Discovering God

Christ is My Lifeline

2012-02-03T15:05:00.000-07:00

(Thisis a follow up to my previous post titled: “A Love Like That of Christ’s”)

AsI listened to the song, “Surely We Can Change”, multiple times, I began to feelstrengthened to endure. After all, Icould not argue with the Lord about how true love, the love He gives and calls meto, has no conditions. After I stoppedreplaying the song on my iPod, one of the following songs which began to playwas “Lifeline” from a Mandisa CD. Oh,this one was also so very appropriate for the moment!

With“Surely We Can Change”, I felt the Lord’s loving instruction. With “Lifeline”, I felt His encouragement andHis reminder that He is my All in all! His love is constant, unwavering, andunfailing. Even when the ones we love donot return our love, He has more thanenough love to give us and pour over us.

Youare my lifeline
You are my rescue
Strength in my weakness
Light in my darkness
You are my safety
Lifter of my head
The air that I need when
I can't seem to breathe in

You are my lifeline
You are my lifeline

How many times
How many turns will it take ‘til I learn
You reach for me in my need
And when I cry I’ll faithfully find you
When life comes crashin’ on me

Atthe same time that I replayed this uplifting song over and over again, theclouds that had been in the sky above dispersed, and the sun shone brightly. I was finally able to lift my head, smile,and rejoice in my heart because Christ was certainly the Lifeline in mylife. Anytime, day or night, good timesor bad times, He is there with me and for me. He is the lifter of my head. He ismy encourager. He is the source of mystrength and endurance. When I am inneed, He offers Himself. When I rejoice,He rejoices with me. When I am filledwith sorrow, He comforts me. When I amweak and faithless, He is my strength and sustains me with His faith.

Bythe time I had walked 4 miles that day, I had been as the psalmist who begins apsalm by crying their woes but finishes by praising and rejoicing in theLord. I was so encouraged and lifted up,that in the evening, I sat down for a few hours and created this music video togo along with the song. I wanted andneeded to share it with others. May yoube blessed by it.

Thankfulto have Christ as my Lifeline,

MaryAnn

A Love Like That of Christ’s

2012-02-02T21:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday,I began my day with a very heavy and sorrowful heart. Once again, it all had to do with the profoundache of relationships. I am truly havinga difficult time dealing with my intense feelings of emotional pain regarding particularrelationships. There is a desperate desirewithin me for my relationships to be full of joy, grace, peace, and love.

Ihave repeatedly asked God the same questions over and over: “Why does it have to be this way? How long must it be this way? I’m hoping it will be different in thefuture. Will my hope materialize? Is that day near or far? Why must it hurt so deeply and continuously? Why can’t I just release the situation, trustYou are working in it, and not let it hurt me so much? What am I doing wrong? Am I taking things too personal? What am I seeing wrong? What can I do to helpcorrect what’s wrong? How do I changethis person’s perception of me and my motives? How do Iimpart the truth?”

Whatare we to do when we love a person so much and want to share many things withthem, but they just won’t have it or allow it? They have put up a brick wall between our hearts and theirs and will notallow us in. I profusely love andexpress the love in so many different ways, hoping to convince them of my love,but to no avail. Instead, they seemconvinced in their mind that my acts and expressions of love are to bother orintrude upon them.

Whatare we to do when our love and expressions of that love are totally ignored? We try and try to make amends, to show wecare, to give of ourselves, and it is carelessly ignored. What happens when we feel so unimportant tosomeone who we consider so very important to us?

Yesterday,as I considered my heart ache, the circumstances, and the questions, I went formy daily 4-mile walk. These walks havebecome treasured times of reflecting, praying, singing, and of worshiping theLord. During these walks, I am energizedby Him. I have termed them “EmpowermentWalks”. I desperately needed empoweringyesterday.

AsI began my walk, I played my iPod, as usual. An upbeat song began to play first, and I had no desire to listen to it whatsoever! Oh no, I needed something much calmer tomatch my sober mood and quickly skipped on to the next song. It was the song that God had specificallyplanned for that moment. The words began like this:

And the problem is this
We were bought with a kiss
But the cheek still turned
Even when it wasn’t hit

AndI knew very well what Christ, my Lord, was telling me. “MaryAnn, you must love anyway. When you loveand love and hurt so deeply from such love because it is not returned or it isspurned, continue to love anyway. Thisis the love I give. This is the love Ihave. This is the love I offer everyperson in this world, every moment of every day. While I offer that love, the cheeks areturned; my love is spurned. However, withholdingmy love is not an option, nor is it possible.”

Andthe following words of the song expressed my human emotions.

And I don’t know
What to do with a love like that
And I don’t know
How to be a love like that

Deepdown, I know I am to love anyway. I wantto be able to love that way. Although, I’mnot sure I know how in the world to go about regularly offering a love likethat—a love that gives everything and does not expect or need anything back inreturn.

Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seekits own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice inunrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes allthings, hopes all things, endures all things. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Thatis the very love of God in Christ Jesus, our Lord. The Love spoken of in those verses is ourLord. It is the love He is and the loveHe does. It does not seek its own…itbears all things…it hopes all things…endures all things…

Humaninstinct tells us to flee from pain; it tells us to preserve and protect ourselves—toseek its own. When we are hurt, we wantto immediately put up protection from that hurt. Our minds try to rationalize that if we don’tlove or give of ourselves to the ones who reject us, they can no longer havethe power to hurt our hearts.

TheLord also lovingly reminded me that He has loved me at every moment of my life. Atmy worst, He loved me anyway. When Iturned the cheek away from Him and did not love Him back, He loved meanyway. When I did horrible things, Heloved me in spite of those things. Hehas forgiven me so very much, much more than I have ever had to forgive ofanyone who has wronged me. His arms havealways been open wide and waiting for whenever the time would come for me torun into them and accept and trust His love.

Iam far from having all the answers to this dilemma of loving with a love likethat. I am far from being an expert inloving with a love like Christ’s. All Iknow is that He loves me—all of us—with a love like that. He loves with a love that knows noboundaries, knows no conditions, and knows no end. I also know that I am Christ’s, and He ismine. I know His spirit fills me andthat through Him I can do all things because He gives me the strength necessaryto do everything He has ordained for me to do.

WhenI am hurting and don’t think I can endure any more pain in having someone spurnmy love or my outstretched hand, He will show me how and empower me to keeploving anyway. I am trusting Him tounceasingly pour His love through me and unto others. I do this one moment at a time, while Icontinue to seek His love to fulfill all my needs. I am still learning so much about what it means for Him to be my All in all.

Onlyby His love and grace,

MaryAnn

For a follow up post, see "Christ is My Lifeline"

DAILY TRUTH - The Significance of the Names of Jesus

2012-01-22T21:58:00.000-07:00

Thereis a great significance to the names of Jesus, as they are used in the NewTestament. I feel that in today’s world,the name of Jesus has been taken for granted. His name has been abused, cursed, used as an expletive, spoken incareless, thoughtless ways, and without a second thought. My hope in writing this Daily Truth is tobring attention to the fact that His name has importance and extraordinarymeaning.

Whenlooking in depth at the Apostle Paul’s writings, one can notice that he usesthe names of Jesus Christ in very specific ways, depending on the subject ofhis writings. Sometimes, Paul speaks ofthe “Lord”, or “Jesus”, or “Jesus Christ”, or “Christ Jesus”. In an article titled, “The Names of Jesus”, E.W.Bullinger states that he noted seventeen different combinations of the use ofthose names in Paul’s epistles. Bullinger also states that in the gospels, thename “Jesus” (on its own) is used about 612 times. While it is used only 71 times in the otherNT books (and 38 of those instances are in Acts). Why is that?

“Now she shall bebringing forth a Son, and you shall be calling His name Jesus, for He shall besaving His people from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21, (CLNT)

“Jesus” is the Greek word Iēsous, pronounced ē-ā-sü's. It literally means “Jehovah Savior”. When we speak of the One, the Son of God, whobecame a man on this earth that He may take upon Himself all the sins ofmankind and be crucified for them on a cross, we are speaking of “Jesus” –“Jehovah Savior”.

Heis the One spoken of in Isaiah 53:

“He shall grow uplike a young shoot before Him, and like a root sprout out from arid earth; Hehas no shapeliness nor honor that we should observe Him, and no such appearancethat we should covet Him. He is despisedand shunned of men, a man of pains and knowing illness, and, as a concealing offaces from Him, He is despised, and we judge Him of no account. Surely He Himself has borne our illnesses,and our pains, He was burdened with them; as for us, we accounted Himassaulted, smitten of Elohim and humbled. Yet He was wounded because of our transgressions, and crushed because ofour depravities. The discipline of ourwell-being was on Him, and with His welts comes healing for us. All of us, like a flock, have strayed; eachto his own way, we have turned around, yet Yahweh Himself causes the depravityof us all to come upon Him. Hard pressedis He, and He Himself is humbled, yet He is not opening His mouth; like aflockling to slaughter is He fetched, and as a ewe is mute before her shearers,He is not opening His mouth. Fromrestraint and from judgment He is taken, and on His personal fate, who ismeditating? For He is severed from theland of the living; because of the transgressions of My people, He is led todeath. And they appoint His tomb withthe wicked,…Although He had done no wrong, and no deceit was in His mouth. Yet Yahweh desire to crus Him, and He causesHim to be wounded. Should His soul placea guilt offering, He shall see a seed, He shall lengthen days, and the desireof Yahweh shall prosper in His hand. From the toil of His soul He shall see light, and He shall be satisfiedby His knowledge; My righteous Servantshall justify man, and with their depravities He Himself shall beburdened. Therefore I shall apportion toHim among the many, and with the staunch shall He apportion the spoils,Inasmuch as He empties out His soul to death, and with transgressors is Hecounted; He Himself bears the sin of many, and for transgressors shall He makeintercession.”(CLNT)

Jesus…

Hewas of no special appearance that anyone should be attracted to Him

Hewas despised by men

Hewas judged by men as of no importance whatsoever

Heexperienced and was burdened with all our pains, sorrows, and sicknesses

Hewas assaulted, smitten, and humbled by God

Hewas wounded because of our transgressions

Hewas crushed because of our depravities

Hereceived the discipline we deserved

Byhis wounds we were healed

Allof our depravity came upon Him

Hetook it all without complaint, like a lamb led to slaughter or a sheep facingthe shearer

Hewas severed from the land of the living

Becauseof our transgressions, He was led to death

Hedid absolutely no wrong

Hewas the righteous servant who justified man

Hissoul was emptied unto death

Hewas dead for three days

Thiswas Jesus. When we speak the name“Jesus”, this is the One we are referring to. The Son of God, His chosen Savior, who was born of a virgin woman, wholived and walked on the earth, that He may also experience death on a cross forthe justification of all mankind.

Whenwe say the name “Jesus” let us remember this is Who we are referring to. He is the man burdened with all our sins; whoalso died for all our sins. We praiseHim and thank Him for His immense sacrifice.

Jesusis also referred to as “Lord”. Prior toHis death, the disciples called Jesus “Lord”. As he lived among them and taught them, He was their Lord and leader.

“Lord” is the Greek word kyrios, pronounced kü'-rē-os. It literally means a Master, one who owns andhas power and authority over things and/or people. He is the possessor and the one in control. He is Master and Owner. The disciples knew Him as their Master andTeacher, and they called Him such.

AfterGod raised Jesus from the dead, He became the firstfruit of theresurrection. After He ascended intoheaven, the disciples professed Him as the risen Lord and the Christ over all.

Thedisciples proclaimed, “This Jesus Godraises…Being, then, to the right hand of God exalted… Let all the house ofIsrael know certainly, then, that God makes Him Lord as well as Christ—thisJesus Whom you crucify!” (Acts2:32-36, CLNT)

Godmakes Jesus Master and Owner as well as Anointed.

Repeatedly,the Apostle Paul refers to Him as the Lord.

“Now accept the onewho is weak in faith, but notfor the purpose of passingjudgment on his opinions… Who are you to judge the servant of another? To hisown master he stands or falls; and he will stand, for the Lord is able to makehim stand…For not one of us lives for himself, and not one dies for himself;for if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord;therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s. For to this end Christ died and livedagain, that He might be Lord both of the dead and of the living…” (Romans 14:1-9, NASB)

“For we do notpreach ourselves but Christ Jesus as Lord…” (2 Corinthians 4:5, NASB)

“Were you calledwhile a slave? Do not worry about it; but if you are able also to become free,rather do that. For he who was called in the Lord while a slave, is the Lord’sfreedman; likewise he who was called while free, is Christ’s slave. You werebought with a price; do not become slaves of men.” (1 Corinthians 7:21-23, NASB)

The Lord Jesus is our Owner and Master because Hissacrifice of death was the price that was paid for us. He has purchased us, ransomed us, with Hisblood and his death. The Apostle Paulinstructs us to go about doing all things in our lives as “in the Lord”. Let us remember that when we say “Lord”, weare stating that He is the Owner and Master over all. We are His.

“Christ” is the Greek word Christos, pronounced khrē-sto's. Itis an adjective literally meaning “anointed”. Used in conjunction with “Jesus”, it tells us that Jesus is also the oneanointed and exalted by God. The ApostlePaul is the one who uses the combination “Christ Jesus” in his epistles.

Pauldescribes himself as “an apostle ofChrist Jesus”. The anointed,resurrected Christ Jesus was the one to meet him and humble him on the road toDamascus. This is whom Paul proclaimed.

“Christos”,the anointed one of God, is perfectly described in Colossians 1.

“…for in Him is allcreated, that in the heavens and that on the earth, the visible and theinvisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or sovereignties, or authorities, allis created through Him and for Him, and He is before all, and all has itscohesion in Him. And He is the Head ofthe body, the ecclesia, Who is Sovereign, Firstborn from among the dead, thatin all He may be becoming first, for in Him the entire complement delights todwell, and through Him to reconcile all to Him (making peace through the bloodof His cross), through Him, whether those on the earth or those in theheavens…” (Colossians 1:16-20, CLNT)

Christ…

In Him all that is in the heavens and on the earthhas been created

All is created through Him and for Him

He is before all

All holds together in Him

He is the Head of the ecclesia, the ones called outto believe in Him

He is Sovereign

He is Firstborn from among the dead

In all He will be becoming first

All the attributes of God dwell within Him
Through Him we can know God

Through Him God will reconcile all to Himself

“Christ Jesus and Jesus Christ—what a vast difference between these twotitles, though one is merely a transposition of the other! Jesus Christ is the humble, despised,rejected, crucified Messiah. His glories wait until the future, at the time ofHis return to earth. At present He hasno place down here. But Christ Jesus!Already He is highest in the heavens. Seated at the right hand of God, there is no dignity to equal His. All might and power, all sovereignty andauthority among the celestials is centered in Him. There He is not humbled, but honored! There He is not despised, but praised! There He is not rejected, but acclaimed! There He is not crucified, butglorified! We hail Him, not only as thecoming King upon the earth, but as the present Head of all celestial might andmajesty! Hail! Christ Jesus! (A. E. Knoch)

When we refer to Jesus Christ, we are speaking of the humbled, suffering, andcrucified One who is consequently to be exalted and glorified as the Anointedof God when He returns upon the earth. The disciples proclaimed Him as Jesus Christ throughout the gospels andtheir other writings.

When we refer to Christ Jesus, we are speaking of the presently honored, exalted,and glorified One who was previously humbled and suffered and died for the sakeof all mankind. The Apostle Paulproclaimed Him as Christ Jesus throughout his epistles.

“For there is oneGod, and one Mediator of God and mankind, a Man, Christ Jesus, Who is givingHimself a correspondent Ransom for all (the testimony in its own eras)..” (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

As the Apostle Paul did, the One I will speak of andproclaim is CHRIST JESUS, the LORD!

The next time you are reading the Scriptures, Iencourage you to pay close attention to how His names are used throughout and thecontext in which they are used. It isnot random coincidence; it is God-incidence. God has very particular reasons for inspiring the writings of theScriptures to declare the names of the Lord Christ Jesus in particular ways.

I was inspired to write about this topic afterreading E.W. Bullinger’s article titled “The Names of Jesus” and A.E. Knoch’sarticle titled “Christ Jesus and Jesus Christ”.

In the grace of our Lord,

Mary Ann

Looking for Endurance

2012-01-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

“…for you have needof endurance…” (Hebrews 10:35,CLNT)

“For I am reckoningthat the sufferings of the current era do not deserve the glory about to be revealedfor us. For the premonition of thecreation is awaiting the unveiling of the sons of God. For to vanity was the creation subjected, notvoluntarily, but because of Him Who subjects it, in expectation that thecreation itself, also, shall be freed from the slavery of corruption into theglorious freedom of the children of God. For we are aware that the entire creation is groaning and travailingtogether until now. Yet not only so, butwe ourselves also, who have the firstfruit of the spirit, we ourselves also,are groaning in ourselves, awaiting the sonship, the deliverance of ourbody. For to expectation were wesaved. Now expectation, being observed,is not expectation, for what anyone is observing, why is he expecting italso? Now, if we are expecting what weare not observing, we are awaiting it with endurance. (Romans 8:22-25, CLNT)

Earlythis week, as I read Romans 8, the Lord reminded me (again!) that I was in needof endurance. As I wrote these words inmy journal, “And so, I see clearly I am in*GREAT* need of endurance!” a familiar chord sounded within me. Didn’t I recall that the Lord had reminded meof that not so long ago? Or was Iimagining it?...

No,I wasn’t imagining it. The Lord wasrepeating the truth to me. He had been speakingthose same words to me back in October. But back in October, November, and December I was not allowing myselfmuch time to listen and ponder the promptings of the Lord because of the crazybusyness of the craft show season. I hadso much to do and prepare to be ready for each show I was committed toparticipating in. I despise suchbusyness. Why I do these craft showswill be the subject of another post in the future. It’s not for making money; that’s for sure.

Thispast weekend, I had an opportunity to revisit my journal from exactly a yearago. And to my surprise, what did Ifind? It sounded just like my writingsof this month. I was writing andgroaning and complaining about the same things I have been frustrated about allof 2011 and at the start of this 2012 year! At that moment, it hit me that I had to change something.

Icannot change others, and I am not in control of the circumstances around me,but I can do something to change or control my own actions.

Saturday,I realized that I must make a commitment to force myself to do things which Ienjoy and which remind me that I am ALIVEand that my presence in this world does matter and make a difference. I spend practically all of my time, each andevery day, doing for my family, my home, and for others. This easily happens in the life of ahomeschooling mom, whom I am. I spendmost of my time taking care of the needs of others or being in charge of necessaryresponsibilities. Emotionally andpersonally speaking, I have allowed myself to become unhealthy as I have givenevery last drop of me for the sake of our home and our family. I have abandoned taking care of who I am and seekingsome of the things which I desperately need.

(Here’sa perfect example: Even as I type this up, I am abruptly reminded that I mustcalculate, file, and pay sales taxes for my craft business. They are due in a week. Yuck!)

Whatmakes my situation even worse is the resentment I started feeling towardsothers for observing them doing the things they find pleasurable and fun. I ask myself, “How can they spend so muchfree time doing what they want to do, while I work and work, and work somemore?” I realize how off balance my lifehas been. Often I have expressed to theLord that I have this great dis-ease in my soul. Certainly, it must be the diseases of “Out ofControl Busyness” and “Too much work and no play”.

Ihave felt an utter desperation for serious and immediate change, for more intimatespiritual relationships with others, and for living life to the fullest. Over the past year, my endurance to persevereahead in some of the more trying circumstances has practically been lost.

“And so, I seeclearly I am in *GREAT* need of endurance!”

Howmany of us out there are groaning in longing and desperately wanting to beobserving our expectations of what God will be doing in the future?

Myheart longs for things which I knoware not attainable in this earthly life. The spirit within me looks ahead in anticipation of what is to come.

“For I am reckoningthat the sufferings of the current era do not deserve the glory about to berevealed for us. For the premonition ofthe creation is awaiting the unveiling of the sons of God. For to vanity was the creation subjected, notvoluntarily, but because of Him Who subjects it, in expectation that thecreation itself, also, shall be freed from the slavery of corruption into theglorious freedom of the children of God. For we are aware that the entire creation is groaning and travailingtogether until now. Yet not only so, butwe ourselves also, who have the firstfruit of the spirit, we ourselves also,are groaning in ourselves, awaiting the sonship, the deliverance of ourbody. For to expectation were wesaved. Now expectation, being observed,is not expectation, for what anyone is observing, why is he expecting italso? Now, if we are expecting what weare not observing, we are awaiting it with endurance. (Romans 8:22-25)

Theseverses say we are to wait in expectation of what God will be doing in thefuture. The verses tell us that we mustwait in expectation and with endurance. “For to expectation were we saved.”

Justbefore the Romans 8:22-25 verses, Paul says to the believers in Christ Jesus:

“For I am reckoningthat the sufferings of the current era do not serve the glory about to berevealed for us.” (Romans 8:18)

Thesufferings of this current era we live in are not even worthy of the immense glorywhich God has in store ahead and for which we wait in expectation withendurance.

Theword “endurance” literally means “to remain under”. We are called to remain under the ups and downs, the fun times and the workingtimes, the joys and sufferings, and victoriesand trials which are all part of thisearthly life. We are called to remainunder them, waiting in expectation for the great glory ahead which is not beingobserved in the present.

AsI examined my life and took inventory of what has been missing and how to getback to the things I take pleasure in doing, the Lord reminded me of the walksthat we used to take together. Tuesday,I was inspired into action. I grabbed myiPod, put on warm clothes and a warm hat, and went out for a walk. I updated my Facebook status to say, “I thinkI’ll go for a power walk with my iPod.” What I really meant was this: “I think I’ll go for an empowerment walk with my Lord and my iPod.” The power I looked for had nothing to do withhow fast or how hard I walked or how many calories I burned. The power I hoped and looked for was from heavenabove. I urgently needed His power tofill me that I may be able to continue to endure through whatever each day aheadheld in my life.

Iwent on this very long walk and listened to music that inspires me and remindsme of exactly Who God is, Who He is in my life and in this world, and how He isover all things and involved in every aspect of my struggles, my joys,my emotions, and all the circumstances of life. Through the beauty of His creation around me and before me and through themusic, the Lord spoke to me, and I spoke to Him. As I walked, I wanted to dance, to lift myhands in the air and praise Him, and to sing at the top of my lungs. It was as if I had not been able to breathebefore and had been dying while living. But suddenly, it was as if I was receiving a fresh dose of oxygen fromabove and being revived. As I walkedwith Him, I was inspired, energized, and given additional strength toendure. It was such a wonderful experiencethat I had a hard time heading back home to the reality of the things waitingto be done. Yet, I knew that I had beenfilled with renewed energy and perseverance and that the tasks awaiting mewould not feel as heavy as they had before.

Throughthat experience, I realized the most important and primary thing which I haveneglected for myself on a regular basis throughout the past year. It is that special time with my Lord ChristJesus and my Father God. Without beingfilled by them, I may as well be dead. As I allow any work, busyness, or life’s circumstances to rob me of settingaside special time for the Lord to minister to my soul, I begin to wilt,suffocate, and die. The Lord IS theliving water that brings real life, abundant life. This is not the first time I’ve learned thislesson, and I’m convinced it won’t be the last. Earthly life and all that goes with it has a resilient tendency to pullus away from the spiritual realm, which is not as humanly tangible. It is unfortunate, but it is an earthlyreality. Every day, the constant pull isthere.

Iwas repeatedly reminded in the last few months that I was in need ofendurance. My Father God and my LordJesus Christ are my endurance. That iswhere endurance is to be found.

“…we may beglorying also in afflictions, having perceived that affliction is producingendurance, yet endurance testedness, yet testedness expectation. Now expectation is not mortifying, seeingthat the love of God has been poured out in our hearts through the holy spirit whichis being given to us…” (Romans 5:3-5)

“…the spirit isalso aiding our infirmity, for what we should be praying for, to accord withwhat must be, we are not aware, but the spirit itself is pleading for us withinarticulate groanings. Now He Who issearching the hearts is aware what is the disposition of the spirit, for inaccord with God is it pleading for the saints.” (Romans 8:26-27)

Daily,I was crying to the Lord about the abundance of difficult circumstances andbegging Him to change them—to do somethingand do it now. The spirit was aiding myinfirmities by praying in accordance with what was best. God’s answer to me was:

“…God shall befilling your every need in accord with His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19)

Iam grateful.

Whenwe are empty, He fills us.

Whenwe are weary, He strenthens us.

Whenwe feel like we can’t face another difficulty, He takes us by the hand and says,“Trust me.”

Whenwe don’t know what to do, He says, “I do.”

Whenwe don’t know how we’ll go on, He says, “I’m carrying you on.”

Whenwe are weak, He empowers us.

ByHis super exceeding grace,

MaryAnn

Of Faith and Boldness – Part II

2012-01-11T09:05:00.003-07:00

“You should not,then, be casting away your boldness, which is having a great reward, for youhave need of endurance...” (Hebrews 10: 35,CLNT)

“Now faith is anassumption of what is being expected, a conviction concerning matters which arenot being observed; for in this the elders were testified to. By faith we are apprehending the eons toadjust to a declaration of God, so that what is being observed has not come outof what is appearing.” (Hebrews11:1-2, CLNT)

Asthe Lord spoke to me regarding my faith and reminded me to allow Him to moveand have His way with me, I was filled with boldness. I felt bold in speaking out or remainingsilent. I felt bold in simply being inChrist and doing as Christ led me to do.

Inever cease to be astonished at how having a prayer and listening time withGod, can help me feel so energized, empowered, and hopeful. As I spend time with Him, I am refreshed and renewed!

“You should not,then, be casting away your boldness, which is having a great reward, for youhave need of endurance...” (Hebrews 10: 35)

AsI read that verse in Hebrews a few months ago, the Lord revealed to me that I wasin need of boldness and endurance. I hadbeen allowing daily, earthly circumstances to beat me down and overwhelm meinto a defeated attitude.

Thewriter of Hebrews says various things about boldness to the Israelite believersin Hebrews 3:6, 4:16, 10:19, and 10:35. AsI read those verses and what was being proclaimed to the Israelite believers,God spoke to me:

“Be boldlyapproaching God and His throne of grace—boldly approaching Christ with all yourneeds, doubts, and fears—because He is able to help those who are being tried(Heb. 2:18). He can sympathize with allour infirmities (Heb. 4:15) and has been tried in all respects like us. Approach with boldness that we may find Hismercy and grace for opportune help (Heb. 4:16).

Do not forsake theboldness to come before God, boldly approaching His throne of grace, Christ, toseek help and endurance. Approach Himwith a sincere and honest heart. Be REALwith Him, for we are approaching a throne of GRACE! Tell Him all about it; tell Him all about howyou really feel, what’s going on in your mind, in your heart, and in your life. Our boldness to sincerely come before Himwill offer us a great reward in His presence, His guidance, and His wisdom in beingable to persevere forward. We are ingreat need of endurance as we face the sufferings and trials of this earthlylife. We are in great need to understandand walk in the will of God. Do not holdback; do not cower. BOLDLY approach Godwith a humble and sincere heart. Therewill be a great reward.

By bold faith, do what’sright as He leads you to do it. Even ifwhat you do reveals no immediate results. By bold faith, we can be assured that one day in the future, God willhave worked everything out in accordance with His perfect will and that allwill bring Him glory.”

Allhonor and glory be His,

MaryAnn

Of Faith and Boldness – Part I

2012-01-10T08:48:00.001-07:00

“You should not,then, be casting away your boldness, which is having a great reward, for youhave need of endurance...” (Hebrews 10: 35, CLNT)

Onrecent morning, as I was praying and crying out my woes to God about particularcircumstances which were frustrating me and making me feel hopeless, I realizedthe following:

“Lord, You are myhope and, yet, I find myself losing hope because I know You many not changeanything and things could get worse. Myhope lies in You making things better, helping us. And yet, having faith in You doesn’tnecessarily mean seeing you make things better now.”

Thecircumstances were such where I felt like I was the only one who cared at all. I kept trying to explain what I saw was wrongto the others involved and kept trying to do something to bring a change, but Ionly felt like I was banging my head against an unwavering brick wall. What the Lord brought me to see that morning wasthat I was starting to feel hopeless because my sense of hope was getting outof focus. I had begun to place most of myhope in what I hoped God would do rightaway to improve the circumstances instead of in who He is and the truthsthat He is faithfully with us through every circumstance and, ultimately, He willset allthings right.

“…In faith died allthese, not being requited with the promises, but perceiving them ahead andsaluting them, and avowing that they are strangers and expatriates on earth.” (Hebrews 11:13)

Inexpectant faith, we are to continue believing and assuming that what we knowGod promises to do, He will ultimately accomplish, even if we are not observingthat taking place in the present day or during our lifetime. We are to perceive the promises ahead in thefuture and greet them from afar.

“Oh, the depth ofthe riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! Howinscrutable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways! For, who knew the mind of the LORD? Or,who became His adviser? Or, who gives toHim first, and it will be repaid him? Seeingthat out of Him and through Him and for Him is all: to Him be the glory for the eons! Amen!” (Romans 11:33-36)

Ourfaith and our hope are to be IN HIM: WHO He IS, that He is in control and sovereign overall, in His presence in our lives, and in His promises. Our faith and our hope are not to be primarilyfocused in what we observe Him doing or not doing in the present earthly realm. The circumstances that seem absolutely awfultoday may blossom into amazing earthly blessings in the future. Or, the circumstances, which seem absolutelywonderful today, may blossom into earthly sufferings in the future. And in both cases, the circumstances many notbe of much importance at all in the future. “Yet all is of God” (2Corinthians 5:18).

AsI walk in faith and live this life I have been given, I must simply do as Heleads me to do. I must do as He’s given mea heart to do. I cannot force others to door not do something, to care about the circumstances, or to see the truth orthe lies. I cannot force others to careabout what I care about. I must simplybe the individual God has created and molded me to be, live that out, and letthe Lord Jesus Christ work in and care for everyone else. If I’m led to speak, then speak. If I’m led to correct, then correct. If I I’m led to pray, then pray. If I’m led to be silent, then be silent.

Consequently, then,to whom He will, He is merciful, yet whom He will, He is hardening. You will be protesting to me, then, ‘Why,then, is He still blaming? For who has withstood His intention?’ O man! Who are you, to be sure, who are answering again to God? That which is molded will not protest to themolder, ‘Why do you make me thus?’ Orhas not the potter the right over the clay, out of the same kneading to makeone vessel, indeed for honor, yet one for dishonor? (Romans 9:18-21)

AsGod’s vessel of clays,

We are molded by the potter in whatever wayHe deems best

We may be emptied

We may be filled

We may be poured out

We may be broken

We may be remolded

Maythe Lord Jesus Christ and His moving and breathing within me be my primaryfocus in these circumstances that trouble me. May all else not be turning into all-consuming and unbearable distressfor me. If who I am, or whatever I am ledto say or do, changes nothing at all, then that is to be none of myconcern. I am not the one in control, Heis. I am to trust and leave *all*in His hands.

Thisis way, way easier for me to write than to act upon. So I’ll say it again:

If who I am, or whateverI am led to say or do, changes nothing at all, then that is to be none of myconcern. I am not the one in control, Heis. I am to trust and leave *all* in His hands.

MySaviour and Lord Jesus Christ, help me and have Your way with me.

OurSaviour and Lord Jesus Christ, help us and have Your way with us.

Thankyou.

Becauseof God’s super exceeding grace,

MaryAnn

DAILY TRUTH – There is Only One God and One Lord

2011-09-15T09:33:00.000-06:00

“…Weare aware that an idol is nothing in the world, and that there is no other Godexcept One. For even if so be that thereare those being termed gods, whether in heaven or on earth, even as there aremany gods and many lords, nevertheless for us there is one God, the Father, outof Whom all is, and we for Him, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through Whom allis, and we through Him. But not in allis there this knowledge....” (1 Corinthians 8:4-7)

Thereis only one God: YHWH, out of whom all is. He is the One from Whom everything originates. While He is spirit and unseen to our humaneyes, He is the source of everything that exists.

Thereis only one Lord: His Son, Jesus Christ,Lord of all, through Whom allis. He is the One through Whom Godspeaks to us and through Whom God fulfills His plans for the world and mankind. He makes God audible and visible to theworld.

Itis also true that “not in all is there this knowledge”. Whether we are aware of it or not, whether weknow it or not, or believe it or not, the truth that there is one God and oneLord remains true.

Maywe be granted the faith to believe and the ability to understand the truth.

Fora related post on this topic, see a previous post titled, “One God and One Lord”.

DAILY TRUTH – The Power of Prayer

2011-09-13T21:57:00.000-06:00

“…andpray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man canaccomplish much. Elijah was a manwith a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and itdid not rain on the earth for three years and six months. Then he prayed again, and the sky poured rainand the earth produced its fruit.” (James5:16-18)

Whatdo these words truly mean? How are we toapply them today?

AsI have observed and listened to others, I have come to the belief that thesewords are hugely misunderstood by many who read them and attempt to apply this instructiongiven by James.

Dothese words mean that if we pray hard enough and long enough, while we arebehaving as righteously as could be humanly possible, we can make anything wewant happen? ...

Canwe stop the rain or start the rain?

Canwe make sure “good things” happen or prevent “bad things” from happening?

Canwe change current or future events?

Canwe prevent or ease the effects of a natural disaster?

Canwe bring healing to the sick or change the heart of someone who behavesterribly?

Canwe prevent someone’s death?

Areour prayers “The Power” which moves God’s hands this way or that and changesHis will or course of action in a matter?

Doour prayers change God’s mind and make him rethink and change His plans?

Absolutely not.

Ifour prayers have that power, God is not God—we are.

Ifour prayers have that power, God is not sovereign—we are.

Ifour prayers have that power, God does not rule—we do.

Ifour prayers have that power, God is not in control—we are.

Ifour prayers have that power, God must be pulling His hair out and confused allthe time.

Ifour prayers have that power, we are in BIG trouble.

Atthis very moment, whose prayers should He heed and act upon? Of all the millions of prayers lifted up toHim at this very moment, which ones should He take under serious considerationand do accordingly as asked and which ones should He ignore? What if two “righteous” persons, with humble andearnest hearts, are praying for the very opposite things to take place? What is God to do? Is He wringing his hands in agony oruncertainty?

The power of ourprayers is not the power behind God’s work.

The power of ourprayers is not the power behind what God does and does not do.

Ifthe fervent prayers of a righteous man do not manipulate the hands or the willof “…the One Who is operating all inaccord with the counsel of His will…” (Ephesians 1:11), what differencedoes praying make? What is it that theseprayers accomplish? Does it matter whatwe pray?

Yes, it absolutelydoes matter that we pray!

Ourprayers do matter! They matter to us andto others, and they matter to God.

Ofwhat effect are our prayers?

How do prayersmatter to us personally?

Ourprayers are our intimate conversations with God. Through prayer, we share the depths of ourhearts with God. Through prayer, weshare with Him our joys, sorrows, hopes, dreams, despairs, fears, andthanksgivings. When we call and cry outto God, we have communion and relationship with Him. As we pray, we entrust ourselves and all theaspects of whatever we are praying about into His care. As we repeatedly do this, His peace comes tofill our minds and hearts.

“Beanxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication withthanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension,will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7)

Aswe make our requests known to God, His peace, which surpasses all humancomprehension, will guard our hearts and minds. When I am afraid or sad or confused and I share those things with God,His peace fills me. His peace is afortress that keeps out paralyzing fear and utter despair or hopelessness. The more I share my concerns with Him, themore peace that fills me. As we pray, wecan also be reassured knowing He is listening and cares about all our concernsor sorrows. Nothing is unimportant; Hecares about anything and everything we want to share with Him. As we pray, we repeatedly put our trust inHim and His sovereignty over all matters in our lives and the lives of those wecare about and love.

How do our prayersmatter to others?

Whenwe pray for others, we share their burdens or joys. I know I find great comfort in knowing thatothers are praying for me and whatever concerns I have. I do not expect their prayers to make God doanything different than what He already plans on doing, but their prayers helpto hold me up and ease my burdens. Whenwe pray for others, we are having community with them and with God. When I am going through tough times and I donot feel that others are praying for me, I feel very lonely and unloved, and theburdens I’m carrying are much heavier to bear. When we pray for others, we show them that we care and are willing tosupport them through their circumstances. The prayers of others comfort us, encourage us, hold us up, lift ourspirits, and increase our hope.

How do our prayersmatter to God?

Inthe same manner as I long for my children to have a close relationship with me,God also longs for us to be in close relationship with Him. As I yearn for my children to share theirhearts with me, talk to me about their day’s events, and share with me theirthoughts or questions or desires, God yearns for us to do the same with Him. When my children do not share their heartswith me and instead distance themselves from me, our relationship is not of thesame quality. Instead, it is adisjointed and somewhat distant relationship. When the relationship is that way, it is more difficult for me to impartloving truth to them and to comfort or encourage them.

Wecan clearly see that our prayers absolutely do matter and “accomplish much”. They make a difference in the quality anddepth of our relationship with God, in our faith and trust in Him, in how He isable to communicate with us, in the feelings we have about life’scircumstances, and in how others feel or are encouraged to endure through theircircumstances.

Our prayers do notordain God’s doings, but through them, we are changed and cultivate intimaterelationship with God and with others.

Whenwe have prayed for a particular outcome and God’s moving brings about theoutcome we asked for, it is not because our prayers moved the hands of God, itis because we were led to pray in accordance with God’s plans. When that happens, we can cheerfully rejoice. As we rejoice, instead of saying, “Godanswered my prayers!”, we should more accurately say, “Praise be to God! My desires and prayers were in accordancewith His perfect will!” If we say, “Godanswered my prayers” when things go the way we asked for, we give theimpression to ourselves and others that when things do not go the way we prayed,God must have ignored our prayers or not cared enough to bring about theoutcome we asked for. It leaves us withthe feeling of “Where were you God when I needed you most? I prayed my heart out and this still happened(or did not happen).”

Ifervently write here and profess to you, our prayers are never ignored. God hears every one of them. However, often times, our prayers are based onhuman desires, wills, and plans and notin agreement with His desires, will,or perfect plan. I cannot say that I alwaysunderstand what He does and that I never question it. But I do believe He knows perfectly well whatHe is doing, regardless of my finite understanding.

Justbefore the most painful ordeal of His life, Jesus cried out to God in intenseagony: “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will,but Yours be done.” (Luke 22:42) It wasnot the will of the Father to remove that cup of suffering from Jesus. If He had done so, all mankind would be at animmense loss and without a greater hope. “…Christ suffered for your sakes…byHis wounds you were healed…” (1Peter 2:21,24)

MayChrist grant us and fill us with the faith to trust God enough to say the sameas He did. It is not easy, but it will bringa superior and longer lasting peace.

DAILY TRUTH – The Counsel of God’s Will

2011-09-09T10:25:00.000-06:00

“…theOne Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of His will...”

(Ephesians 1:11)

Godis working and moving in complete accordance with His perfect will.

Thereare times it is easy to accept this truth and be content with it. It is easy to accept this truth when thingsare going well and good things happen in our lives or in the world around us. “Oh look,” we say, “Isn’t God grand thateverything is working out so nicely and beautifully!” “Isn’t God’s timing justperfect? That could not have beenresolved as well except for God having his hand in it.”

Thereare times when it feels impossible to accept this truth. Disaster strikes in our lives or in the worldand, suddenly, the Devil’s will seems to be in control. “TheDevil is getting the upper hand today with all the terrible things going on.” “Where is God? Why doesn’t He do something? Doesn’t He care? How can God be all-powerful and let thingslike this go on?”...

Iprefer to call the Devil the Adversary because that is truly what he is. He is the Adversary of God. He was created as such since we are told inJohn 8:44, “He was a mankiller from the beginning, and does not stand in thetruth, for truth is not in him. Wheneverhe may be speaking a lie, he is speaking of his own, for he is a liar, and thefather of it.”

Itis quite difficult for me to swallow and accept God’s sovereignty over some ofthe most terrible things that go on in this world. I become so very angry at the injustices ofman upon their fellow man. I amcurrently reading Uncle Tom’s Cabinand find myself infuriated at the behavior of those who treated their fellowman like they were nothing more than some piece of property only because thecolor of their skin was different. Theabuses and heart breaks I read of the Negroes during that time breaks my heart. It is no different when I read or speak ofany such things whether they happened in the past or in the present.

However,I firmly profess and believe in the truth of God’s total sovereignty. God is completely sovereign and incontrol. If He is not, then He cannot beGOD. If He is not, He may as well justbe some “god” among thousands of other false gods. If God is “perfectly on time” in one incidentand the Adversary got there ahead of Him in another incident, then He is notGod. Yes, there is an Adversary and hisagenda is to create havoc and destruction, but that Adversary cannot doanything further than God’s hand will permit him.

Iam convinced that a great number of people today have trouble believing in God ortrusting in Him because He has been made out to be some namby pamby god thatreally can’t do much. Through erroneous teachings,He has been portrayed as weak and ineffective and certainly not as One incomplete, sovereign control and having His perfect will. It has been taught that “the Devil” and “man’sfree will” are stronger than God’s power and will. God’s hands seem to be tied behind His back. Poor God, what will He do? By many teachings of our modern day, peopleare convinced that in the end “the Devil wins” and God fails. Who wants to believe in or trust a god likethat? Not me! That kind of god is no god worth my worshipor anyone else’s.

Jobknew better. As he suffered the loss ofall his property and his children, he said to his wife: “Indeedshould we receive good from the One, Elohim, and should we not receive evil?”(Job 2:10) Some Bible translationschange the word “evil” to somethingmilder in connotation, like “adversity”. However, the original Hebrew word is “ra” which literally means evil.

Jobknew and believed in God’s sovereignty. He knew that, ultimately, God was responsible for the destruction thathad befallen him. While God had not donethe deeds Himself, the Adversary whom God had created long before had broughtthem about. In the beginning of Job’saccount, we read of the Adversary meeting with God and of their dialogue aboutJob. It is clear God is aware of allthat the Adversary is doing in Job’s life, but for God’s reasons and purposes,that neither Job nor us could fully understand, God’s will is for the Adversaryto create chaos in Job’s life.

No,it is not easy to accept that if God really wanted to, or that if it really waspart of His perfect will, He could stop a disaster or tragedy. However, we only see such a microscopic partof the picture, and the finished picture is larger than our imaginations cancomprehend. What may seem like asenseless tragedy to us is all part of a grander and perfect outcome designedby God. Humanly speaking, horriblethings happen every day. But if we lookat them in the light of God’s character of unfailing love, His greatness andpower, and His ultimately redemption of all things and of everyone, we will seesomething different.

Ibelieve it’s much worse to be convinced God is weak and ineffective than totrust that He is absolutely sovereign, even over the evil in the world. If He is so weak that He is not sovereign overthe good AND the bad, then He is not worth believing in. If He is not ultimately sovereign over theevil, then evil will never be conquered and things will not all be set right inthe future. If that is the case, whathope is left?

TheCreator of all is sovereign and completely in control of His creation. He is operating everything in accordance withthe counsel of His will.

“I am Yahweh, and there is no other. Former of light and Creator of darkness, Maker of good and Creator ofevil, I, Yahweh, make all these things.” (Isaiah 45:6-7)

Formore reading on God and good and evil, you can read a previous post on thissite called “The Knowledge of Good and Evil”.

DAILY TRUTH – The Value of Selfless Sacrifice

2011-09-08T09:15:00.001-06:00

“…thatyou may be mutually disposed, having mutual love, joined in soul, beingdisposed to one thing--nothing according with faction, nor yet according withvainglory -- but with humility, deeming one another superior to one's self, noteach noting that which is his own, but each that of others also. For let this disposition be in you, which isin Christ Jesus also, Who, being inherently in the form of God, deems it notpillaging to be equal with God, nevertheless empties Himself, taking the formof a slave, coming to be in the likeness of humanity, and, being found infashion as a human, He humbles Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even thedeath of the cross.” (Philippians 2:2-8)

Weare encouraged to be disposed to one another with love, unselfishness, and humility. Reading that exhortation is much easier thanapplying it. The more years that I livelife, the more I realize how many things we do and give more for our own sakesthan that of others. It is in ourimperfect human nature to take care of and please our own selves first andothers later...

Ihave even discovered that when I selflessly do or give for others, often times Iam still hoping for their appreciation or gratefulness in return. I am longing to receive something back fromthem. When I receive back ungratefulnessand disdain, I become so upset (and sometimes angry) and end up asking myselfwhy I bothered doing or giving at all. That reveals to me that I am still looking for something I do not needto be looking for.

Isacrificially give and do because I love deeply and love to help and take careof others. I do not give because I sincerelyexpect to be served back or highly applauded for my sacrifices. But I cannot tell a lie and say that it doesnot hurt deeply to be faced with an attitude of disdain or a total lack ofgratefulness over and over again. It isheartbreaking for me to give so much and to feel like those sacrifices are repeatedlyunappreciated or stomped upon. Some days,I even tell myself to “Stop!” “Stopgiving so much of yourself and doing so much for those who do not even appreciatethe sacrifice it has meant for you.” Andyet, I cannot stop. It is not in me tobe that way. The love in my heart supersedesthe hurt in my heart.

Thesedays, as I often ponder all of these things, I see and understand more clearlythe boundless depths of the love of God. This is the love of God. Hereceives some gratitude from His creation, but more often than not, there is nogratitude at all. He receives back agreat abundance of complaint, ungratefulness, and disdain for what He gives ordoes not give and for what He does or does not do which does not sit well withour selfish desires. Regardless of theresponse He receives from us, He continues to love and give and do what Heknows is best for us. He does not scrapHis perfect plan that has been in fulfillment before any one of us existed onthis earth. He may long for us to returnHis love and for us to express our appreciation or thanksgiving, but whether weexpress it or not, He will not step out of His character of boundless,unconditional love that gives His all and does what He knows is best.

Overthe past year or two, I have begun having the awful and painful feelings thatmy sacrifices and all my giving are worthless when they are not welcomed orappreciated. What can they possibly matterwhen the ones receiving the benefits have no comprehension of the depths oflove and care with which I have given of myself to them?

Lastweek, as I shared my heartaches with God, He encouraged me with the followingtruth: The value of selfless giving and doing for others cannot be determinedby their gratefulness or ungratefulness. The act of pouring ourselves out for others reveals who we are in Christand the work of Christ taking place through us. Therefore, regardless of how these acts are received, they are ofimmeasurable value and worth. They makea difference even when you see no difference at all.

Andso, I am doing my best to daily hang on to the truth that pouring ourselves outfor the benefit of others is NEVER worthless. The act may totally ignored, it may not be appreciated or understood,and might even be cursed or spit upon, but it is never worthless. As I write these words, I see a picture in mymind of Jesus Christ carrying His cross and willingly laying upon it to die forthe grateful and the ungrateful. I seeGod faithfully fulfilling His plan and NEVER giving up on it or on usregardless of all the mistakes we make. Isee the unfailing and unceasing love of God in Christ that pours over the wholeworld. And I see that it is His moving and working in me thatsacrificially gives and does for others, and it is my body of human flesh and ofself-preservation which resists such selfless sacrifice.

“…He is operatingin you to will as well as to work for the sake of His delight.”

(Philippians 2:13)

“…for Hisachievement are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which Godmakes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them.”

(Ephesians 2:10)

DAILY TRUTH – Christ Died for Our Sakes

2011-09-07T09:27:00.000-06:00

“ForChrist, while we are still infirm, still in accord with the era, for the sakeof the irreverent, died. For hardly forthe sake of a just man will anyone be dying: for, for the sake of a good man, perhapssomeone may even be daring to die, yet God is commending this love of His tous, seeing that, while we are still sinners, Christ died for our sakes.” (Romans 5:6-8)

God’ssuperb grace and unfathomable love is magnificently revealed to us by the factthat His Son, Jesus Christ, gave Himself, His whole life for the sake ofsinning and irreverent people.

Itis easy to love, do good things, and make sacrifices for those who love us backand show an appreciation for what we do for them. It is not easy to sacrificially pourourselves out and our love and grace to others when they have animosity towardsus and return our goodness with ungratefulness, hatefulness, anger, orresentment...

Thisis what Christ did 2,000 years ago. “While we are still infirm, still in accordwith the era…” While the people inthe world were behaving in raunchy, unlovable ways and could not care one iotaof the amazing love and grace being poured out for their sakes and thesacrifice being made on their behalf, Christ died for them. While they were spitting in His face, callingHim names, cursing at Him, treating Him like He was an idiot, Christ died for them. Christ gave Himself completely for every personwho lived before them and has lived after them. Christ gave Himself for every single person on this earth—past, present,and future. Not one is discounted.

Thetruth that Christ has died for our sakes with a boundless love, and continuesto love us the same, does not change with the passing years. That truth stands solid and firm today evenwhen His name is still mocked, ridiculed, and cursed. The love that willingly took Christ to thecross so long ago is the same, exact love He has for us all today. It doesn’t matter whether you profess to loveChrist, to curse Him, or to not even know Him. The love doesn’t change. What Hedid for all of us doesn’t change. It iswhat it is. The meaning and value ofwhat He did doesn’t change, and the ultimate benefits of His sacrifice also donot change. You can ignore Christ, youcan curse God, or you can pretend they do not exist. It does not change what Christ has done foryou, the grace God has poured out for you, or the ultimate benefits you will receivefrom their unfailing love.

Evenas enemies of God, “…we were conciliated toGod through the death of His Son…” (Romans 5:10) And through that conciliation we also experience and know God’sboundless and supernatural grace.

DAILY TRUTH – God’s Grace is Unmerited

2011-09-06T08:57:00.001-06:00

“…ifit is by grace, it is no longer on the basis of works, otherwise grace is nolonger grace.” (Romans 11:6)

God’sgrace cannot be true grace if we must do *anything* to receive it. God’s grace is unmerited—meaning there is*nothing* we can do to have God extend it to us. He pours His grace over us simply out of Hischaracter of unfailing and boundless love. God’s grace is all about His doing and our receiving...

Manytalk about grace and what a wonderful thing it is from God, but in their nextbreath, they rob grace of its immense value by saying that a person must dosomething or act a certain way in order to receive that grace. This is a lie. That lie says we must earn God’s grace. If we mustdo anything or act in any certain way in order for God to pour His grace overus, then we are not talking about grace at all.

Thetruth is that God’s grace has nothing to do with how lovable or unlovable weare or whether we deserve it or not. AsGod daily fulfills His perfect plan for each of our lives and for this entireworld, He pours His daily grace as He deems best. It may be upon the prostitute walking thestreet corner at this very moment, or it may be upon the homeless man or womansitting under the bridge. It may bepoured upon the person who does not believe God exists, or the person who isalways at the church when the doors are open.

Theultimate grace of God has been poured upon everyone and the whole world throughHis Son, Jesus Christ. We can rest assured that God’s grace is notdependent upon us—only upon Him and what He does. You may not realize God is pouring His graceover you, but that does not mean He is not doing it. Your realization does not affect the truth ofgrace.

EnjoyGod’s grace today.

About the Bible and Bible Study - Part 2

2011-06-24T15:07:00.006-06:00

This is a continuation from a previous post
About the Bible and Bible Study - PART 1

PART 2 – About Bible Study

One of the best things that we can do when beginning to read the Bible is to get a hold of one of the best and most accurate translations possible. I do not believe there exists an infallible translation, but I do believe there are those which are much better than others.

Back in 1995, my dearest friend, gave my husband and me a New International Version Study Bible (NIV). That particular Bible will always have very special meaning in my life. It was the Bible that I read more than any other Bible I had ever held before it. I devoured it—studying with it, writing in it, and highlighting in it all over the place. A few short years later, I decided to move on to using a New American Standard Bible (NAS). I had heard and read that it was a translation more true to the original languages. By that time, I longed to be a more serious studier of the Scriptures and wanted as close to the original as possible. For years, the NAS was my most preferred translation, and I didn’t think I could get my hands on a better Bible. But I was always keeping an eye out, just in case.

In 2005 I was made aware that there are some other translations which are even more accurate to the original words penned in ancient times. I was made aware of the Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible, the Young’s Living Translation, and the Concordant Literal Translation. Initially, I investigated using the Rotherham’s and the Young’s translations. I liked them well enough, but after researching more about the Concordant version, that one became my preferred literal translation of choice. Being as literal as it is, it does not make for “easy” or “light” reading. If you are looking for easier reading, I would say this is not the translation for that. If you are looking to know, with most accuracy, what God was really saying when He inspired men to write His words, this is the translation I highly recommend. You can find out more about the Concordant translation from the Concordant Publishing website, and read some of its text. You can read the entire New Testament of the Concordant translation on the God’s Truth for Today website, or view the entire Old and New Testaments using the Scripture 4 All Hebrew and Greek Interlinear Bible software. The Scripture 4 All software is an excellent Bible study tool. You can use it to simply read the text or to look up the text in its original languages.

Another online tool I like to use for getting the original language is Blue Letter Bible. It’s an excellent resource for seeing the original words which have been translated into English. I steer clear of reading the Blue Letter Bible commentaries because they are just that—commentaries. Commentaries are man’s interpretations of what they think the text means and there are points with which I highly disagree with BLB because of instances where what they interpret contradicts the meaning of the original language right before their eyes.

If you are interested in searching Bible text in many different Bible translations, you can check out Bible Gateway. It is another handy online tool where you can look up by passage reference, key words, or topic. Bible Gateway offers a great multitude of Bible translations to choose from. However, most unfortunately, it does not offer the Rotherham’s Emphasized Bible or the Concordant Literal Translation.

There are times when just reading the words of the Bible is all we need for God to encourage us and speak the truth about Himself and His ways. There are other times when we can gain so much more understanding and encouragement by studying in greater depth. During those moments, take small sections of Scripture, read it over and over again and note the context of the text and to whom it is written. There are words which are written specifically to a particular people for a particular time and reason, and there are words which carry timeless application. Ponder the words you are reading, ask God to show you what He meant when they were originally written and what they mean for today. Use the helpful tools I’ve mentioned to search the meaning of the words and to discover their original usage. Take lots of notes and seek God all throughout. He will make Himself clear in His perfect way and timing. As you do this, you will not merely be filled with head or book knowledge, you will be filled with experiential knowledge and truth of the living God. It is life changing and faith growing.

My point with these two recent posts about Bible study is to encourage people to seek God for themselves. Do not allow yourself to be lulled to complacency to merely accept as truth whatever is taught at a church or at a Bible study, or by the latest popular book, speaker, or author. God wants to reveal the truth of Himself to anyone who is willing to seek Him and listen. My hope is that some of the tools I’ve mentioned will be a help in your search for the truth of God and of Christ. It is a great journey of amazing discovery!

Wishing you the best on your journey.

Every Day, It's All About Christ

2011-04-24T12:14:00.002-06:00

The evangel…

Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that He was entombed, and that He has been roused the third day according to the scriptures…

One died for the sake of all…

He died for the sake of all that those who are living should by no means still be living to themselves, but to the One dying and being roused for their sakes…

God was in Christ conciliating the world to Himself, not reckoning their offenses to them…

Christ has been roused from among the dead, the Firstfruit of those who are reposing. For since, in fact, through a man came death, through a Man, also, comes the resurrection of the dead. For even as, in Adam, all are dying, thus also, in Christ, shall all be vivified...

In Christ we are having the deliverance, the pardon of sins…

in Him is all created, that in the heavens and that on the earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones, or lordships, or sovereignties, or authorities, all is created through Him and for Him, and He is before all, and all has its cohesion in Him. And He is the Head of the body, the ecclesia, Who is Sovereign, Firstborn from among the dead, that in all He may be becoming first, for in Him the entire complement delights to dwell, and through Him to reconcile all to Him (making peace through the blood of His cross), through Him, whether those on the earth or those in the heavens.

(1 Corinthians 15, 2 Corinthians 5, Colossians 1)

I am believing in the One Who gave everything for all.

About the Bible and Bible Study - Part 1

2011-03-30T20:18:00.005-06:00

PART 1 – About the Bible

I wanted to share some thoughts regarding the Bible and Bible study.

There are controversies regarding the Bible and whether it is true or not (as a whole or in part), whether it is worth reading or not, whether it is a work of God or of man, and whether it can be trusted or not.

If one follows most common, mainstream Bible teachings, the Bible will eventually seem to be full of contradictions. Most Bible teachers will not usually straight up admit to that. However, on one day, a person can receive a particular teaching and explanation about what is written in the Bible, and on another day, a person can be taught something that completely contradicts the teaching that came before it. Excuses or some kind of weak pat answers are typically given to a person who asks why the Bible and God’s ways seem to be contradictory. From my own experience, I have had plenty of such instances in my life. And when the questions would start rolling through my mind, I would shoo them away like flies because I kept telling myself that “God’s ways aren’t my ways” and “Who am I to question God’s confusing behavior and plan?” So I would just keep swatting away the pesky questions and try to content myself with an answer like, “That’s just the way it is, and I must accept it.”

Why does it seem like the Bible is full of contradictions or unexplainable difficulties? Did God give us the Bible only to keep us all confused? Did He really give us the Bible so we would know something about Him and His work and plans with mankind? Or did He give us the Bible only to tease or confuse us?

Is He merely teasing us by supposedly speaking double-talk such as…

“I love you always…but if you continue to reject me that will change”.

“You can do nothing to earn my grace, except for this one little thing.”

“My love is unconditional…except when you do this or don’t do that.”

“Nothing can separate you from my love, except this or that.”

“You are saved…oops, now you’re not, and it’s your fault—you made the wrong choice.”

“I’m all-knowing, but I had no idea Adam and Eve would eat of the tree and mess it all up.”

“I’m all powerful and in control, but when you exercise your will I’m not so much”.

“Christ death on the cross covers every sin…well, except the one of unbelief.”

“I am in control of your destiny, except when your will supersedes mine.”

“I loved Israel, my first chosen people, but now I don’t because they are stubborn”.

“Christ is the Ransom and Savior of all mankind…well, not quite all.”

“It is my will that all mankind come into a realization of the truth, but your unbelieving will can overwhelm mine.”

Is that what God is really saying? Is that Who He really is? Can God be that weak? Can His love be that conditional?

I do not believe so. I am convinced that is not Who He is. He has convinced me and shown me that He is not that way at all.

I believe the Bible to be the work of God inspiring men to write down genealogies, prophecies, historical events, and timeless truths as He directed those men to do so. If the writings had been the work of men, they would have never written the things which revealed their own failures and fallibility. Instead, the writings would have only touted the greatness of man instead of the greatness of God because man loves to brag about his successes and hide his failures.

I’m not sure why God chose to entrust fallible men to write His words, but He did.

The book we call the Bible is actually a group of ancient writings that have been collected, bound together, and translated into many languages. I believe the Bible to be perfect and infallible in its most original writings. However, I do not feel the same way about man’s translations of those ancient writings. My main reasons for these feelings have to do with facts of grammar technicalities and mistranslations of some very important words.

Punctuation had no place in the original writings of the Scriptures. The way a sentence is punctuated can thoroughly change the meaning of an idea or truth being expressed. Numbered chapter divisions and verse subdivisions also had no part in the original writings. These have also been added by man, and they may cause the reader to read and understand the text in a different way than if the text was flowing together without interruption. Chapter titles and subheadings have also been added by man. While all these items have been inserted in an effort to try to “help” people with Bible reading and study, I believe they have become a hindrance to comprehending the truth of God. All of those additions have a great influence upon the reader and how that person understands the meaning of the words given by God.

Languages are ever “evolving”. A word which means one thing in one period of time can evolve into a totally different connotation in the future. For example, presently I am noticing the evolution of the word “sick”. Sick has always meant to me that there is physical illness. However, I have noticed that “sick” is now taking the connotation of something like “Cool!” Instead of saying “That’s cool!” or “That’s awesome!”, I have heard people saying “That’s sick!” I find it completely bizarre. But such is the way languages evolve.

When I pick up a translation of the Bible, I want to know that the translators of that particular version took extreme and utmost care in translating the Hebrew or Greek words from the ancient manuscripts into English words that correspond with what the Hebrew and the Greek words meant at the particular time when they were written. I certainly do not want the translators’ “best guesses” or “biased personal opinions” of what the ancient words must have meant. I don’t want a translation of a word after it may have evolved to mean something else. I want to know that the translators searched other writings of the same ancient time period and confirmed the meaning of a particular word at the time it was originally written.

In addition to the grammatical additions and evolution of languages, we have the complexity of the ancient Greek language in which the New Testament was written. The writings in their ancient languages can be quite complex and the merely statement of a word does not necessarily give us the whole meaning. It is important to know in what way the Greek word was being expressed. I go over a bit of this information in a recent post titled “The Simplicity of Salvation” where I explain a little bit about how Greek verbs have different “tenses”, “voices”, and “moods” that affect the meaning of the verb. You cannot know the full meaning of a Greek verb unless you also understand in what tense, voice, and mood it is being expressed.

Language translations, teachings of others, traditions and creeds of men, punctuation, chapter and verse divisions, titling of chapters or verse sections, and commentary notes added in Bibles all greatly influence the way someone reads the Bible and understands the meaning of what is written and the character of God.

Does this mean we shouldn’t even bother reading a Bible or trying to study what it is teaching us? By no means am I saying that!! But, I firmly believe that it is of great importance to be aware of some of the things I have just mentioned. There is no reason to read or study the Bible in ignorance or with careless assurance that everything taught in a church building by some popular pastor, written in some highly acclaimed Bible commentary, or written in the latest book that has everyone talking is the absolute and complete truth of God and about God.

To be continued in PART 2 – About Bible Study

A Change of URL Address

2011-02-22T21:14:00.001-07:00

I've decided to change the URL address to this blog to something more appropriate for its subject matter.

From now on all future posts will be at our custom domain http://www.discoveringgodtoday.com. Please continue to read and follow the blog there.

If you are a "follower" of this blog or subscribed to it, your settings should continue to work just fine, as Blogger will continue to redirect http://mabsspot.blogspot.com to our Discovering God Today domain.

Thank you!

Blessings on your journey.

The Simplicity of Salvation

2011-02-22T13:01:00.002-07:00

“For in grace, through faith, are you saved,

and this is not out of you;

it is God’s approach present,

not of works lest anyone should be boasting.”

(Ephesians 2:8-9)

I’ll have to begin this post with a little technical info on the Greek language. Please bear with me; it’s so important to the point I’m going to make.

The majority of the New Testament is written in the Greek language. Greek can be quite a complicated language and sometimes it is difficult to translate the full meaning of its text into the English language. This is partly due to the fact that Greek verbs have different “tenses”, “voices”, and “moods” which give the verbs slightly different connotations. If you’d like to be a serious student of the New Testament writings, gaining knowledge of these aspects of the Greek language is important.

One of the sources I have found helpful in explaining the tenses, voices, and moods of the Greek language is the online Blue Letter Bible. The link at the site titled “Understanding How Greek Verbs Work” is particularly helpful in explaining the meanings of tense, voice, and mood.

Here is a very quick overview explaining some of the varying tenses, voices, and moods. For a more serious study, I highly recommend going to the Blue Letter Bible web link I mentioned above or doing a thorough search on the internet for “Greek language tense voice mood”.

The tenses in the Greek language direct us to understand how an action is taking place:

Punctiliar tense: the verb is taking place at a specific point in time

Linear tense: the verb is in the processing of happening

Perfected: the verb has taken place at a particular time but also continues to have current results

The moods of the Greek language tell us the relationship of the action of the verb to its reality. It can tell us if the action of the verb is a fact, a possibility, a desire, or a command.

Indicative mood: states a matter of fact—asserting a certainty

Subjunctive mood: mostly states a desire or probability

Obtative mood: is more like a wish or a prayer or something potential (the subjunctive mood is something closer to a reality than the obtative mood)

Imperative mood: states a command

The voices in the Greek language describe who is performing the action of the verb:

Active: states when the action of the verb is being done by the subject it relates to

Middle: states when the subject is doing the action to itself, as if for its own benefit

Passive: states when the action of the verb is being done to the subject

Whew! With all that Greek language technicality out of the way, I can now get on to the point of this post…

The last couple of weeks, I have been studying some Scriptures and digging into the tense, voice, and mood of some of the Greek verbs in those Scriptures. In my searching, I was led to Ephesians 2:8-9 and to the study of what the tense, voice, and mood are in the “are you saved” words of that passage.

What I discovered is completely beautiful and simple.

“For in grace, through faith, are you saved,

and this is not out of you;

it is God’s approach present,

not of works lest anyone should be boasting.”

(Ephesians 2:8-9)

The words “are you” are a translation of the Greek verb “este”. “Este” (“are you”) is a verb in the Greek present tense and the Greek indicative mood.

The Greek present tense and indicative mood (used for “are you”) simply assert a matter of fact—an action that has taken or is absolutely taking place. This present tense may be describing an action that happened in the past, but its effects are still occurring in the present.

When we read “are you”, the words say to us that we “are” with complete certainty and as a matter of fact.

So, we “are” most certainly what?

With utmost certainty, we are “saved”.

The word “saved” is a translation of the Greek verb “sozo”. “Sozo” is a verb in the Greek perfect tense, having a passive voice, and being in participle form. [The Greek participle pretty much corresponds with our English participle that states “-ing” or “-ed” added to the basic verb form.]

The perfect tense tells us that “saved” was completed, once and for all, and does not need to happen again. It is another certainty, a matter a fact, accomplished for all time. (When Jesus cried out from the cross “It is finished”, we have another example of the perfect tense.)

Salvation is something that has already happened in the past but is also having its effect in the present and the future.

Adding to the stupendous fact that salvation has already been completed, once and for all, is the added fact that the verb “saved” is in the passive voice. Salvation has been done to us. We do not do it. We could not do it. “Saved” is done upon us. We have nothing to do with it.

The words written immediately after “are you saved” confirm all of the above with even more conviction…

“…and this is not out of you; it is God’s approach present, not of works lest anyone should be boasting…”

Glorious God! Salvation is HIS alone.

To summarize this all very simply…

When we read the words:

“For in grace, through faith, are you saved,

and this is not out of you;

it is God’s approach present,

not of works lest anyone should be boasting.”

(Ephesians 2:8-9)

We can know that in God’s boundless grace, through a faith that has its origin in Jesus Christ (Hebrews 12:2) and a faith given to us, we are most positively, and without a doubt, saved. This grace, this faith, and this salvation undoubtedly come from God so that NO one can boast about having had ANY thing to do with it. GOD brings us to a realization of the truth of His grace, faith, and salvation in His perfectly appointed time.

We do not find God – He is not lost

God does not find us – for we are never lost to Him

We do not save ourselves – for God has done the saving and His salvation continues in power

We do not come to a realization of the truth on our own – He brings us to it

He is “…Saviour, God, Who wills that all mankind be saved and come into a realization of the truth…” (1 Timothy 2:4)

The will of God is not some hopeful willingness, it is not a conditional willingness. He’s not sitting on His throne in heaven heavy-hearted, sighing heavily, thinking how sorrowful it is that His will is not going to be accomplished because man has messed everything up. Oh blah! That picture of God is such a LIE! It is a fake! Satan, the Adversary, wants us to believe that lie so that he can seem to be more powerful than God, and we will be filled with doubt and lose hope in the power and sovereignty of God.

This is the TRUTH: God remains in absolute control and knowing that His salvation of all mankind is a matter of complete certainty. All mankind will ultimately come into a realization of the truth because that is God’s will. God will achieve His will.

“For there is one God, and one Mediator of God and mankind, a Man, Christ Jesus, Who is giving Himself a correspondent Ransom for all (the testimony in its own eras)…” (1 Timothy 2:5-6)

Christ became the Ransom for all. Salvation is of God, through Christ, for all mankind. Christ died as a Ransom for all, and salvation has been completed. It is a fact. It is not God’s wishful thinking, it is not an incomplete failure, and it is not His hope against all hope. It is an all-encompassing action which He has achieved through Christ and which continues now at full power. The future will reveal it.

“For in grace, through faith, are you saved,

and this is not out of you;

it is God’s approach present,

not of works lest anyone should be boasting.”

(Ephesians 2:8-9)

Do You Believe God?

2011-02-03T20:02:00.001-07:00

Loved this well stated quote from my friend, Dan Sheridan:

"Most people today believe other men rather than the Scriptures. Abraham believed God. Do you believe God? Or are you a follower of someone who is, or claims to be one of His servants? Most people never advance beyond the person they set up as their teacher. They are attracted to personalities, and NOT truth. They support people who make them feel good. They like entertainers rather than substance."

Caught Somewhere in Between

2011-01-16T16:05:00.002-07:00

I am so excited to finally be sitting down to write this post. I have wanted to write this one for a very long time—probably about two years.

From the first moment that listened to the words of the Casting Crowns song “Somewhere in the Middle” (The Altar and the Door CD), I felt deeply inspired and was filled with countless thoughts that went along with the truths spoken in the song. I’ve wanted to express those thoughts in writing since then. This document has been sitting in my computer files titled, but empty of words until today. God only knows what I would have written back then; I only have the words He has given me for today.

On Thursday, the song, “Somewhere in the Middle”, randomly played on my iPOD and the inspiration resurfaced. It was a perfect day to hear it, and I replayed it over and over again. It was a day of struggling with myself, with others, and with some aspects of life in general. I was feeling grumpy and displeased and wanted particular circumstances (and me) to be different. My expectations of others and life were not being met in the way I wanted. I realized the problem and wanted to be free from the expectations, while at the same time unable of letting them go.

Practically every day I am faced with feeling torn between who I long to be and who I find myself to be. I find myself frustrated between who I am expecting others to be and who they currently are. I want to find freedom in giving others the freedom to fail my expectations. Heck! I want to have NO expectations of others—oh, what amazing freedom that would be! But, so easily, I trap my own self in needless frustrations by having expectations for others to meet.

On any given day, I am torn between knowing what is best to do and what I end up doing instead. I find myself torn between standing firm on what I believe in my mind and spirit and flailing weakly with what my heart feels with sorrows, fears, and doubts. I battle with longing to be respected and admired in the sight of others while equally despising such a thought and only desiring Christ in me to be the One who is seen when people look at me.

Such is the reality of living this earthly life each and every day as I intertwine it with great hope that God is working in me and in others and changing us moment by moment. Yet, even the strength of that hope fluctuates depending on my mood or the circumstances surrounding me.

Somewhere between the hot and the cold
Somewhere between the new and the old
Somewhere between who I am and who I used to be
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Somewhere between the wrong and the right
Somewhere between the darkness and the light
Somewhere between who I was and who You're making me
Somewhere in the middle, You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Fearless warriors in a picket fence, reckless abandon wrapped in common sense
Deep water faith in the shallow end and we are caught in the middle
With eyes wide open to the differences, the God we want and the God who is
But will we trade our dreams for His or are we caught in the middle
Are we caught in the middle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DveYBno-pmQ

Somewhere between my heart and my hands
Somewhere between my faith and my plans
Somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves

Somewhere between a whisper and a roar
Somewhere between the altar and the door
Somewhere between contented peace and always wanting more
Somewhere in the middle You'll find me

Just how close can I get, Lord, to my surrender without losing all control

Lord, I feel You in this place and I know You're by my side
Loving me even on these nights when I'm caught in the middle

I can honestly say that I find myself somewhere in between all of the things spoken of in the song and many more. How many times have I said to God, “You take control of this situation!” and the very next minute, I’m outlining a whole list of ways in which I can bring change in the situation. I don’t really believe that I am “somewhere in the middle” of all the different aspects, but I know for certain I do not find myself where I used to be. I am also certain I have not yet arrived to where God will eventually lead me. That place will not be found while I am on this earth in this human body. While I am in this human body, I will struggle and be humbled by the nature of being in a physical world and in a physical body with physical desires. I am a daily work in progress and so is every other person that lives on this earth.

While listening to the song this past week, I was reminded of what I had recently read in Romans 8:28-29, “Now we are aware that God is working all together for the good of those who are loving God, who are called according to the purpose that, whom He foreknew, He designates beforehand, also, to be conformed to the image of His Son, for Him to be Firstborn among many brethren.”

God’s plan is to conform all to the image of His Son. We are all in the process of conformation. Some are designated and called to have an earlier or more evident process of conformation, but God’s plan is to ultimately conform all whom He foreknew. There is no one born whom He did not foreknow. And “…whom He foreknew, He designates beforehand, also, to be conformed to the image of His son.” He is fulfilling a particular plan in each person’s life. Everyone’s path is rough and bumpy in some way, oftentimes with seemingly insurmountable obstacles along the way. However, “What, then, shall we be declaring? Not that there is injustice with God? May it not be coming to that! For to Moses He is saying, ‘I shall be pitying whomever I may be pitying.’ Consequently, then it is not of him who is willing, nor of him who is racing, but of God, the Merciful.” (Romans 9: 14-16) Our journey was designed by God, and He will take us from beginning to end. We do not get ourselves to the end; He gets us there.

We are all His work in progress. I realize that so many do not believe this or are even aware of it. It is of no regard to God whether we believe it or are aware that we are His workmanship; He still continues to do His work. Our belief does not matter one iota to Him accomplishing what He has intended to achieve. He will be God, even if you don’t believe that a God exists. He loves even those who curse Him or ignore Him altogether. He will not stop being Who He is or doing what He is doing because of what we believe or don’t believe. Who He is does not depend on what we believe about Him. He is not “caught somewhere in the middle”. He is almighty, sovereign God of all. He is the beginning, the middle, and the end. He is fullness and satisfaction. He is completeness and wholeness.

It is easy to find ourselves being complainant, aggravated, or downright angry about who others are, what they do or don’t do, and how they fail to meet our expectations. Believe me, I experience these types of feelings often. There are times I just want to “fix” someone whom I think needs “fixing”. Yet, just like us, they are also in a process of conformation. For the most part, we are not granted the supernatural sight to see the conformation work which God is achieving in the lives of others. That is between them and God. Many times, it looks like God has completely abandoned His work in the lives of some people because we observe terrible chaos or destructiveness by our definition.

“…to whom He will, He is merciful, yet whom He will, He is hardening. You will be protesting to me, then, ‘Why, then, is He still blaming? For who has withstood His intention?’ O man! Who are you, to be sure, who are answering again to God? That which is molded will not protest to the molder, ‘Why do you make me thus?’ Or has not the potter the right over the clay, out of the same kneading to make one vessel, indeed, for honor, yet one for dishonor?...” (Romans 9:19-21)

There are moments in life when we may play the part of being vessels of dishonor. At times, I have been such a vessel in my past. But He has shown me that even as I have been a vessel of dishonor in the past, He is making me to be a vessel for His honor as He completes His work of redemption in me. God redeems all things in His perfect time. It will not be anything about what Mary Ann accomplished. It will be, “Look what GOD has done!”

As we find ourselves struggling “somewhere in the middle”, can He possibly be teaching us something about His super abounding grace? Christ-believers tout God’s amazing grace all the time, while equally making it something about what man must do or earn. Too often, Christ-believers find themselves caught “somewhere in the middle” of knowing the fullness of God’s grace and making it about what a person does or does not do.

Grace is grace or it is not. “Now if it is in grace, it is no longer out of works, else the grace is coming to be no longer grace. Now, if it is out of works, it is no longer grace, else the work is no longer work.” (Romans 11:6)

As we find ourselves on our unique journeys, somewhere along the way of being conformed by God and somewhere between…

Cold and hot

Old and new

Who we are and who we used to be

Wrong and right

Darkness and light

Who we were and who God is making us to be

Control and surrender

Being masters of our own destiny and surrendering to God’s plan

Staying in the boat and walking out on the crashing waves

Wanting more and contented peace

Hate and love

Pretending and being real

Chaos and peace

Lies and truth

Dishonor and honor

Works and grace

Pride and humbleness

Contempt and compassion

Ignorance and understanding

Sorrow and joy

Doubt and faith

Abiding by the law and freedom in Christ

Weakness and strength

Brokenness and wholeness

Who we believe God to be and Who He truly is

…let us always remember this:

“For God locks up all together in stubbornness, that He should be merciful to all. O, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God! How inscrutable are His judgments, and untraceable His ways! For, who knew the mind of the Lord? Or, who became His adviser? Or, who gives to Him first, and it will be repaid him? Seeing that out of Him and through Him and for Him is all…The God Who makes the world and all that is in it, He, the Lord inherent of heaven and earth, is not dwelling in temples made by hands, neither is He attended by human hands, as if requiring anything, since He himself gives to all life and breath and all. Besides, He makes out of one every nation of mankind, to be dwelling on all the surface of the earth, specifying the setting of the seasons and the bounds of their dwelling, for them to be seeking God, if, consequently, they may surely grope for Him and may be finding Him, though to be sure, not far from each one of us is He inherent, for in Him we are living and moving and are…to Him be the glory for the eons! Amen!” (Romans 11:32-36, Acts 17:24-28)

And let us always remember He passionately loves us all even as we are caught “somewhere in between”. We are exactly where He has us placed us. He is certainly not abandoning us wherever that may be. He will faithfully lead us further on until His masterpiece is complete.

Blessings wished for you as you find yourself “somewhere along the journey”…

Farewell 2010

2010-12-31T23:54:00.006-07:00

I thought I would wrap up the last two hours of 2010 by writing an update. I hope two hours is long enough to write this post and get it posted before it becomes January 1, 2011. :-)

It’s very hard to believe two months have gone by since I last wrote for this blog. Actually, it feels like a lot longer than two months because so much has happened.

November and December have been a complete whirlwind for me. I completely submerged myself in my candle making business. I began making soy wax candles a couple of years ago in 2008. For most of the last two years, it has been a hobby I would dabble in here and there, and occasionally, I would even sell a candle to someone I knew. This past fall, the hobby turned into a full blown business. God graciously gave me something to keep me very busy and to keep my mind off of other things that were troubling me and making me awfully sad.

In early October, my husband, Michael, and I went to a couple of craft fairs. As I was walking through these fairs, I felt a great inspiration to take my little candle-making hobby and turn it into something more. Within a few days, I suddenly found myself making a large investment in jars, lids, wicks, wax, and fragrances and calling many people to see if I could get a booth space to sell the candles at some of the nearby craft shows. I came up with a business name, purchased a web domain, and started a blog and a Facebook page for the business. I obtained sales tax licenses for the state and city and registered a trade name for the business. We created a logo, purchased business cards, and designed tags for the candles. Looking back now, I can’t believe we accomplished as much as we did in such a short time. It was like God had lit this fire under my butt to do this, and we were riding on a run-away train with Him as the conductor. I say “we” because Michael jumped on board the train with me and was an amazing helper throughout everything that needed to be accomplished. For that, I am so thankful! I could not have done it without him.

At first, I was only able to gain entrance into a couple of craft shows. But as the weeks passed, more opportunities came along, and I found myself double booking shows. Michael would be “candle man” at one show while I did another on the same day. We met many people along the way and sold many candles. And there was much learned by trial and error in many areas of the business including pricing the candles and keeping up with our inventory.

There were so many blessings along the way. God granted so many graces! I knew He was orchestrating everything. There were also many feelings of being completely overwhelmed at the same time. There was much more to do than I was capable of doing. Many times I asked myself, “Why the heck are you doing this?” “You are barely making any money and you are spending more than you are making, plus spending so much time that you didn’t already have.” “Why are you doing this?”

I could not answer the questions. And I could not stop what I was doing. I knew I was meant to go forward boldly. So boldly I continued to put one foot in front of the other. It was as if I had been wound up tight and set into motion and there was no stopping the train. As questions or doubts went through my mind, God would bring to my mind verses from Ecclesiastes. Random things from Ecclesiastes would pop into my mind and seemed fitting for all my labor. Things like:

“There is nothing better for a man than that he should eat and drink and cause his soul to see good from his toil? This too I see that it is from the hand of Elohim. For who can eat, and who can have pleasure outside of Him?” (Ecc. 2:24-25)

“For everything there is a stated time, and a season for every event under the heavens…” (Ecc. 3:1)

“What advantage does the worker have in what he is toiling? I see the experience that Elohim gives to the sons of humanity to humble them by it. He has made everything fitting in its season; However, He has put obscurity in their heart so that the man may not find out His work, that which the One, Elohim, does from the beginning to the terminus. I know that there is no good for them but to rejoice and to achieve good in one’s life; and moreover, anyone of humanity, that he should eat and drink and see good from all his toil, it is a gift of Elohim.” (Ecc. 3:9-13)

In all the toil and hours of labor I put into the candle business, I was humbled. I was humbled by knowing that I could work and work til I dropped dead, but the results were completely up to God. I was reminded it is always God who supplies for all my needs. As I thought about that, I also wondered, “Then why do this? Why work so hard?” “Why am I not just resting and ‘being’ and allowing God to provide for our needs?” “I am spending more money than I am making! That is not what I wanted to accomplish.”

But the candle business was not about making money. Far from it. It was about so much more than that. The candle business was about God giving me something to do to distract me from other things that were hurting my heart and troubling my mind. I was not running away from them. He was giving me something to do where I could find joy, satisfaction, and accomplishment and be able to turn my mind away from over focusing in areas of my life where I felt like I was failing or had failed.

My last post from early October explained some of what I was going through. Troubled thoughts and a hurting heart about some things within our family relationships or with my children’s behaviors that I wished would be different—that I wished would be better. And things within my own self I wished were also different or better. I wanted some things that it was not time to have.

I take relational things deeply to heart, I cannot help it. I cannot change it. God gave me this tender heart and that is what I live with. Relationships affect me profoundly. With the candle business and busyness, God gave me an outlet, a change of scenery. I am so thankful. I could take my focus off of what I had been dwelling on and thrust my mind into different place.

So, in a very quick summary, there have been the last two months of my life. It’s “funny” and ironic now, writing about it. I had been thinking that my spirituality and relationship with God had flat lined over the past couple of months in all my doing and laboring. However, now I see that is not true. God has been near as He has always been near. My place with Him has not fluctuated—only my perception of the reality. I was thinking that because I had not been able to read the Scriptures very much or journal or spend dedicated time in prayer, that somehow I had neglected my relationship with God and drawn away. But throughout all of this labor, my relationship with Him has continued. It has just been in a different way, in a different season of life, on a different path. The past two months have been full of spiritual realities and growth which I am just now beginning to see and understand. The past two months were a salvation from myself.

I continue to thank Him for all He has done, is doing, and will be faithful to complete in His perfect ways. I am more than grateful for all He is teaching me, even though sometimes I’m throwing a big tantrum along the way. No, I cannot always understand why things have to be one way or another. Frankly, there are times I’m downright angry about it and desperately want to change the circumstances. However, I have come to solid ground believing that God will do what God will do—not what Mary Ann wants Him to do. I’ve also learned that hindsight reveals so much that could not be seen by present sight. His ways and His plans are perfect. Mine are quite imperfect. By faith, I continue to believe in Him, in His work, in His power, and in His indisputable sovereignty.

It’s just about time to welcome 2011, so I will end this writing with one of my favorite verses of this past year. It is one of my favorites because it speaks volumes of God’s sovereignty over all of His creation:

“The God Who makes the world and all that is in it, He, the Lord inherent of heaven and earth, is not dwelling in temples made by hands, neither is He attended by human hands, as if requiring anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all...for in Him we are living and moving and are...” (Acts 17:24-28)

Night Demons

2010-10-05T09:21:00.004-06:00

The other night, I finally came up with a name for what often affects me in the night. Many nights, I will go to bed thoroughly exhausted, only to be woken up during the night and find myself wide awake for hours with my mind racing and my heart burdened about the things in life causing me great concern.

Friday night was one of those nights. I went to bed shortly after 10:00 pm, fell asleep, and awakened less than an hour later. I went to the bathroom, and by the time I got back in bed, I knew I was in trouble. I was not going right back to sleep. I had gone to bed feeling upset with the behaviors and choices made by two of my children and that all came flooding back to me at that moment. As I lay there, fighting against my thoughts and trying to get back to Sleepy Land, the name “Night Demons” came to mind. That is what I decided to name the circumstances within our family which cause me great concern and keep me awake at night. They are usually related to our children. I fought to go back to sleep for almost an hour, and finally I couldn’t lie in bed any longer. The Night Demons were taunting quite persistently and one of my dogs had begun snoring so loudly that I couldn’t stand it anymore. I got up out of bed, grabbed my journal, Bible, and pen and went to my husband’s office to write out my feelings and thoughts.

The Night Demons have robbed me of sleep more hours than I could possibly count. I have lost countless hours of restful sleep over the last few years as our children live through their teen years. I am amazed how the issues that are sort of “quietly” concerning me during the day become outright giant tormentors in the night. During the day, I attempt to speak about the concern to God and leave it with Him to handle. Or, I may pursue coming up with a solution to whatever the problem is. Or, I may try to bury it in the back of my mind because I have no idea what to do about it. During the middle of the night, when all is quiet, and I am not busy doing all the things that must be done in daily life, those issues which were just gnawing at me earlier begin yelling very loudly. There is no stuffing them down and hiding them away. They throw their punches and beat me down in the night. They grow bigger and bigger in the darkness and make me feel miserable and helpless.

Leaving my bedroom Friday night, I went into Michael’s office, opened my Bible up to a random page, and sat down with my journal to write all my feelings and thoughts. Sometime, I noticed my Bible was opened to Ecclesiastes, and part of what I wrote in the journal was the words from Ecclesiastes. Somehow, I tend to find myself in Ecclesiastes when I’m feeling down. As I wrote, I cried all my woes to God, told Him of all my frustrations and concerns, and of my utter feelings of helplessness to change anything I felt was wrong. God is greater than the Night Demons. I believe Him to be the only way to conquer them.

As I finally began to feel tired and spent from the intense writing, I felt like I had resolved nothing over the prior two hours. The truth is: I really had.

I had written and spoken to God about all my sorrows, concerns, and feelings that I was incapable of making my children listen and take to heart my admonishments about one thing or another. Once again, I realized and faced head-on my lack of control. I cannot control my children’s wills, attitudes, thoughts, or actions. I can instruct, encourage, admonish, and discipline them, but I cannot make them do what is right and what is best for them or others. I long to have their hearts tender and yielded towards us, but the truth is that there are plenty of times their hearts become hardened to us and to the truth and wisdom we offer. I know that only God can deal with matters of the heart. It is only God that can truly change a heart. Man can attempt to force a change upon themselves or upon another person, but nothing truly changes unless God brings about that change. My lack of control is so very humbling.

Over the last 21 years, I have endeavored to be the greatest mom and parent and endeavored to raise good children who become adults of great character. However, I have realized that, ultimately, the outcome is not dependent on my human efforts. It really is all a matter of God’s doing. He is the Master Potter, and I am clay just like my children. Yes, by God, I have been given the privilege to play a certain influential role in my children’s lives; I do not discount that aspect at all. But the final result is God’s accomplishment, not mine. I am part of the threads in the grand tapestry of this earthly life; I am not The Weaver of the tapestry. I can take credit for nothing. As He molds who I am and as He weaves my place in the tapestry of life, so also does that affect how I instruct, encourage, admonish, and discipline my children. The work God brings about in me affects the influence I have upon my children.

We all find ourselves at the grace and mercy of God, whether we believe it or not. There are all kinds of vessels created by the Master Potter; all having a different role to play in this earthly life. We are molded by the Potter as He wills and as He does. (Romans 9)

It is always His will being done, not mine.

As I am repeatedly faced with these truths each day, I am humbled more and more.

This is the most difficult season of parenting I have ever faced. Yet, I am also learning the most about entrusting others into God’s hands and trusting Him to do His perfect work within them.

Believing and trusting in God’s sovereignty...

Is There Such a Thing as Free Will?

2010-09-01T08:51:00.003-06:00

Can we say that mankind truly has a free will?

What exactly is free will?

As I began to type this post, I decided to google “What is free will?”

The first link that came up in my search was from Princeton University’s Wordnet (a lexical database for English). It defined free will as “the power of making free choices unconstrained by external agencies”.

Dictionary.com defines “free will” with the following two definitions: “1. free and independent choice; voluntary decision. 2. the doctrine that the conduct of human beings expresses personal choice and is not simply determined by physical or divine forces.”

Wordnet gives a very solid, accurate, and concise definition of free will. Let’s use that definition for this discussion.

Free will

“the power of making free choices

unconstrained by external agencies”

I absolutely believe that mankind has the ability and privilege of making choices. Choices are an important part of being human. However, that said, I do not believe that mankind is able to exercise free will as defined above.

Every single choice we make has been influenced by something that has touched us in our lifetime. Every single thing that we have ever heard, seen, felt, and experienced in this earthly world has influenced our thought processes and the choices that we make. Even before we breathed one breath of air and could hear, feel, or see the world, there were things which were ordained entirely by God that have played an immense role in every decision we make. Those preordained things are the foundation for all the experiences that we face after we are born.

When we were conceived and formed in our mother’s womb, we had no choice and no control over:

the day of our conception

the circumstances surrounding our conception

the genetic make-up of our parents

if we would be male or female

what time period we were born in

the exact day we were born

in what location of the world

what we would look like, “attractive” or “not so attractive” to the human eye

the color of our skin, our hair, our eyes

the shape of our body

if we would have all ten toes and ten fingers and be of sound mind and speech

our personality or talents

into what family we would be born in

the behaviors, traditions, or beliefs of that family

what kind of parents we would have

if we would have any siblings and what their personalities would be like

or the day we will die

“For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, and my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them.” (Psalm 139: 13-16)

All those factors were ordained by God before we were ever born. We had no control, no choice, and no will in determining any of them. Yet, all of those elements are a tremendous influence in who we are and in our choices. Before we are born there are “external agencies” already affecting our lives that will constrain the choices we make after we are born.

Once we are born, there are other influences heaped upon us each and every day. All that we hear, feel, learn, and experience from every source we come into contact with in our lives becomes an influence in the present and for the future. I could type a countless list of all the things that affect us each day, but I don’t believe it is necessary to do so.

Corrie Ten Boom said it perfectly in her book, The Hiding Place:

“Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see."

I wholeheartedly agree with that quote. Every experience and every person that touches our lives is placing a mark upon us. I do not believe in accidents or random chance; I believe in God-incidence. God has paved the path for every experience I have ever faced and every person that has been a part of my life. Whether we see it as “good” or “bad” makes no difference at all. The fact is that we are uniquely touched in some way and affected one way or another in the present and the future. Everyone is affected differently by earthly circumstances and people based on the factors God had ordained before they were ever born.

With so many influences upon our lives, we cannot say we have “free will”. Every choice we make has a strong influence and a reason behind it; therefore, it is not truly free.

The God Who makes the world and all that is in it, He, the Lord inherent of heaven and earth … He Himself gives to all life and breath and all. Besides, He makes out of one every nation of mankind, to be dwelling on all the surface of the earth, specifying the setting of the seasons and the bounds of their dwelling, for them to be seeking God, if consequently, they may surely grope for Him and may be finding Him, though to be sure, not far from each one of us is He inherent, for in Him we are living and moving and are…” (Acts 17:24-29)

God has been sovereign over the course of this world and over our lives before we were ever born, and He continues to be sovereign whether we believe it or not, whether we acknowledge it or not, and whether we like it or not. The choices we make are interwoven within His plan. God does not have a Plan B. He is still on Plan A. We can somehow convince ourselves that man’s will is more powerful than God’s or that man’s choices can mess up God’s plan. But if we do, we merely deceive ourselves. The creation does not supersede the Creator.

Great God of all, "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2)

It’s About Relating, Not About Doing

2010-08-30T18:14:00.001-06:00

[I began to write this post a couple of weeks ago on August 16th. For the sake of time and simplicity, I will not change its beginning to make the point that now it has been two weeks since this all took place.]

Yesterday, as I pondered some of the events of my past week, I began to see something and to learn what it meant.

I had all last week to myself at home. My husband and two of my children went on vacation to visit family. I did not go with them because we have four dogs and to try to find someone to care for them is such a hassle, especially now that my oldest one is blind. Four weeks ago, I went on a vacation with my daughter to visit my family for a couple of weeks, and last week, my husband took one of our sons and our daughter to visit his family. A dear friend came to visit me for the first weekend, and we had a fantastic time together. After her departure on Sunday, I had the house pretty much all to myself for the rest of the week. I had made up my mind that I was going to accomplish a great many things. My plans were to catch up in areas or responsibility where I was behind and also immerse myself in some reading, studying, and writing (three of my favorite things to do). Those were my goals. Some were accomplished, and some were not.

Every day was full of “doing”. I looked after things around the home, I worked on the digital pictures from my trip, caught up our checkbook records, paid bills, did some research on the internet, decided on necessary homeschooling materials and ordered them, tried to do some work on my blogs, ran errands, and met with a couple of friends to chat. However, each day there were always quite a number of things which I was still unable to get accomplished. Even looking back now, I ask myself, “Where did the days go? What did I do with them?” One thing I can say that I did not do was spend time watching TV. I can’t even operate the controls on the thing; so I don’t bother with it.

As the week went on, I became more and more frustrated knowing my time alone was coming to an end, and I felt like I had not accomplished nearly as much as I would have preferred to. I had not spent any time doing Bible study or writing, like I had really hoped to, and that disturbed me very much. By Friday, I had some errands to run that were a must and I made up my mind to get those accomplished that day, no matter what. I left the house around 12:30 to fulfill my quest.

The first errand took way longer than I had expected. I had to wait in lines over and over again at the community college where I only wanted some simple info on possibly registering my 16 year old in some music or computer elective classes. After waiting in lines for a long while, I left there without much of anything. The person I really needed to talk to wasn’t there. So passed 45 precious minutes of my day.

I drove on to a friend’s house to drop off some curriculum she had let me borrow; at least that was a quick stop except for the driving time.

After leaving my friend’s house, I proceeded to Bed, Bath and Beyond (BBB) to exchange my daughter’s humidifier because they are no longer selling its filters in the United States and BBB said I could exchange it for a new model. Oh my! Did that turn into quite the “adventure”!!! As I took the humidifier to the service desk, the employee cheerily said, “The hardest part of this whole thing will be picking out a new one.” (Ha! Famous last words.) This “simple” exchange ended up taking 45 minutes to one hour because the initial humidifier I picked out from their shelves could not be sold to me once I took it to the register to finalize the transaction because it had been recalled. There was a long time of me waiting for the manager to confirm the recall followed by spending more time picking out another humidifier that was going to cost me more money than I wanted to. After waiting in line once again, the clerk rung up the new humidifier and accompanying filter change I was purchasing along with it, and I noticed that the price on the filter was incorrect and $10 more than it said on the sticker. The manager had to be called again to help us and address the problem and the clerk had to spend time filling out some erroneous price report for the store. During all this I made the greatest effort to remain calm and take it all in stride. No sense getting angry at the clerk or anyone else there. These were all circumstances beyond all of our control.

Finally! I left Bed, Bath, and Beyond with the belief that I was almost done with my “To Do” list for the day and could come straight home to do something I wanted to do for enjoyment. Well, God had other plans for me. As I got on our freeway to come home, I caught the Friday afternoon traffic. It was bumper to bumper. What would have been a 15 minute drive home took me 45 minutes. Plus, I had to make another stop for gas and some groceries. As I sat in the bumper to bumper traffic, I talked to myself and to God a whole lot. I had to remind myself that it was a good thing *I* was not in control of my day and God was. After all, what a mess I would surely make of things if I was in control of all I desired. I reminded myself that God was giving me a great opportunity in learning to relax in His hands and into His plans and that resisting and pushing against things which were not in my control would only frustrate me and make me miserable and upset. The more I talked with myself and with God, the calmer I became. Though, I can honestly say that I wasn’t necessarily “happy” about the way the day had turned out. I was disappointed things had not gone the way I had wanted them to.

That Friday night, I made a new, final “To Do” list for my last day home alone, Saturday. Michael and the kids would arrive early evening, and I was doubly determined to do as much as possible before that time.

Saturday morning arrived. I began my journal entry with, “Allrighty…lots to accomplish today. I’ve been on my own all week and haven’t spent time on study or reading at all. God has not granted me that time for whatever reasons. Today, more of the same. I must…” And so I listed five things that were important for me to get done. However, I had also awakened that morning feeling determined and encouraged that I would not allow myself to be frustrated whenever my plans were detoured by God or derailed altogether. I told God that I would not resist His readjustment of my “To Do” list for the day. Oh boy, was it a good thing I awoke with such a positive attitude because God certainly readjusted my plans.

As I was eating my breakfast, a neighbor called me needing my help for a few hours. When I received his call, I had to check my heart and ask myself if I was just giving “lip service” to God in what I had said to Him, or was I really serious about being submitted to His will instead of my own? I made up my mind that I preferred to go with God’s flow instead of resisting and insisting on my own. My neighbor needed me to sit with his wife, who has advanced ALS, while he got out of the house and went to the gym for a couple of hours. As I dressed, I pondered which of the items on my “To Do” list I could accomplish while I spent a few hours at their house. I figured I could surely take my very disarrayed recipe binder and organize the recipes. Organizing my recipes and creating a monthly cooking menu had been one of the perpetual items on my “To Do” list. That morning, I enjoyed a fun two and a half hours sitting with my neighbor, laughing, and chatting with her and also organized all the recipes I brought with me. I came home feeling blessed by growing the friendship with my neighbor and also making progress with the recipes.

I also arrived home quite hungry. I planned on eating my lunch and following that task with getting some away from home errands done that were also on my list. As I was wrapping up my lunch, one of my dogs began to bark out in the backyard. She’s not a barker, so I went out to see what was going on. Well, she was barking at our new neighbor behind us who recently moved in and who I had not had a chance to meet. The neighbor was trying to talk to Ella and looked up at me when I came out to see what was happening. I thought, “Well, I suppose I can’t just tell Ella to be quiet and go back inside so I can hurry on with my things to do. That would be rude. I really should introduce myself to the new neighbor and at least say hello.” A bit reluctantly, I went down to chat with her. She was in the mood to chat for a long while; hence, I stood out there for a very long time. Eventually, I became too hot and thirsty to continue our conversation and finally had to excuse myself. During our conversation I was glad that I had taken the time to go down and chat with her. From what she said to me, it meant a lot to her for her neighbors to get to know each other and speak with one another.

I left the house to run the errands which I had meant to run first thing in the morning. Upon returning home, I put away some things purchased and began to set up the new humidifier in Madison’s room when there was a knock on the door. It was a couple of LDS missionaries, and they wanted to chat too; especially when I told them I had LDS family and nieces and nephews who had also been missionaries like them. I am not bothered whatsoever when the missionaries come to the door, although I have no intentions of joining the LDS church. Following their visit, I tried to get back to what I was doing before they had knocked, and my sister called to chat and catch up. While on the phone with my sister, Michael and the kids arrived home much earlier than expected! And that was the end of the week on my own.

The following day I did quite a bit of thinking about the events of my Friday and Saturday. I had a lot of time to be able to think on Sunday because I had been battling a terrible sore throat all week and after all the talking and relating I had done on Saturday, my sore throat was quite flared up and I couldn’t talk anymore. While I pondered, I realized that when I had relaxed into whatever plans God had for me instead of resisting or forcing my own “doings”, He had me interact with various people throughout the day. Each interaction was one of relating. God had orchestrated my Saturday to be one of relationships, not one of “doings”. It was quite the “Ah ha!” moment to come to that realization, and it made all the sense in the world.

God, the great YHWH, is a god of relationship! It makes perfect sense that one of the things He cares most about pertains to our relationship with Him and our relationships with others whom He places in our lives. “Doing” means absolutely nothing if it is not rooted and stemming from healthy relationships with Him and others. God doesn’t find pleasure in any of us because we are “doing” or “performing”. He finds pleasure in us because He created us and loves us unconditionally (regardless of what we do or don’t do), and He wants to have an intimate relationship with us. I do not love my children because of what they do or don’t do. I love them because they came from me and I birthed them. I loved them the moment they began to grow in my womb, when they were totally helpless and unable to do anything. Do I prefer for my children to do things or to relate with me? Most certainly, I much prefer for them to be in a healthy relationship with me. When our relating is not right, it is a great sorrow to me. My favorite times with my children are when we are all together, relating well, and enjoying each other’s company. If and when they “do” anything, if it is not being done with love in their hearts for me or for others, it means nothing.

There are many religions out there promoting a lot of “doing”. “Doing” to be saved, “Doing” to be in good favor with God, “Doing” to get rewards in heaven, “Doing” to be more prosperous here on earth…“Do, do do…” To me that is a bunch of “Do, do”, if you get my drift.

YHWH is not the God of religion; He is the God of relationship. The Bible is an account of how God relates with man and what He does for man. It is not account of what man does for God. God doesn’t need ANY thing from us.

In Apostle Paul’s words, I say to every single person on this earth:

“This One am I announcing to you. The God Who makes the world and all that is in it, He, the Lord inherent of heaven and earth, is not dwelling in temples made by hands, neither is He attended by human hands as if requiring anything, since He Himself gives to all life and breath and all. Besides, He makes out of one every nation of mankind, to be dwelling on all the surface of the earth, specifying the setting of the seasons and the bounds of their dwelling, for them to be seeking God, if consequently, they may surely grope for Him and may be finding Him, though to be sure, not far from each one of us is He inherent, for in Him we are living and moving and are…” (Acts 17:24-29)

Our life, breath, and all are found in Him…He gives it all.

The Battle with T I M E

2010-08-11T20:16:00.001-06:00

I have this constant battle with time, and it seems to be getting worse and worse. On some days, the battle is more like a full blown war. Each day there are so many different things calling and needing my attention and energy. And sometimes I arrive at days like today where I feel completely frustrated over the battle.

Today, my focus has been upon coming up with a “doable” way for me to bring some extra income into our finances. My husband works very hard to provide the money for our family’s needs; he couldn’t possibly work any harder. However, living expenses continue increasing and my husband’s salary does not or it’s actually being decreased by company pay cuts or higher health insurance costs. Such is the economy we live in today.

We are a one-income household and have been for 16 years. Sixteen years ago, I made a commitment to my children to be a stay at home mom for them and to raise them and be their main influence and teacher in their childhood. The decision did not come easily because of the material sacrifices it would entail. At that time, I was cutting our income in exactly half, and we had plenty of bills to pay. We faced our share of financial hardships and difficulties for years. And many times, we wondered if we were going to make it at all. However, our children never went without food, shelter, and the great love and attention of their parents. Twelve years ago, I added another commitment along to that when I decided to home school my children. When I was praying about that decision in 1998, it was made clear to me that there were no negatives for my children if I proceeded with home schooling. I did realize that the one thing I needed to be very aware of was that I was giving up a lot of my time for my children. I remember writing a list of “pros” and “cons”, with my “pros” list being lengthy and my “cons” list having one item: my time. And so my focus for the last 16 years has been having a strong marriage, raising and teaching our children, and caring for our home.

There have been moments over the years when I’ve toyed with the idea of working part time because our finances were in such a crunch. Yet, every time, the idea seems ridiculous because it doesn’t seem possible to me to be able to divide myself or my efforts any further. I feel that adding work outside of the home would certainly cause me lose focus and bring some failure at another one of my very important roles. The roles I have made a commitment to are too precious to me to set myself up to fail in any of them. Many times, I’ve had at length conversations with God and asked Him to give me peace in one decision or another and reminded myself to trust in HIS provision for us. He often reassures me that all is going to be okay.

But occasionally I arrive at days like today, when I am anxious and frustrated about the finances and my seeming incapacity to do anything about helping them. I try to come up with ideas of things I could possibly do, even considering incorporating my blogs/writing to make a few dollars to help us out. But as I pursue trying to go about how in the world to do these things, I feel like I am in slow motion, pushing against a ton of bricks. Where does the time come from to educate myself in how to make bit of money doing something I love and also incorporate it into my daily schedule? I love to write and share about my experiences with God in daily life, but how do I find more time to do it? I long for more time to study, to read and write, to minister and help others, but how do I find it? I don’t know.

Well, I don’t know in the relative sense of the words. I do know in the absolute sense. God is the one who is the Giver of time, energy, and perseverance. If He’s not providing it, and I’m trying to force it, then it will feel like I’m pushing against a ton of bricks and going nowhere. But I also struggle with the fact that just because something is difficult, it doesn’t mean God is not all over it and leading me that direction. Plenty of things in my life have come with great difficulty, and it has been God taking me through those paths. In the midst of difficulty, He accomplishes the greatest things within me. Like I know He’s doing even now.

I’m not sure what the purpose of writing all this is, except to help me think things through. Writing is my outlet. It also gives me the opportunity to be sincerely honest with all who read this blog in stating that while I firmly believe in the sovereignty of God and His complete control over all, I still wrestle like everyone else in the difficulties of this human life.

Trusting Him for the answers and for all that we need…

Great Article on Home Church

2010-08-11T11:02:00.000-06:00

I was just made aware of a wonderful article published on the Tennessean.com website about home churches. I believe this article was very well written and that the author did a great job of highlighting some of the greatest things about participating in a home church. The highlights mentioned are some of the very reasons why I love the home church concept and participating in a home church.

“To get to church on a recent Sunday morning, the Yeldell family walked no farther than their own living room to greet fellow worshippers. The members of this "house church" are part of what experts say is a fundamental shift in the way U.S. Christians think about church. Skip the sermons, costly church buildings and large, faceless crowds, they say. House church is about relationships forged in small faith communities.”

Please read the article in its entirety and view some photos at the following link:

“Christians Skip Sermon, Worship at Home”.

A Name Change

2010-06-10T17:41:00.002-06:00

For a few months, I’ve felt the prodding to change the title of this blog. I’ve been feeling that the current title doesn’t do justice to what this blog is all about. I have pondered different titles for some time, yet nothing seemed right. A few days ago, I considered the title “Discovering God” which is also the main title to another website which I have but which is also in great, great need of updating. My “Web Meister”, my dear husband, currently has an overwhelmingly demanding schedule and is unable to work on that website for me. And I’m not up to speed on doing web design stuff and have little time to spare myself. The Discovering God Ministries website was created with the same purpose in mind as this blog—to express myself as I walk the journey with God and my daily discoveries of Him. I actually had the idea for that site long before this blog. This blog just became an easier way for me to post on the web where I didn’t have to know the ins and outs of posting on a website and all the html lingo.

So here it is… “Discovering God”…all the same ingredients with a new label. :-)

This blog is all about my journey discovering God and sharing some of that experience with the world. I post from what I learn in my daily walk with him and hope it will be a blessing and encouragement to others.

In His boundless grace,

Mary Ann

My Help Always Comes from God

2010-06-02T09:17:00.001-06:00

Life is quite the rollercoaster. We can find ourselves up in the heights and down in the lows in the blink of an eye. I don’t know that much about rollercoasters because I don’t like them and avoid riding them. But from the few times I have ridden on one, I remember enough to realize that life tends to be very much like one.

One moment in life, we can find ourselves at such a “happy high” and feeling like everything is just peachy! But a moment later, we might suddenly find ourselves at a “sad low” wondering if everything will turn out all right.

It is hard for me to face the extreme lows after extreme highs. Well…the truth is that I don’t think there is ever a time when I can face the extreme lows without difficulty. Who wants the highs to end? Not me!

However, I am also very well aware that without the valley lows I would never appreciate the mountain highs. Too easily we take things and people for granted in this life. We like to complain all the time about things we shouldn’t complain about, and we tend to forget all the goodness we have been blessed with day in and day out. Often times, the only way we can learn to appreciate what we have been given so abundantly is by having to live without it for a time. The lows of life play a very important role. Through those lows, we learn and grow in our character and in our faith much more than we ever could during any “happy high”. “Happy highs” are mini vacations in the “work of life”, and they don't last indefinitely.

A little over a week ago, I was experiencing a wonderful happy high time for a few hours. But the next day, some circumstances and difficulties with one of my children brought that high time crashing down to a difficult low. It’s a valley low time for one of my children right now, and I travel the valley with that child. My child has no idea or current ability to understand that in my heart, mind, and soul I travel the valley with her; but I certainly do. That’s just the kind of person and mom that I am.

In that valley low, I cry out Psalm 121 for myself, my child, and our family:

I will lift up my eyes to the mountains;
From where shall my help come?
My help comes from the LORD,
Who made heaven and earth.
He will not allow your foot to slip;
He who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, He who keeps [us]
Will neither slumber nor sleep.
The LORD is your keeper;
The LORD is your shade on your right hand.
The sun will not smite you by day,
Nor the moon by night.
The LORD will protect you from all evil;
He will keep your soul.
The LORD will guard your going out and your coming in
From this time forth and forever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtZX7a44fMI

I love You, O LORD, my strength.

The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
My God, my rock, in whom I take refuge;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised,
And I am saved…

By God’s Power (Ponderings in Colossians 1)

2010-05-21T09:07:00.001-06:00

Colossians 1:9-11

“…we…do not cease praying for you and requesting that you may be filled full with the realization of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, you to walk worthily of the Lord for all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and growing in the realization of God; being endued with all power, in accord with the might of His glory, for all endurance and patience with joy…”

Are we in need of understanding and wisdom? Then seek and ask God for it and wait for Him to grant it in His perfect timing. It is only God who can fill us with understanding and wisdom and grant us the growth of realizing Who He really and truly is. He is the One who grows us up and brings us to a realization of the truth of Himself—Who He is and what He is all about.

“…and growing in the realization of God; being endued with all power, in accord with the might of His glory…”

I have some thoughts and notes written about that phrase from when I was studying it four months ago. And I started to type them up for this post. However, even as I was typing and thinking about their meaning, I realized that the phrase could be read and understood in at least two different ways. The difference takes place with regards to where the punctuation is placed. Punctuation can certainly change the meaning of a sentence.

Do you know that punctuation had no part whatsoever in the original Scriptures? Paul’s letter to the Colossians did not have neat punctuation marks, and it certainly did not have chapter numbers or verses! These have all been added by man over the years for ease in readability and study. E.W. Bullinger states the following in his book How to Enjoy the Bible on pages 37-38:

“One other mode of dividing the Word as to its Literary Form is by Punctuation; which is a still more important manner of dividing the Word, as it seriously affects the Text by dividing its sentences, and thus fixing its sense…

…The Greek Manuscripts have, practically, no system of punctuation: the most ancient, none at all; and the later MSS nothing more than an occasional single point even with the middle, or in line with the top of the letters. Where there is anything more than this it is generally agreed that it is the work of a later hand.

So that in the Original Manuscripts we have no guide whatever to any dividing of the Text, whether rightly or wrongly. Indeed, in the most ancient MSS there is not only no division at all, but there is not even any break between the words!”

Let’s take a closer look at the phrase:

“…and growing in the realization of God; being endued with all power, in accord with the might of His glory…”

The word “endued” stands for the original Greek word “dunamo” literally meaning to make-ABLE. Reading the verse with the punctuation in place, I understood it to say that God is the One who enables us with power in accordance with the strength and power of His glory. I read it this way because Paul is telling the Colossians that he does not cease praying for them and requesting that they may be filled full with the realization of God’s will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding. He also writes of his desire that they may walk worthily of the Lord, bearing (carrying) fruit in all their good work, growing in the realization of God. I read his words as expressing different things he is praying for them to receive from God and of the spiritual life he desires for them to live out in Christ.

Therefore, when he states “growing in the realization of God; being endued with all power, in accord with the might of His glory”, I initially understood him to be saying that his desire is for them to grow in the realization of God and that God may endue them with all power necessary for all endurance and patience with joy. The power that God endues us with is not so finite and earthly focused as merely describing a “controlling power” over someone. It speaks of power much greater than that. It speaks of a power to be able to do or endure in countless different situations. It speaks of a power to remain silent when we are being cursed and attacked or the power to speak when we are feeling terribly afraid to do so. It may be the power granted to us so that we put someone else’s best interest before your own, even when they could care less you are doing so or could care less about you as an individual. Or, as in this case, Paul is saying that his hope and prayer is that God will enable them with all power “for all endurance and patience with joy”.

So, what happens if we take the punctuation out of the phrase and take the phrase out of its context?

“…and growing in the realization of God being endued with all power in accord with the might of His glory…”

Now, I can also read the phrase as stating that there will be a growing in the realization of God, but that God is being endued with all power in accord with the might of His glory. One of the definitions of endued is “to be clothed”. Can we read this to say that God is being clothed with all power in accord with the might of His glory? We could. I firmly believe that God IS ALL-powerful. He is The One with ALL power regardless of how much power man thinks he has. However, being faithful and careful to read these words in their context of what Paul is expressing and to whom, we can see that in this situation he’s not speaking of God being endued with power. Digging further into the Greek text, we can gather more information.

The Greek language is quite complex and rich in its expression. I am FAR from being some kind of Greek scholar, but I do like to dig deep into trying to understand the original word in its original language and what it literally meant. I use online Bible study tools such as Blue Letter Bible and the Interlinear Scripture Analyzer to help my understanding. And I also make great use of the excellent concordance at the back of my Concordant Literal New Testament. The Greek language has different “tense”, “voice”, “mood”, and various other grammatical divisions for words. Depending on these factors, the exact meaning of one word can vary.

Looking up “endued” on Blue Letter Bible, we discover the Greek “tense” is in the present, the “voice” is in the passive, and the “mood” is in the participle. The present tense of course states that the action of “endued” is taking place right now, in the present. The passive voice tells us that the object of the sentence is receiving the action of this verb without the object having anything to do with making it happen. And the participle acts like “-ing” added to the word; hence, the CLNT translating “dunamo” in this case as “being endued”.

Tying those facts together along with the fact that no one endues God (He is all powerful Himself) and with the context of the phrase in this letter where which Paul is expressing of list of things which he is praying for the Colossians to receive from God, it is clear to see that Paul is saying that “the saints and believing brethren in Christ in Colosse” are “being endued with all power” by God, according “with the might of His glory, for all endurance and patience with joy”. They are being enabled with all power that they may have “endurance”—the ability to remain and persevere under whatever circumstances come into their lives.

This stands true today for Christ believers today! We are being enabled by God, with all power, in accordance with the might of His glory, for all endurance and that we may have patience with joy in any circumstance that we find ourselves in on any day.

Thank you, Mighty God! Thank You for Your amazing power that carries us through the most difficult of circumstances and helps us to endure when we would rather give up. Thank You for Your graceful and patient power that carries us when we can’t seem to carry ourselves. Some days I grow so tired of persevering, the circumstances wear me down, and I feel like throwing my arms up in the air and saying, ”Forget it! I give up!” But there You are, holding me up, carrying me through, enduing me with all the power I need to take one more step and walk in the direction that You have chosen and prepared for me to walk. Thank You for the path You have masterfully designed for me. There are many difficulties on this path, but I know You are there every single step of the way. Not one thing I come across on this path is out of Your control.

Carrying Fruit (Ponderings in Colossians 1)

GOD, The Savior of All Mankind

Carrying Fruit (Ponderings in Colossians 1)

2010-05-12T16:40:00.002-06:00

Colossians 1:7-10

“Therefore we also, from the day on which we hear, do not cease praying for you and requesting that you may be filled full with the realization of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, you to walk worthily of the Lord for all pleasing, bearing fruit in every good work, and growing in the realization of God;…”

“…bearing fruit in every good work…” became a highlighted phrase in my recent studies. Many times I have read that phrase and other instances of “bearing fruit” mentioned in the Bible and imagined in my mind fruit growing out of something or being produced by a deed done. Every time I read that phrase in the past, I imagined fruit being produced—man bringing fruit out of whatever we are being instructed to do in the Scriptures.

However, this time I decided to look up the original word for “bear” and “bearing” in the context of Colossians 1 and discovered that it is the word “karpophoreo” meaning to “carry fruit”.

Colossians 1:10 could read “…carrying fruit in every good work…”.

I also couldn’t help but wonder specifically what fruit Paul was referring to and immediately my thoughts were led to the fruit of the Spirit. Are we to be carrying around the fruit of the spirit in every good work?

“…the fruit [singular noun] of the spirit is love, joy, peace patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control…” (Galatians 5:22).

The FRUIT of the Spirit is

Love
Joy
Peace
Patience
Kindness
Goodness
Faithfulness
Meekness
Self-control

I believe this is the fruit that we are to be carrying as is spoken of in Colossians 1:10. We are to carry with us this one, beautifully multifaceted fruit.

“For His achievement are we, being created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God makes ready beforehand, that we should be walking in them.” (Ephesians 2:10)

As Christ-believers walk in the “good works” that God has prepared and made ready for us beforehand, we will be carrying around with us the fruit of the Spirit because Christ dwells within us. Mortal humans do not create this fruit. We are incapable of it because we are not The Creator, and we are so fallible. But, the Creator infuses us with Himself, His power, His Spirit, His Wisdom, and His fruit. It all belongs to Him, and we have the humbling privilege of carrying His things around with us as we walk in the good works He has ordained for us to do. “…For in Him we are living and moving and are…” (Acts 17:28).

GOD, The Savior of All Mankind
By God's Power (Ponderings in Colossians 1)

Filled Full (Ponderings in Colossians 1)

2010-05-12T13:17:00.004-06:00

This year, I’ve been doing some serious reading and pondering in Colossians. I’ve enjoyed my time spent in Colossians and noticed how much the Colossians and Ephesians letters complement each other. I thought I would share a few of my ponderings randomly as I have time to write them up.

What most people call “The Book of Colossians” is actually a letter the Apostle Paul wrote to the saints and believers in Christ who lived in Colosse. Colosse was a place in western Turkey about 100 miles east of Ephesus. Today, that location is called Chonas.

Colossians 1:7-9

In Colossians 1:7-9, Paul says,

Reading “…that you may be filled full with the realization of His will…” caused me to remember what the Scriptures say in John 3:27,

“A man cannot get anything if it should not be given him out of heaven”

and what it says in Ephesians 2:8-10,

“in grace, through faith, are you saved, and this is not out of you; it is God’s approach present, not of works, lest anyone should be boasting. For His achievement are we…”

We cannot be filled with the realization of God’s will unless God fills us. It is nothing we can accomplish with our own human efforts. We can only contain what God pours in, what He chooses to fill us with.

“…that you may be filled full with the realization of His will, in all wisdom and spiritual understanding…”

God is wisdom, and He is also our wisdom because He fills us. If we have wisdom, it is only because He has granted it. If we understand anything at all, it is because He has granted understanding. Realization, wisdom, and spiritual understanding can only come from God and be given to us by God. We are earthen vessels that can contain such things as they poured into us, but we cannot create them and place them within ourselves. We are His achievement, not our own.

In grace, through faith, are we saved and it is not out of us. By God we are filled with a realization of His will and granted wisdom and spiritual understanding. None is out of our own selves, our own doing, or our own efforts or hard work. It is all from God. We have no right to boast one iota in what He accomplishes with us or to think that we have had anything to do with what He has given us. Even our faith is not our own. It comes from Christ, Who is the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Hebrews 12:2).

Related posts:

A Man Cannot Get Anything Unless…

Carrying Fruit (Ponderings in Colossians 1)
By God's Power (Ponderings in Colossians 1)

GOD, The Savior of All Mankind

More Communication with Gao Zhisheng

2010-04-07T11:04:00.001-06:00

Here is the latest email from China Aid:

Bob Fu Speaks with Gao Zhisheng by Phone, Faith Strengthened

Yesterday morning, on April 6, 2010, ChinaAid President Bob Fu spoke with Gao Zhisheng over the phone. This was the first direct contact Bob has had with Gao Zhisheng since he last spoke with him by phone last January, as Bob was rescuing Gao's wife and children in Thailand. The conversation brought hope and light for the two men, after more than 400 days of uncertainty and doubt.

Gao told Bob he had spoken with his daughter Gege in New York earlier this morning. "She told me she felt like God was silent, that He had not heard her prayers," Gao shared openly, deeply pained by his daughter's anguish over their prolonged separation. He expressed concern for his family's safety and well-being, and his desire to be reunited with his family.

Gao thanked Bob Fu personally for ChinaAid's role in pressing the FreeGao campaign internationally on his behalf for so long, and for aiding his family in their escape from China.

He informed Bob that he had just returned to his Beijing apartment from his guarded location in Shanxi. Abandoned for more than a year, Gao was saddened by the thick layer of dust covering the apartment and the emptiness of the rooms.

Using the words of Psalm 23, Pastor Bob Fu prayed for Gao Zhisheng and his family, reminding him of God's faithfulness and love.

Gao further reported he had just recovered from a racking cough for more than a month, but was not able to give any further details about his physical condition. According to Pastor Fu, Gao was deeply concerned about the condition of his family in New York, but has remained strong in his faith.

"Gao Zhisheng and his family have suffered deeply from the long separation," said Pastor Fu. "Despite the persecution, he continues to trust the Lord."

Pastor Fu was moved by Gao's need to be with his family. "By allowing us to speak with Gao Zhisheng, the Chinese government has shown they have been forced to respond to the international outrage and pressure on Gao Zhisheng's behalf.

"Yet, Gao is still not able to speak or move freely. According to international norms and Chinese law, he has the right to travel overseas to reunite with his family and to be free, if he is not found in violation of laws during his probation."

"We must call on the Chinese government to release Gao Zhisheng and permit him to reunite with his family in the United States. It is his legal and basic human right to be united with his loved ones."

Thanks to the 134,446 people who signed the petition, the 13,663 people who sent letters to their local representatives, the 2,767 people who contacted U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, and the hundreds of thousands around the world who donated their financial support, prayers, and advocacy efforts to Free Gao Zhisheng for the past 400 days - the first phase of the Free Gao campaign is a success!

However, Gao Zhisheng is still not free. His treatment and condition for the past year remains a mystery.

ChinaAid will continue to campaign for Gao Zhisheng's freedom until he is able to reunite with his family. In the coming weeks, we will be revising the FreeGao.com website, and exploring new avenues of advocacy on Gao's behalf.
Thank you for your continued support! Watch for upcoming details on how to continue to help Free Gao Zhisheng.

Gao Zhisheng IS ALIVE!!!!!

2010-03-30T09:18:00.002-06:00

This is FANTASTIC news!!! I just received this email last night from China Aid, and I am so excited about it.

ChinaAid

March 29, 2010

SHANXI -- On Sunday, March 28, 2010, missing human rights lawyer Gao Zhisheng spoke to his wife and children for the first time in over a year - confirming he is still alive! False rumors of his death, torture, and escape from the custody of the Chinese Government have shrouded Gao's absence with mystery for over a year. Gao's brief phone conversations with western media mark the first official contact the public has had with him since his abduction by police on February 4, 2009.

Yesterday, Gao informed reporters that he had been released from detention six months ago, and had taken up residence at Wutai Shan mountain, a Buddhist landmark in northern Shanxi province. He refused to give details on his condition or whereabouts, saying he could not legally give interviews.

Close friend and fellow human rights lawyer Li Heping confirmed he had also spoken with Gao on Sunday. Gao told him he had "friends around him" - indicating he was being held under close surveillance by Chinese authorities.

Gao's wife Geng He and their children were overwhelmed with emotion as they spoke with Gao on Sunday morning. The children could not stop crying. In a statement released on Monday morning, Geng He appealed to the Chinese government to allow Gao Zhisheng to join the family in New York. Gao's family has suffered greatly in his absence. Geng He's parents have been severely harassed in recent months, for which Gao feels guilty.

He told the Associated Press, "I just want to be in peace and quiet for a while and be reunited with my family. Most people belong with family. I have not been with mine for a long time. This is a mistake and I want to correct this mistake."

While on his campaign in Europe to promote awareness of Gao's cause, ChinaAid President Bob Fu attributed the breakthrough to increased international pressure. "Thanks to the more than 124,000 supporters in over 180 countries around the world who have signed the petition to Free Gao, the Chinese Government has been forced to respond and to allow Gao Zhisheng to reconnect with his loved ones."

ChinaAid thanks you for your continued support and urges you to continue to take action. From Argentina to Zimbabwe, you, the international community have answered the call. And this is just the beginning.

Gao is not free yet. His movements are still being watched and monitored. He is not free to speak publicly or without surveillance. We must continue to press the Chinese government to free Gao Zhisheng, to uncensor his movements, and to allow him to reunite with his family.

Take Action:

1. Encourage more to Sign the Petition. Every voice counts, and every voice will be heard!

2. Call on your local representatives to take official action on behalf of Gao Zhisheng.

3. Urge U.N Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to hold the Chinese government to the international covenants on human rights.

Thanks to you, the world has now regained contact with Mr. Gao Zhisheng. Because of you, Gao was able to reconnect with his family. With your continued support, we can make their dream of reunion a reality!
For more ways to get involved, visit www.FreeGao.com.

The Sovereignty of God (by George Addair)

2010-03-26T09:26:00.008-06:00

What great timing God has!! :-)

Yesterday, a friend of mine forwarded a link to an excellent, thought-provoking article written by George Addair called “The Sovereignty of God”. The article is posted on the God’s Truth for Today website.

I say God has great timing because this article nicely complements my recent post and reply to David Flowers entitled “God Will Have His Perfect Way” .

The one statement in Addair’s article that struck me the most was his statement saying:

“The trend of the centuries has consistently been that of

the exaltation of man and the abasement of God.”

Wow! Isn’t that the truth?!! Mankind cannot wrap its finite mind around the GRANDNESS of God, so in order to make Him more understandable to ourselves we make Him out to be smaller and weaker than His true nature. When we do that, He becomes more understandable and manageable to us, but we also end up containing Him in “Man-Made Theological Boxes” with pretty paper wrappings and bows.

Addair’s article is split into the following headings:

Introduction

I. Human Reasoning

II. Sovereignty Defined

III. Sovereignty in Creation

IV. Sovereignty in Action

V. Recognition of God’s Sovereignty

VI. Foreknowledge

I’ll give a few glimpses here of some of Addair’s article:

“To think that this work will be approved by the general public is a foolish expectation. The trend of the centuries has consistently been that of the exaltation of man and the abasement of God. The intensive research for this study seems to indicate that this trend has been due to the inability of men to reconcile the free will of man with the sovereignty of God. Consequently, scholars seem to have been sidetracked into thinking that God has neglected His universe, by choice of course. They feel that the Creator has delegated His rule and authority to the use or abuse of the creature. They have reduced God and His Divine office to the extent that multitudes of people now have only a superficial conception of Him. And it logically follows that a superficial view of God and His holiness always results in a superficial view of sin and its consequences in addition to a shallow view of the work of Christ. This in a small way explains the steady departure from the shelter of truth into the bitterness of ignorance.”

***

“No one will challenge the fact that the twentieth century has demonstrated an intellectual revolution in almost every field of learning. New fields of science are being established more rapidly than the most ardent scholar can manage to efficiently investigate. Even the basic tools such as reading and arithmetic are being made obsolete by more modern and complex approaches. Whether we like it or not, this trend is gaining speed and only the imagination can visualize what lies ahead for the coming generations.”

“Strangely enough however, the world of religionists is almost totally united in an attempt to prevent any progress in the understanding of spiritual matters. It seems unimportant to them that we have better methods of translation and interpretation than at any time in the past centuries. We have more manuscript copies, more concordances, more textbooks, and the accumulation of centuries of scholarship at our disposal. There are textbooks available today which enable the layman to probe the depths of biblical research in excess of what the best educated men of a few years ago could manage in a complete lifetime. And yet, the average church member feels there is more virtue in clinging to the views propagated by the scholars of many centuries ago than to investigate the claims of a modern day teacher. This is particularly true when the modern day teacher proclaims something that is contrary to orthodox views. This dominating attitude of the nominal churches is nothing more than one of the many facets of "religious superstition".”

***

“By the Sovereignty of God, we mean the supremacy of God. We mean His Kingship and Headship. It literally means, "the Godhood of God". To declare that God is sovereign is to declare that He is God. It is to declare "That He is the most high, doing according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, so that none can stay His hand or say unto Him what doest thou?" (Daniel 4:35).”

“To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He "is the Mighty, the possessor of all power in heaven and earth, so that none can defeat His counsels, thwart His purpose, or resist his will" (Psalm 115:3).”

“To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is "The governor among the nations" (Psalm 22:28). He sets up kingdoms, overthrows empires, and determines the course of dynasties as pleaseth Him best.”

“To say that God is sovereign is to declare that He is "The only potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of Lords" (1 Timothy 6:15).”

“Such a God is revealed in the pages of the Sacred Scriptures. However, God is not described as such in modern times…”

“God cannot fail. He is not to be pitied but to be praised. It is often said that, "God is doing His best to save mankind". If this be so, then He will succeed. To say that God is trying to save all people and then to proclaim that all will not be saved is to admit that God has failed. This in itself implies that God is not all powerful nor is He perfect. To say that Satan is preventing many from being saved is to indicate that Satan is accomplishing that which God cannot do, that Satan is more successful and powerful than God. To say that the stubbornness of man prevents him from being saved is to say that man has thwarted the will and efforts of God. God cannot fail. He cannot begin a project without seeing it completed. He cannot design a plan only to have it defeated by some other agency whether it be natural man or supernatural Satan. He cannot, even in the smallest sense, realize failure in that which lie attempts to do.”

“To declare that sin entered the Garden of Eden and caught God by surprise is to dethrone God. This is to reduce him to the level of finite man Then, to declare that sinful man has the power and ability to defeat God's plan of salvation and reconciliation is to exalt man to the place where he can checkmate God. God is absolute, irresistible, and infinite. He governs all the universe as He pleases. He has the right as Creator to mold the clay into whatsoever shape He desires. He is under no rule or law outside His own nature. He is a law unto Himself. He is under no obligation to give an account of His matters to anyone. Sovereignty is characteristic of the whole being of God.”

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“This brief treatment of the subject is adequate to reveal that a full recognition of the Sovereignty of God will take the spotlight off man and place it upon God.”

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The truth is that man likes to esteem himself above God and above God’s power and sovereignty. It is part of our fallible human nature that we are always trying to be as great or as powerful as God. That is how the serpent enticed Eve to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge. This article will hopefully help anyone rethink that faulty mentality.

Read Addair’s article for yourself and see what you think.

For GOD’s glory and exaltation alone…

God Will Have His Perfect Way

2010-03-24T12:27:00.008-06:00

I write this post as a comment reply to a post from a fellow blogger and brother in Christ. I feel my reply is too long to respectfully take that much space on David’s page, so I am posting it here.

This week, David Flowers posted an article titled “Hell: Eternal Torture?” The title immediately sparked my interest because a few years ago God graciously granted me new spiritual sight regarding hell and the eternal torment doctrine. I thoroughly read David’s article and some of the following comments from his readers.

Here is my reply:

David,

I don’t comment on your ideas about hell with the intent of changing your mind. You are where you are because this is where God has brought you at this time. My hope in commenting is that since you are a serious studier of the Scriptures and seeker of God, you will continue to seek and search Him further in this subject. I’m hoping something I say will encourage you to seek deeper. It is awesome that you are “not at complete rest on any idea of eternal torment”. Because as stated in your post, what we say about heaven or hell also says something about God’s character. It absolutely does communicate something very important about what God is like to the world around us. And through your writing and your blog, you have an open forum on which to communicate to the world about who God is and what His character is like.

The first thing I’d like to do before continuing with this reply is to say that I am saying these things respectfully and with humility. In this age of communicating with the typed word, tone is often lost or misconstrued. I am not replying or commenting to attack you or your beliefs in any way. Like I previously said, my reply is to spur your thinking and searching. When I speak of the things of God, I can get so excited that I come across quite passionate and animated about it, but in no way is my intent to attack.

On that note:

I applaud your study of Sheol, Gehenna, and Hades. Sheol (Hebrew, OT) and Hades (Greek, NT) refer to the place of the dead. Literally, Hades means the “un-perceived”. It refers to a place where nothing is perceived. Neither Sheol nor Hades have anything to do with man-made doctrines referring to a place called “hell” and the horrible tortures that God has planned for the billions of souls who did not accept Christ during their brief earthly life. Gehenna certainly has everything to do with the Valley of Hinnom outside Jerusalem and the burning of refuse and the sacrificing of children, but it also nothing to do with modern ideas of “hell”.

With reference to your statement: “…hell is what happens when people say ‘No!’ to the creator God…” Have you considered the verses which say: “No one can come to Me if ever the Father Who sends Me should not be drawing him” (John 6:44) along with “For God locks up all together in stubbornness, that He should be merciful to all…seeing that out of Him and through Him and for Him is all…” (Romans 11:32, 36)? We are also told in the Scriptures that God is The One who opens eyes or also causes blindness (and I’m referring to the spiritual sense along with physical). Can God’s “drawing” any one to Christ really be rejected by the will of His creation? If so, then God is not so powerful after all.

You spoke of the analogy of a parent never ceasing to “love a child even in punishment”. Have you considered that there is a big difference between “punishment” and “chastening”? Both words are used in the Scriptures. Parents do not punish their rebellious children with the intent of never letting up the tortures or eventually annihilating them. Loving parents chasten or discipline their children with the purpose of correcting their faulty behaviors and bringing them to repentance (a turning away from faulty paths). So in that manner, chastening or discipline has a goal. But it is not a “hell type” goal. Can earthly parents be more merciful than the God of all?

I do take a bit of offense ;-) at your statement, “At this point, many universalists…” I will state that I am not a universalist. I am a Christ-believer who believes that God will ultimately reconcile ALL (in the full meaning of the word) to Himself through Christ, just as He states in the Scriptures. In the same manner that the “Christian” label can have various differing connotations depending on any individual’s belief about Christians and what they are like, it is the same with the universalist label. Please do not lump us all in the same group, believing and thinking all alike. I am not a “feel good” universalist who does not hold to the authority of the Scriptures in the name of believing whatever I prefer about God. Like you, I am a serious seeker and studier of the truth of God.

Regarding your statement “…that intended goal [of God] has been eternally thwarted by the choice of the wicked on earth.” What kind of God do we have? Is He truly an all-powerful God or only a somewhat powerful God? Can HIS creation really thwart His plans and His will? God-forbid NO! His creation cannot possibly be stronger than the GREAT, ALL MIGHTY GOD OF ALL. Or is He a weak God whose “hands are tied” with regards to the very work of His hands—mankind? Did He set Himself up to fail when He created man and set this world into motion? Or did He only hope to succeed, but wasn’t sure He would do so?

May we never water down the immensity of the fact that HE set this world into place—every aspect of it. HE created evil along with good, HE created mankind to be fallible (otherwise we could not have sinned), HE put the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, HE knew the Serpent was there, HE knew exactly what was going to happen even when He gave the command to not eat of the tree.

He says, “I’m Yahweh, and there is no other. Former of light and Creator of darkness, Maker of good and Creator of evil, I, Yahweh, make all these things.” (Isaiah 45:6-7)

You are SO right on target when you say that Jesus was not Plan B. He has always been Plan A because God knew exactly what was going to happen.

God also says of Himself: “El [God], and there is no other! Elohim! [God] And no other like Me! Telling from the beginning, the hereafter, and from aforetime what has not yet been done, saying, ‘All My counsel shall be confirmed, and all My desire shall I do” (Isaiah 46:9-10)

Can we truly believe God is not going to have HIS will done? Can we say that it will be mankind’s will done instead? Do we propose that God’s will from the beginning was to doom countless billions to an “eternal hell” of anyone’s particular imagination?

The Scriptures also state:

“Indeed, our Elohim is in the heavens, and all that He desires, He does” (Psalm 115:3)

"I know that You are able in all things, and no plan of Yours can be thwarted.” (Job 42:2)

“A man’s heart, it devises his way, Yet Yahweh, He establishes his steps.” (Proverbs 16:9)

“…with God all is possible” (Matthew 19:26)

“…for all is possible with God” (Mark 10:27)

Jesus said to God, His Father, “Abba, Father, everything is possible for you” (Mark 14:36)

He is “…the One Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of His will” (Ephesians 1:11)

He is “Saviour, God, Who wills that all mankind be saved and come into the realization of the truth” (1Timothy 2:4)

“…one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not tardy as to the promise, as some are deeming tardiness, but is patient because of you, not intending any to perish, but all to make room for repentance” (2 Peter 3:8-9)

If God does all that He desires, and nothing for Him is impossible since with Him all is possible, and He wills it that all mankind will be saved and come into the realization of the truth, and it is not His intent that any perish…How then can it also be impossible for Him to ultimately bring everyone to salvation? How can the greater part of His creation remain doomed to never-ending tortures by His decision or disappear into nothingness after His “punishment”?

If He is operating all in accordance with how He wills it, how can it also be impossible for Him to fulfill His will for all mankind to be saved and brought to repentance and to the realization of the truth?

Can we really believe and teach that evil and the rebellious will of mankind (the evil and the mankind that the ALL-Mighty, ALL-Knowing, ALL-Powerful GOD created) in the end, ultimately and for all eternity, will overcome the perfect will of GOD?

A few times you mention that you believe God will be “all in all” as we are told in 1 Corinthians 15. However, how can God possibly and truly be ALL in ALL if billions of people He created and gave life to will one day just cease to be completely? Then He will not truly be all in all. He will only then be all in “a select few”. I say “few” in a relative sense comparing the amount of believers to unbelievers.

Regarding the suggestion that we wouldn’t have a “choice” if we were made to “forcefully” accept God…Why do we think that God will have to “force” anyone? Did he “force” you to believe? “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?” (Romans 2:4) Some of us have been given the faith to believe now; others will have to believe by sight in the future. Yes, they will face the judgment of a lake of fire and a second death. However, I believe the Scriptures when they say that the last enemy of God to be abolished will be death, and all will be subjected to Christ. “Now, whenever all may be subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also shall be subjected to Him (God, the Father) Who subjects all to Him, that God may be All in all.” (1 Corinthians 15:26-28)

With reference to the statement that “Any teaching that promotes the idea that ‘everyone will make it in the end’ can only come from isolating certain Scriptures and from building on obscure words and passages” is an erroneous one. Once again, I state that there are a number of Christians who believe in ultimate reconciliation who also hold to the full authority of the Scriptures. Most unfortunately, there are also countless Christians today who regularly isolate various Scriptures in an attempt to prove their particular theological point. And they are not trying to prove ultimate reconciliation. They are trying to prove other things such as eternal torment and any other number of man-made doctrines they hang on to.

Is it beneficial or true to call any words or passages of Scripture “obscure”? That makes it sound like there is some mysterious, hidden darkness in the very words of God that have been given to man when there is really not. “For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). I believe in the perfection of God’s word in its original writings and languages. In that form, God’s word is infallible. But, I also believe there is fallibility in language translations from the original text and that fallible men (as we all are) did some translating with particular biases.

David, if it is not “the Lord’s desire that anyone ever perish”, then, ultimately, none shall do so for “eternity”. At the consummation, God will be ALL in every single person He has ever created. He will be ALL in all because He IS an ALL-mighty, powerful God and Christ died for every sin, including the one of unbelief. God says, “Is My hand too short to ransom? Or is there no vigor in Me to rescue?” (Isaiah 49:2)

Would you consider doing further research on the word “aion” and “aoinios”? Aion, a noun literally meaning a period of time, has been a word very inconsistently translated in our modern translations. It has been translated as “world”, “world began”, “of old”, “beginning of time”, “age”, “forever”, “eternity”, etc., etc. Surely one word cannot really mean so many different things. Aoinios is an adjective that merely describes something to do with an aion. For very serious, scholarly studies of this word I suggest The Concordant Publishing Concern. Also, I noticed you are an avid reader of spiritually related books. Bob Evely recently published a little book called At the End of the Ages which clearly shows that many who believe in the ultimate reconciliation of all mankind are serious studiers of the Scriptures and base their beliefs on what the Scriptures say. I have extra copies and would be happy to send you one for free.

I also have a previous 2008 post on this blog titled “God, The Savior of ALL Mankind” which explains a little more about my journey to where God has brought me with the belief of ultimate reconciliation. I took a few, brief snippets from it and included them in my reply to you here. Briefly, I’ll share with you that in 2005 God surprised me by showing me there were Christians who believed in the ultimate salvation of all. At first, I thought they were seriously misled (and that they should probably study the Scriptures more seriously). Immediately after bringing me face to face with that, God brought a person into my life that actually believed such a thing. In the process, I set out to prove to myself (and hopefully convince that person) that what I had always been taught about hell was the truth and that it could not be otherwise. My journey seeking the face of God and the reality of His character turned out totally different than I expected, and here I am today. I make no claim to know it all—not even close!! But just like you, I proclaim and share with others what God has allowed me to discover of Him thus far.

David, thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy reply to your post. May God continue to stoke the fires within your heart, mind, soul, and spirit to discover the even greater depths of His boundless love and supreme power.

Peace and blessings to you,

Mary Ann

RELATED POST: The Sovereignty of God (by George Addair)