly

The LORD will fight for you;you need only be still" - Ex. 14:14

Don and I were blessed to be able to take a 30th Anniversary cruise recently and if you've ever been on a cruise ship, you know you're not always sure where the front is!  I loved the carpet in the hallways of our ship that showed fish swimming forward so you always knew which way that was!  (Of course my picture is upside down so it looks like they're swimming backwards, but indulge me here for a moment!)

Our verse for today is Moses speaking, after the Israelites had escaped bondage in Egypt, standing before the Red Sea, with the Egyptian army pursuing them from behind.  They were, if you will, "between a rock and a hard place"!  They were confronted with obstacles to progress and fear set in.  The stillness comand here is not a ceasing of activity, but a ceasing of fear.  They could not move forward if fear was ruling them...they would have to have a calm settle before they could choose to do the right thing.

The obstacles God allows are never insurmountable...we must simply act on our faith.  Picture a bridge between "fear" and "faith" and you can see how you must step forward with courage (away from fear) in order to get to the other side.

Listen to Don Raney in our Sunday School curriculum recently:

Faith does not remove obstacles.  Faith empowers

us to move forward in the assurance that God will enable us to move past the

obstacles.  But faith requires that we step out and follow even when we

cannot see the path or the way around the obstacles.

Moses had confidence in the God who gave him instructions on what to do...he had seen His presence at the burning bush; He was still directing, as well as moving the pillar of cloud guiding them to the rear as a means of propelling them forward!  When they did take that first step, a miracle happened: the waters parted, every one of them ran across, the waters closed up and the Egyptian army was doomed.  I just love it when one of God's best plans comes together!!

It was God's word that moved them forward (14:15) and it will be God's word that moves us forward. Are you reading it every day?  Are you allowing it to fill every part of you so that you recognize His voice when He tells you to move?  I am grateful for a God that when I am desperate He is not!  He knows the way that you take and He will guide you forward.

For further study:  Deu. 1:28-31, Joshua 1:9, Psalm 46:10, Psalm 107:20, Isaiah 30:20-21, Zechariah 2:13, John 16:13, Philippians 3:13-14, Hebrews 13:6, 2 John 6

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

God has called us to live in PEACE - 1 Cor. 7:15

30 years ago this month, Don and I married in Coral Gables, Florida.  We were in our 30s and not naive or unrealistic about what we were bringing to the union.  I can only speak for myself to say that I had a very "independent" streak that needed to be adjusted to live with my man!  God has been the strength of our marriage - He has shaped and molded and caused us to love and to submit to each other.  How grateful we are that His "grace was sufficient" for even us!  We do not pretend to be perfect parents, but we knew how very important a good and peaceful marriage was to our boys.  And, guess what, those boys are now gone with wives of their own and it is just my man and me!  Too often we spend more time giving attention to our children and then when they move on, guess what you have left in your home?

God's word has taught us every day of those 30 years.  Had we not yielded to it more than we fought it, I'm not sure where we would be today.  Paul, in our verse for today, spoke to a believing wife married to an unbelieving spouse, but the truth still applies:  "God has called us to live in PEACE".

There are many enemies to peaceful homes today.  A few are:  discontentment, selfishness, busyness,  too much ambition, stress, conflict  temptation...and I believe Satan is the author of them all.  He is doing his best to destroy the home today and I believe the home is the most critical influence in our world today...certainly in the lives of our children and many of our neighborhoods.  The opposite of peace is showing up in too many places.

Listen to Steve Stroope and Kurt Bruner in IT STARTS AT HOME:

The foundation of every stable home is a thriving marriage.  Is it

any surprise that our Enemy's chief strategy for undermining

lifelong faith is to undermine the sacred bond of marriage.

Happy homes echo the intimate joys of heaven.  Broken, 

troubled families, by contrast, imitate the loneliness,

isolation and anger of hell.

Jesus said in John 16:33: "...in me you may have peace".  Galatians 5:22 says: "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace...".  Ephesians 2:14 says about Jesus Christ: "...he himself is our peace."  Apart from making the Lord the center of our home, we cannot have a peaceful home.  Yielding all that we are to Him is the beginning of bringing peace to our homes.  What does your home - or mine - feel like today?

For further study: Gen. 1:27, Prov. 17:1, Isaiah 26:3, Matthew 5:9, Romans 12:18, Ephesians 4:29, Col. 3:15, Phil. 4:11-12, Hebrews 12:14, 1 Peter 3:1-4.

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

BLESSED - Matt. 5:3-12

The word "blessed" has become a bit of an issue lately - the social media has given it more of a false-humility/self-promotion kind of meaning...people using #blessed to draw attention to their own accomplishments.  It grieves me to have such a treasured word or state of being be given such a tainted image.

Blessed is a word used many times in the Bible.  We see it used most often in Matt. 5:3-12 in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus spoke the message of the Beatitudes to his disciples...describing the kind of people they should be (the "be attitudes"):

Blessed are...
--the poor in spirit
--those who mourn
--the meek
--those who hunger and thirst after righteousness
--the merciful
--the pure in heart
--the peacemakers
--those who are persecuted

The Greek word for "blessed" is makarios, 'the happy state of those who find their purpose and fulfillment in God".  John Stott (one of my very favorites!) says

Happiness is a subjective state, whereas Jesus was making

an objective judgment about these people.  He is declaring

not what they may feel like...but what God thinks of them

and what on that account they are:  they are "blessed".

That surely takes away any idea of this being some worldly definition of great luck or accomplishment.  The very notion that He thinks of me as blessed challenges me to be much more of the descriptions above.  It makes me want to think less of me and more of Him; it makes me sad when I'm not sensitive to the needs of the world; it makes me want to be more holy, to be more merciful, to be a women of greater integrity; it makes me want to be a peacemaker in my home and neighborhood and to pray for those who are dying for the cause of Christ.

One more thought from Dr. Stott:

The Christian cannot be expected to be thanked for 

doing any of these things...but we can have

the approval of God and find self-fulfillment in that happy

state.

I consider myself "blessed" beyond all I could ever have imagined for my life.  Absolutely none of that blessing has anything to do with my accomplishments.  It has to do with what God's great love for the world and what Christ did on the cross for me...and for you.  Hoping you are feeling blessed today.

For further study:  Gen. 1:22, Numbers 6:24, Deu. 28:1-14, Psalm 1:1-2,  Psalm 32:1, Psalm 128:1,

Proverbs 21:18, Ezekiel 34:16, John 12:13,  Acts 20:35, James 1:12

Be blessed (!) in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly

The joy of the Lord is your strength - Neh. 8:10

A group of us recently went to the Fresh Grounded Faith conference with Jennifer Rothschild and Ann Voskamp.  Wish I could sit over a thousand cups of coffee with each of you to share the blessings of what these two precious women shared with us.  Jennifer, legally blind for many years, shared delightful words about how we are not defined about our feelings...we are defined by who we are in Christ.  Some day maybe I'll tell you more.  However, today I want to share with you what Ann said about joy. Much of this is taken from her book ONE THOUSAND GIFTS.

One of Voskamp's key themes comes from the word eucharisteo, the giving of thanks.  Charis means grace, chara means joy - very much related to each other and wrapped up together.   She said (in talking about Jesus' giving of thanks in all his hard days): "as long as thanks to God is possible, then joy in God is always possible".  Are you looking for joy today?  Where are you looking?  Are you allowing circumstances or relationships to rob your joy?   Ann says about our verse for today...

If you let someone steal your joy, they steal

your strength.  If you don't fight for joy, it's

your children, your husband...all lose because

of it.

She said we are going to have to pursue it, run afte it, chase it...joy will not come easily but because it is the gift of the Holy Spirit (Gal. 5:22-23), it is very much available to us.

Nehemiah knew this principle. Ezra had just read from the Book of the Law and the people knew they had not obeyed it...they were mourning and weeping over their sins.  Nehemiah instructed them not to mourn but to celebrate.  Are you celebrating your salvation today?  Your forgiveness?  His great love for you?  Or are you letting your own past rob you of joy?  Or the circumstances of your life?  The people who have failed you?

If, in Jesus' suffering, He gave thanks, I believe there is nothing in all the world that can rob me of my joy...and I simply will not let it.  He died that His joy might be in me and might be complete (John 15:11).

Philippians 4:4 says "Rejoice in the Lord always".  1 Thes. 5:16-18 says: "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances..."  "The joy of the Lord is our strength".  Are you feeling pretty strong today?  If not, run after it.

For further study:  1 Chron. 16:27, Esther 9:20-22, Psalm 21:6, Psalm 51:12, Psalm 66:1, Proverbs 12:20, John 15:11, Romans 12:12, Gal. 5:22-23, Philippians 4:4-7

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love, 

Holly

The LORD is my Shepherd - Psalm 23:1

Our most precious of all psalms was written by a young David, a shepherd and a future king.  Can you just imagine his thoughts as he gazed upon his sleeping sheep and the glorious star-filled heavens.  In fact, he wrote many of his thoughts and we have such wonderful wisdom from what he learned from his job and from his God.  He had joys, fears, struggles, grief...every imaginable emotion was written from his time out in the fields and on the throne.  This was before the throne ever became a reality.


He knew what it was to be a shepherd - he came from a long line of them.  He knew they were responsible for every need of their flock.  He knew they needed to make themselves known to their sheep so they would recognize their voice.  He knew the shepherd would need to gently but firmly guide his sheep back onto the right path.  He knew if they were afraid, he would be the one to comfort them and restore them.  He knew their enemies would be his enemies.  He was their protector and would never leave them.  In fact, he may have been speaking as one who knew exactly what it meant to need a "shepherd".  For he knew who the "Good Shepherd" was and had a vital and committed relationship with Him.


Phillip Keller has written A SHEPHERD LOOKS AT PSALM 23 he says:

When the simple...statement is made...

that "The Lord is my Shepherd", it

immediately implies a profound yet practical

working relationship between a human being

and his Maker.

Do not miss John 10 where Jesus tells the Pharisees: "I am the good shepherd" (v. 11) and "...my sheep know my voice" (v. 27).  They could choose to follow Him or reject Him...but they couldn't do both.  Either He had authority and responsibility for them, or He did not.  Either they surrendered the control of their lives to Him or they did not.

I choose to call Him my Shepherd!  I give Him authority and responsibility to guide my life.  He is wisdom, I am not.  He is love, I am not.  He knows the future, I do not.  I am humbled by His leadership in my life and grateful.

For further study: Psalm 100:3, Psalm 119:176,  Isaiah 40:11, Isaiah 53:6, Jeremiah 31:10, Ezekiel 34:1-31, Matthew 9:36, Acts 20:28, 1 Peter 5:4

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word,

Love,

Holly



LOVE - 1 Corinthians 13

I love restaurants that let you choose among a list of items: "Pick 2"...one from the salad list, one from the sandwich list...or better yet, one from the dessert list too!!!


Our pillows today come from another kind of list...a LOVE list!

Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast,

it is not proud.  It does not dishonor

others, it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered, it keeps no

record of wrongs.  Love does not delight

in evil but rejoices with the truth.

it always protects, always trusts,

always hopes, always perseveres.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Guess what?  We don't get to choose the ones that are easy, or comfortable, or ones that suit us.  This list was given to us to obey in full.  Paul is telling this body of believers that this kind of love (agape love, the kind that God has for us, unconditional-like...) is the solution to their problems within their church.  Max Lucado says about this list in A LOVE WORTH GIVING:

When we love someone we take the entire package.

No picking and choosing.  No large

helpings of the good and passing on the

bad.  Love is a package deal!

Here's an idea for your Valentine's Day celebration (and mine!).  List all the things that "love" looks like and find something in each area to love someone with.  For instance, if you find yourself getting impatient, go out of your way to give something back to that person.  Give them a gift or an action that shows them they matter to you.  The next day, go to the next item on the list.  No "Pick 2" this week.

For further study: Exodus 34:6-7, 2 Chron. 5:13-14, Psalm 32:10, Jer. 31:3, Lamentations 3:22-23, John 13:34, Romans 5:8, Galatians 5:22-23, James 2:10, 1 John 3:1-24.

Happy Valentine's Day, friends.  Be blessed in your understanding of God's love!

Love,

Holly



Praise the Lord - Psalm 92:1

It is good to praise the Lord

It is good to gaze upon His majesty

To proclaim His love in the morning

And His faithfulness at night

To worship and praise the Lord

by Lenny LeBlanc

The beginning of a new year is a wonderful time to examine the old year...what were your priorities, do you want them to be different, will you challenge yourself in the new year?  Personally, I am never terribly happy with myself as the old year closes...I have once again let the year get out of control with details and busyness.  I have no excuse...my husband likes quiet...prefers quiet.  I am guilty of thinking I can and should do more than is reasonable.  My times with the Lord become less and less about Him and more and more about what needs to be done with my day.

Listen to Lysa TerKeurst in her study WHAT HAPPENS WHEN WOMEN SAY YES TO GOD when talking about making the choice of worry or worship:

We all worship something.  We must choose whom - or what -

we will worship.  Will it be the opinions of others, our

fears, or even our own comfort.  Or will it be the One

who created our souls to worship.  Whatever we worship,

we will obey.

The psalmist in our psalm for today had seen the Lord work...he had been protected and guided by His hand (v. 11), and he knew that if he praised the Lord, he would "flourish like the palm tree and grow strong like the cedar of Lebanon" (v. 12) and he made a choice to do so.  Who or what will you praise today?  The world will be screaming for attention and distraction, I don't have to yield to it!  It is GOOD to praise the Lord!!

For further study: Deu. 32:3, 1 Chron. 16:29, Psalm 95:6, Psalm 150:6, Proverbs 27:21, Daniel 2:19, John 5:30, Romans 1:21, Hebrews 13:15, James 5:13

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly







Look to the Lord and his strength; seek his face always - Psalm 105:4

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus,

Look full in His wonderful face,

And the things of earth will grow

strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace"

Hymn by Helen Lemmel

Happy New Year, friends!  Did you know that the above hymn was written by a blind woman?  She, of course, didn't need physical sight to look upon her Lord...neither do we.  We only have to recognize that there are good things to look upon and some not-so-good things to look upon.  What are you looking at today?  What are you looking for?  I've used this quote by John Lubbock before, but I think it bears repeating

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for."

Ann Voskamp, in her Christmas devotional THE GREATEST GIFT, talks about Samuel as he was "looking" for a new king.  She says "always, always, first the eyes...", meaning, I think that she was agreeing with Mr. Lubbock that it is with our eyes we find what we look for.  Then she says:

Joy is a function of gratitude and gratitude is a

function of perspective.  you only begin to change

your life when you begin to change the way you see.

Oh I am so ashamed of some of the things I spend my time looking for...temporal and worldly things.  Everything in the world causes our eyes to look away from our wonderful Savior.  What we look for and how we see things affects everything we do...our lifestyle, our relationships, our goals, our joy.

Think about Peter (Matt. 14:22-36) and the joy and satisfaction of obeying Jesus in stepping out of the boat and going to Jesus on the water.  "But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink...".  Oh is that not the story of our lives?

If we look for things that are wrong, we will find them.  If we "look for the Lord and his strength", we will find Him!  Our choice.

For further study: 2 Chron. 7:14, Psalm 34:5, Psalm 121:1, Prov. 4:25, Isaiah 55:6, Zechariah 12:10, Matt. 6:33, John 1:35-36,  2 Cor. 4:18, Phil. 4:8

Be blessed in your understanding of God's word.

Love,

Holly