Walking In the Light

January 15 - 21st

2010-01-22T06:23:00.001-08:00

Just some thoughts of mine from the daily readings.

Jan 15

Genesis 31: Rachel stole her father's household idols. This is one other difference that set Lot's family and heirs apart from Abraham's. Not only did they speak a different language, they worshiped different gods. Funny, I thought, how adamant Isaac was about not having Jacob marry a Canaanite woman, yet I would argue that Rachel might not have been much of an improvement.
Matthew 10:35 - Jesus comes "not to bring peace, but a sword". He sets people apart from each other: those who follow Him and those who don't. We who follow need to be willing to lose ourselves completely to Him.

Jan 16

Gen 32 - Seems that time can heal relationships, at least to the point of civility. Jacob and Esau were never going to be best friends, but at least they weren't trying to kill each other anymore.
The story of Dinah is horrifying in so many ways: rape of a young woman, the vengeance and bloodthirst of her brother and the way an entire village is slaughtered because of it.

Psalm 14 - Fools say in their hearts, "There is no God".
Prov. 3: The foundation of the world and all creation is wisdom, knowledge and understanding. Humans are preprogrammed, if you will, with a need to know things. It comes from the very nature of the One in whose Image we are created.

Jan 17

Psalm 15 - what a great list of behaviors of righteous persons

Jan 18

Genesis: Judah's sons were wicked and God killed each of them. Judah didn't do the right thing by Tamar and ended up treating her as a prostitute. What an ugly story, yet one of the twins born to them is in the lineage of Jesus.
Matthew - This verse seems to put an interesting "ranking" on two members of the Trinity. Why would blaspheming against the Son of Man (Jesus) be forgiven, but not blaspheming the Holy Spirit?
Proverbs - "Do not withhold good from those who deserve it and it is in your power to give." Is this a comment on not judging others, or the fact that nothing you have is yours? Or both?

Jan 19

Genesis - The Lord was with Joseph in prison. Powerful.

Jan 21-21

Genesis - Think of all the years that Jacob's sons lied to him! What a load of guilt they must have carried.
Matthew - comments, I believe, on how blessed they would be if many of the religious leaders of the day would come to follow Jesus. They are a wealth of understanding and knowledge, which we see from Proverbs is a blessing to have! Secondly, I found it interesting that later on it says that 'He did few miracles because of their unbelief'. How many miracles do I miss because I didn't believe they would happen?

Day 4...

2010-01-04T05:22:00.000-08:00

...and I'm still on track!! So far we've read

the story of creation: completely fascinating--as a writer (wannabe, anyway) I find the use of God speaking the Word (Jesus) and everything coming into being to be astonishing. Just another proof that God's words have power! The way all aspects of the Trinity had a hand in the creation is a beautiful part of the story as well. I love how the writer of the story tells the general story of each day of creation so we have an overview, then gets all the details afterward, like how Eve was created and why. And why does God use the phrase 'you shall surely die' regarding the eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Why use the word 'death' when it wasn't a physical death? I know it's spiritual, or even the death of their perfect life, but why 'death'?

the lineage of Jesus: another fascinating account to see who God used throughout the history of Israel--flawed human beings--to carry out the most important of all divine plans

Noah and the ark: the beginning of the covenant of God and man; a continuation of the strife between brothers, which seems to be a major theme throughout history, in this case, Ham and his sons will become the servants of his brothers' sons.

Psalms 1-4: a major theme here being that God is our salvation--he keeps us safe (Ps. 4:8)--he watches our path (Ps. 1)--he lifts our head (Ps 3)--he is our joy (Ps 2)

And I've just scratched the surface!

A Blog Resurrected

2010-01-01T15:58:00.000-08:00

It's been over a year since I've posted here. I thought this might be a perfect spot to keep a journal about my new endeavor this year--reading the Bible in one year. We are participating in this as a church using the God Sightings One Year Bible in the New Living Translation. I'm hoping that the easier translation will make it easier for me (and all of us) to keep up with the readings.

I know this will be a rewarding experience...I just hope I can do it!

"White Board" Testimonies

2008-09-28T18:30:00.000-07:00

This morning during our church service we went out on a limb (for us, anyway) and invited people to join our praise team in sharing 'white board testimonies'. If you haven't seen Cardboard Testimonies then you really need to check out the awesome witness of how God works in people's lives.

I have seen several of these videos and they bring me to tears every time, but there is something even more moving when these are people that I know. These people are my family. Over the years I've worshipped with them, cried with them and rejoiced with them. I know some of the heartaches behind their testimonies. Seeing the evidence of God in their lives affirms that the Spirit of God is alive and working in our church and the Body of Christ.

What a fabulous, beautiful way to start the week. Praise Jesus!

Hope

2008-09-24T13:42:00.000-07:00

It's been WAY too long since I posted at this blog. So I thought I would share the devotion that I gave at our homeless shelter last weekend when it was our church's turn to supply a meal. We feed them lasagna and applesauce, but my prayer is that they come away filled with more than that :)

Hope has been on my mind a lot lately. At First Church this year our theme is 'Suprised by Hope'. The motto of this very mission is 'Homeless, not Hopeles'. Hope is all around.

How often, though, do we use the word 'hope' in our conversation. I HOPE I make it to the store before it closes. I HOPE I don't say something stupid while I'm standing up here! I HOPE the Vikings win a game soon (which they did this afternoon)!

We toss that word off sometimes like it doesn't mean anything more than something we wish would happen but don't think it really will. I would propose that when that was is used in the Bible it means something a whole lot different.
Jeremiah 29:11 was written while the Hebrew people were held in captivity. But in the midst of a seemingly hopeless situation, the prophet Jeremiah was given a word from God to tell the people: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."

Because I belive that God never changes, those promises from the Old Testament still hold true for us in the New Testament church. I belive that God knows my future. And not only that He knows, but that He CARES what happens to me. I have HOPE that my life will be better, yes, someday in Heaven, but I can have a better life right now here today.

Remember that HOPE is not just a wish or a dream, but a real desire and an EXPECTATION that God is at work in your life and the life of everyone here in this room.

First Praise Video

2008-02-23T15:37:00.001-08:00

Here is one of the small ensembles that leads praise singing at our church. I'm in the middle, and my dad is next to me! Be blessed!

Faithbook page

2008-02-16T15:17:00.000-08:00

I haven't done a faithbook page in several months. I just can't seem to find the time to do everything I want to do in life. *sigh* But here goes: I used The Luckiest Girl kit by Kristin Cronin-Barrow and Jennilyn Designs.

Bookmarks

2008-02-03T12:45:00.000-08:00

Here's the freebie, even though I put the link in yesterday, I didn't do a preview. So if you want to know what they look like before you download...here they are!

Writing and Scrapping

2008-02-02T08:17:00.000-08:00

One of my goals this year was to work on my writing. I joined a great website community called FaithWriters. They have a weekly writing challenge and a LOT of support from other Christians, all of whom are trying to serve God with their gifts and talents. It's been so much fun. I entered my first challenge 2 weeks ago and won third place in the Beginner's category...it was a pleasant surprise. If you're interested in reading the other beginner-level entries, go to Entries. Otherwise, here is the entry (with better formatting than the one I submitted :)

I squinted to get a better look, but no matter how I turned my head, the paper still contained only a string of letters, which held little meaning for me. I looked down at the yarn in my lap and crochet hook in my hand. A frustrated noise escaped my mouth and I threw the contents of my hands on the floor.

“I don’t get it! It’s too hard!” I bit my lip to keep from crying, but my chin shook and the tears just wouldn’t be stopped.

Oma frowned slightly and looked at me over the rims of her reading glasses. “Come here, Liebchen.” She removed her glasses, letting them dangle from the silver chain she always wore around her neck. I snuggled into her and she ran her hands over my hair. My eight-year-old ego was fragile and she was better suited to soothe it, in my eyes, than anyone else in the world.

In a moment, my burst of tears slowed and she wiped my eyes, saying, “Well, then. Now you are ready for the secret, yes?” I sniffed loudly, and nodded.

“I let you choose the pattern. You picked it for its beauty. It is beautiful, no?” She smiled. “It is a flower made from a simple strand of yarn. But the pattern is harder than anything you’ve ever done. The stitches that work together to make this flower must be learned first, otherwise…” Her voice drifted off and she picked up the “flower” that I had made. With affection in her laugh, she said, “It just makes a mess.” I laughed too.

“Do what you know how to do, Liebchen. That is the secret. If you do it well and keep doing it, soon you will be surprised at the flowers you can make. “ She glanced at the Bible that lay open on the coffee table. “God knows this secret too. He lets us in on just what we need to know, when we need it and not a moment before.”
She leaned over and picked the yarn and hook from off of the floor. My eyes got large as I watched her begin to unravel my creation. When I started to protest, she held up her hand. “Liebchen, if you want to learn, we must do it again. And again if we have to. And each time it will be better.”

When she finished only a pile of yarn was left, puddled in her lap. My Oma reached out and took my hand. Her strong wrinkled hand closed over mine and as we sat together, she began to teach me the pattern—stitch by stitch.

Thanks for reading !

**On another note, I've been posting some quotes and thoughts about prayer on my Faith Forum at DragonFlaire Studios, a scrapping website I frequent. I took a bunch of those quotes and made bookmarks out of them and would like to share them with you. Click here to download. Please enjoy!

Isaiah 9:2-7

2007-12-04T05:22:00.000-08:00

Here is a set of verses that we hear often at Christmastime, from Isaiah 9:2-7

The people who walk in darkness
Will see a great light;
Those who live in a dark land,
The light will shine on them.
3You shall multiply the nation,
You shall increase their gladness;
They will be glad in Your presence
As with the gladness of harvest,
As men rejoice when they divide the spoil.
4For You shall break the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders,
The rod of their oppressor, as at the battle of Midian.
5For every boot of the booted warrior in the battle tumult,
And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire.
6For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;
And the government will rest on His shoulders;
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.
7There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness
From then on and forevermore
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

I know that many times I read these verses half-heartedly, thinking 'I already know this!' But to read them with intention to me means to put myself in the shoes of the people for whom this was originally given and it reminds me again what a word of HOPE this passage embodies.

Remember that Israel had been oppressed, embattled, enslaved and for generations had led very difficult lives. And now to be told that that oppression would not last forever, but would be lifted by a saviour in the form of a child.

This is where all the famliar attributes of the Messiah are listed: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God...Prince of Peace. Read those words slowly. Let them sink into your heart, because they are the heart of the Gospel. Jesus is all of those things to those who love Him.

In the midst of the crazy, hectic season of Christmas let us remember to rejoice for our salvation is at hand!

The Word

2007-11-26T05:29:00.000-08:00

Since advent starts this Sunday, I thought we should start focusing on what Christmas means to us as Christians.

From John 1:1-5, 14
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. ....
And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth.

It amazes me every year when I really start to think about what Jesus did. He IS GOD and He left heaven to come and live with us. To become one of us. He was tempted, yet was perfect. He lived a life that was full of love so that we would see the grace and love of His Father. He died to reconcile us to God. He is the Light, the Glory of the Father, wrapped in flesh.

Praise God today for sending His Light into the world to save us!

2007-11-19T05:29:00.000-08:00

With Thanksgiving coming up here in America this week, I wanted to share one of my favorite psalms:

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth.
Serve the LORD with gladness;
Come before Him with joyful singing.

Know that the LORD Himself is God;
It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves;
We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving
And His courts with praise.
Give thanks to Him, bless His name.

For the LORD is good;
His lovingkindness is everlasting
And His faithfulness to all generations. - Psalm 100

**This is a short psalm, but contains so many important items. The first stanza is an element of sheer, unashamed praise. Shouldn't we always start our day like that?

The second stanza is an acknowledgement of who God is and who we are in context of His reign: He is our Creator, our loving Shepherd and we are the sheep. Remembering our place in the universe keeps us humble.

The third stanza is more praise, but it reminds us that only He makes us worthy to stand in His presence and bless His name. Wow!

The psalm ends with a reminder that the Lord is good. We have been showered with blessings, even though our lives are hard. We have a loving God; always with us, willing to do so much to bring us back to Him.

Praise God this week for His many, many blessings!

Article on Worship

2007-10-05T05:22:00.000-07:00

I found this article at Crosswalk that uses several popular songs to discuss 'seeing' Jesus. It's something wonderful to think that someday we will have the opportunity to really see Him in all His glory, like John did in the book of Revelation.
I don't know about anyone else, but "I can only imagine."

Great blog I found

2007-09-22T15:05:00.001-07:00

I stumbled upon a really great blog called Talkwisdom the other day. It is unapologetically Christian and may be a bit right-wing for some people, but I'm not shy about saying that I am a conservative Christian. Whether or not you agree with it, there is always something that will give you pause to consider. There is also a website with forums and such at talkwisdom.com that I can only assume is related to this blog. There I found a well-done post on Recognizing Truth from Error: something of which we who call ourselves 'mature Christians' should be constantly aware.

Daily Surrender

2007-09-09T19:20:00.001-07:00

This month's faithbook challenge at DSP was to talk about what the concept of 'daily surrender' means. Here is what I created:

Created with the Beautiful Bride kit by Beth Nixon available at DSP

Intentional Love

2007-08-16T05:21:00.001-07:00

I had the great privilege of being in the courthouse earlier this week to watch as some friends of our legally added two little girls to their family. I had not been to an adoption hearing before and was considerably moved when each parent was asked the question, "Will you love this child?" Maybe all of us as parents should be willing to stand before our friends and family and say, "Yes, I will love this child in the best way I know how. I will provide shelter and food and moral guidance. I will kiss the scraped knees and wear macaroni necklaces. I will love this child through colic, the terrible twos, the endless questions, the messy rooms, the teenage angst and will rejoice when this child becomes a contributing member of our society." There is something so intentional about saying the words out loud.

Granted, people vow before God to love their husbands and wives at their wedding and plenty of people break those vows. We baptize or dedicate our babies and make a vow before God to raise them properly and many times we fall down on that vow too. But there is something about making a vow that is powerful and I believe is part of the reason that we are instructed to speak about our faith so often in the Bible. Saying out loud, "Yes, I love the Lord. Yes, I believe Jesus died for me. Yes, I will give Him everything" is powerful, intentional love. We should all be ready ALWAYS to share that with everyone.

One Minute

2007-06-22T05:25:00.000-07:00

"...and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land." 2 Chronicles 7:14

I received the following email this week and whether or not the story is true, this is something that all of us should do more often. --Glynis

A KOREAN FRIEND ONCE TOLD ME THAT OUR CHURCHES DON'T GROW AND HAVE POWER BECAUSE OUR PEOPLE DON'T KNOW HOW TO PRAY. COULD BE HE KNEW WHAT HE WAS TALKING ABOUT. HIS HOME CHURCH IN PUSAN HAD 58,000 MEMBERS AT THAT TIME. THIS CHALLENGE MAY BE JUST WHAT WE NEED.

2 CHRONICLES 7:14 IS GOD'S ANSWER.

0NE MINUTE EACH NIGHT

During WWII, there was an advisor to Churchill who organized a group of people who dropped what they were doing every night at a prescribed hour and for one minute they collectively prayed for the safety of England, its people and peace.

There is now a group of people organizing the same thing here in America.

If you would like to participate:
Each evening at (6:00 PM Pacific), (7:00 PM Mountain), (8:00 PM Central), (9:00 PM Eastern Time) stop whatever you are doing and spend one minute praying for the safety of the United States, our troops, our citizens, and for a Godly nation.

If you know anyone who would like to participate, please pass this along.

Someone said if we really understood the full extent of the power we have
available through prayer, we might be speechless. Our prayers are the most
powerful asset we have.

Thank you, and God Bless America.

The Word of God

2007-05-20T11:28:00.000-07:00

"For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. -- Hebrews 4:12"
I read on Thursday night from the book The Heart of the Bible by John MacArthur and will paraphrase his comments on this particular passage from Hebrews.
Do you think of the Bible as just a group of religious stories? Or maybe just a comforting book, an encouraging book. If so, then you haven't read what the Bible says about itself: it is a sword, a surgeon's knife, cutting between "joints and marrow". Here is a quote from MacArthurs's book: "...[W]hen we are up--elevated by pride or human wisdom--the Bible knows how to bring us down by uncovering our sin, unmasking our hypocrisy and demolishing our willfullness. Reading the Bible is not a safe thing to do. It can be a frightening experience. But wherever God cuts with His Word, He heals."
We need to be grateful that He loves us enough to use His word to shape us into beings that He can use.

Spiritual Discipline

2007-05-04T05:30:00.000-07:00

One of the spiritual disciplines that I am lacking is in the area of scripture memory. I remember as a child I could rattle off the books of the Bible in order and had a litany of verses that I had memorized from school and Sunday school. I guess I didn't always know what they meant, but I could recite them along with their references. These days I have a better understanding of the verses because of my life experiences, but I don't always know where to find them. Or I have conversations with people who say 'Well, doesn't the Bible say .....' and I know that I should know!

So, I am going to challenge myself to learn a few verses over the summer. I am hoping that members of the Praise Team and other members of my circle of friends will join me in this.

At practice last night, I shared that one verse I love is Galations 2:20 'For I have been crucified with Christ. I know no longer live, but Christ in me.' That is a life verse of mine. Others that were shared were Jeremiah 29:11, Ephesians 3:7 and Psalm 139.

I would love to hear some of your favorite verses so I can add them to my list of verses of memorize.

Wishy-washy Christians

2007-04-22T15:04:00.000-07:00

Our great sermon this morning touched on a semi-controversial topic in American Christianity in the 21st century: how do we share our faith while still being tolerant of people who may share different religious viewpoints? I do not have all the answers, but I do know that we are called to be unashamed in our faith. "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes (Rom 1:16a)."

Before church this morning, I read through the headlines and found this article. When the sermon started, I was just beside myself--these thoughts had been on my mind all morning, and God reinforced them to me through the sermon. (What's ironic is that I wanted to shout 'Amen', but since I'm uncomfortable doing that (maybe ashamed?), I stayed quiet!)

Let's just remember Jesus' words in Mark 8:38 "For whoever is ashamed of me and my words in this sinful generation, the Son of Man will be also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels."

Of Tragedy and Hope

2007-04-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

At worship team practice last Thursday night I read an article from Chuck Colson called Death Where is thy Sting: The Virginia Tech Massacre.

I think that during times like these, we as the Body of Christ, need to show the greater population that we know the only way to find peace--the love, grace and mercy of God through Jesus. The Amish school shooting last October is a perfect example, in my opinion. That community pulled together, forgiving the shooter--which does not condone the act--and embraced the families of both the victims AND the shooter. That is love in all its facets and, I believe, Christianity at its core.

Glorious Resurrection!!!

2007-04-08T16:42:00.000-07:00

What a wonderful thing it is to celebrate the glorious Resurrection of our Lord! I heard on the radio the other day that the calendars of the Eastern and Latin churches generally do not agree, but this year, Christians around the globe would be celebrating the Easter holiday at the same time. Does that just astound anyone else? To think that we lift our voices with others around this globe, as well as those who through the centuries have already gone to Glory, in praise of our Saviour--amazing!!

Let us remember, as well, that we are people of the Resurrection. Live your life like you believe that Jesus is ALIVE FOREVER, AMEN!

The Bible

2007-03-04T19:49:00.000-08:00

   I found an article at Crosswalk.com called The Bible: God's One and Only Published Work and it made me stop short. The basic point Selwyn Hughes makes in it is this: the way we view the Bible will determine what priority the scriptures take in our lives. If we believe that the Bible is a bunch of nice stories, but is no different than any other book, we will treat it as such. This point was convicting to me. Even though I am working on building a daily habit of Scripture reading and study, I'm not sure that I have prioritized the scriptures the way that I should.
   I certainly believe "all Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work" (2 Tim 3:16-17), but I don't know it like I should. I have read probably 90% of that Bible, but I've never taken a year or two and read it from start to finish. I wonder if I have begun to teach my children to hold the Word sacred and above all other books?
   How do we as Christians show the rest of the world the hope that we have when we can't even find a Scripture verse to back it up? Can we answer the questions that our unbelieving generation poses to us? Do we have the tools to counter the attacks of the Enemy? Unless we begin (or continue) to study the Bible, allowing it to change us into the people that God can use, just going to church, singing praise songs and smiling at one another is superficial and an insult to one we claim to serve.

Going Fishing

2007-02-04T13:15:00.000-08:00

We had a fantastic sermon this morning based on Luke 5--the calling of Peter. One verse in particular really spoke to me. After Jesus tells Peter to cast his net out again, (Luke 5:5) Simon answered, "Master, we have worked all night long but have caught nothing. Yet if you say so, I will let down the nets." I love the phrase "Yet if you say so...". I think one of the other translations is "Because you said so...".
How many times do we completely doubt the ability of God simply because we have worked frantically in our own meager way and have not succeeded? Shouldn't we realize that the God who crafted the Universe has a few more capabilities than we can even imagine? Remember that we do NOT need to understand the plan in order to help it be fulfilled. We may NEVER realize the extent of the scheduling that God does so that certain events will take place. We simply need to be available, ready and waiting for God to tell us what to do, so that even if we are skeptical (which I admit to being sometimes) we will answer 'Okay. I'll do it because you say so".

My Faith Journey

2007-01-01T13:32:00.000-08:00

I have decided to create another blog, where I can explore my faith as a Christian, write about my journey and share with others. Come with me as I try to 'Walk In the Light'.