God is in the business of refining us... The Refiner's fire is HOT...It has to be to melt away the impurities. We come out a vessel for the finer because of it. BUT YOW!!! while were in it!
I have written my mission before, I am refining it now... perhaps. I'll be quite honest with you. I don't feel like I have any ability to teach you anything new. My heart's desire is to encourage woman who feel as I do... like valuable to others, but of very little value when I have to think about me... I lack self confidence in what I can do, and in who I am... even though every day I manage a family and job, etc... (you know the list I'm spurting)
I am in a Bible Study right now that is helping me unravel some things in my thinking, and if I can muster the discipline, and apply what I learn I might be able to help myself and encourage others. Regardless... I feel very impelled to continue to tell you all that I love you and want to encourage you... WE ARE CHRIST'S BRIDE... HIS PRINCESS.... WE ARE JOINT HEIRS... which makes us PRINCESSES.... OH YES WE ARE.... and we need to claim it. And Christ has not given us a Spirit of fear, but of power and love and a sound mind.... so we can claim it and live it.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Friday, December 11, 2009
L is for Long Enough
(I am sorry to stop at L... I know some of you were using this... I will work on it again next Christmas 2010... you, be inspired to write your own.... you see where I was going with it, right?)
Luke 2:6 " While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,"...
It is hard to wait. Pregnancy is a determined amount of time, but when time comes close... it is hard to wait because you are so uncomfortable... The Bible is full of places that tell us to wait patiently for what the Lord has planned... and so it had to be with Mary... but when the time came to deliver... what joy and release... for all that she had waited for to now come to pass.
She was not the only one waiting... all of Israel was longing for their Messiah to be born... they just did not realize that this was Him...in the stable. Another word for the waiting they were doing is faith. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen..."
*Action*- Let's talk about a prayer the Lord has answered and how that came about... Did you wait long for the Lord to answer it? Did you practice faith in your prayers before the answer came?
Luke 2:6 " While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born,"...
It is hard to wait. Pregnancy is a determined amount of time, but when time comes close... it is hard to wait because you are so uncomfortable... The Bible is full of places that tell us to wait patiently for what the Lord has planned... and so it had to be with Mary... but when the time came to deliver... what joy and release... for all that she had waited for to now come to pass.
She was not the only one waiting... all of Israel was longing for their Messiah to be born... they just did not realize that this was Him...in the stable. Another word for the waiting they were doing is faith. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things unseen..."
*Action*- Let's talk about a prayer the Lord has answered and how that came about... Did you wait long for the Lord to answer it? Did you practice faith in your prayers before the answer came?
K is for Kind
Titus 3:3-5
"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing and rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,.."
"At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing and rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit,.."
I slipped kindness in here tonight because I certainly hope that someone paid Mary and Joseph some kindness along their grueling journey.
We have watched a couple of really sweet Christmas specials the past couple of nights... both on this theme of kindness.. The Crippled Lamb, by Max Lucado, shared his wool coat with Baby Jesus, and in Veggie Tales' new Saint Nicholas we learned how to give because of the love you have for the Lord. Both are pulling for the same theme... that it is important to think about how we shall give rather than just receive.
After all, according to these verses... Our state was very empty before Christ came and filled us...we needed to be shown some kindness because of our heart attitudes and helplessness towards good.
Action- Christ has certainly set the example... now, as the song goes on the Veggies', what can we do to "give this Christmas away?" I dare you to do 5 random acts of kindness this Christmas.
After all, according to these verses... Our state was very empty before Christ came and filled us...we needed to be shown some kindness because of our heart attitudes and helplessness towards good.
Action- Christ has certainly set the example... now, as the song goes on the Veggies', what can we do to "give this Christmas away?" I dare you to do 5 random acts of kindness this Christmas.
J is for Journey to Bethlehem
J, like H and I, is more for your information than an actual devotional.... but I have had fun studying and learning about what the true first Christmas scene would have looked like.
For J, I looked up on a web-browser information about the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Here is what I found:
A little further information about the census came up... that Joseph had to return to Bethlehem because he quite possibly had family there... The idea being that going back to your ancestral home was for the settling of accounts/inheritance... so then you could be taxed on it. Regardless of reason, this would have not been a journey planned to any great extent... it was a surprise trip.
The distance between the two towns varies upon the individual measuring it... from 70 miles, 80 miles, 92 miles or roughly 100 miles. With this distance, and assuming they traveled 18, or up to 24 miles a day... the journey would have taken anywhere from 4 to 11 days.
Some writers suggested that they would have avoided going through Samaria, because it would have been a hostile pass through. Some believe, logically, that Mary and Joseph would have joined a caravan... however, Rob and I don't see how a lady so pregnant could have kept up with the demands of a caravan... they would have traveled closer to the 24 miles a day mark, and Mary was VERY pregnant...
Regardless of caravan or no... they still would have been able to stop at various towns to rest at night. The evenings were probably chilly and brisk, so protection for Mary from the elements would have been sound thinking.
I keep thinking about how I feel at the end of a long car trip... how I am just exhausted... and sometimes my body still feels like it's riding with the rhythm of the car... can you imagine riding a donkey for 18 to 24 miles a day? for how many days? ... then to deliver your child on top of that?
I think my knowledge has been stretched and my appreciation for Mary and Joseph grown...
For J, I looked up on a web-browser information about the trip from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Here is what I found:
A little further information about the census came up... that Joseph had to return to Bethlehem because he quite possibly had family there... The idea being that going back to your ancestral home was for the settling of accounts/inheritance... so then you could be taxed on it. Regardless of reason, this would have not been a journey planned to any great extent... it was a surprise trip.
The distance between the two towns varies upon the individual measuring it... from 70 miles, 80 miles, 92 miles or roughly 100 miles. With this distance, and assuming they traveled 18, or up to 24 miles a day... the journey would have taken anywhere from 4 to 11 days.
Some writers suggested that they would have avoided going through Samaria, because it would have been a hostile pass through. Some believe, logically, that Mary and Joseph would have joined a caravan... however, Rob and I don't see how a lady so pregnant could have kept up with the demands of a caravan... they would have traveled closer to the 24 miles a day mark, and Mary was VERY pregnant...
Regardless of caravan or no... they still would have been able to stop at various towns to rest at night. The evenings were probably chilly and brisk, so protection for Mary from the elements would have been sound thinking.
I keep thinking about how I feel at the end of a long car trip... how I am just exhausted... and sometimes my body still feels like it's riding with the rhythm of the car... can you imagine riding a donkey for 18 to 24 miles a day? for how many days? ... then to deliver your child on top of that?
I think my knowledge has been stretched and my appreciation for Mary and Joseph grown...
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
H is for Higher Taxes and I is for Insist
Today's study is FYI (For your information)... but isn't it amazing how God works His plan around what man's plans are...
In Luke 2:1 & 2, the Bible tells us that a census was decreed by Caesar Augustus, the first census while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
A census is a counting of the people. Our country is getting ready to take a census in 2010.
Caesar Augustus ordered the census for 3 reasons:
1. To see if his world was growing
2. To tax people
3. To keep track of how many males were available for service in the army.
Each person had to return to their family's home to be counted.
And this was not if you felt like it... You had to do it!!!
G is for God, our ultimate Father
Tonight is action night because we are going to have a "sword drill". The Bible is called a two-edged sword because the truth in it cuts out all that is a lie... so a sword drill then is where you take your Bible and look up passages as quickly as you can. All of tonight's passages will be about God our Father in Heaven and who He is and what He is like. Ready, Set...Go:
John 5:26 (All of Life lives in the Father and the Son)
Isaiah 64:8 (We are the work of His hands)
Matthew 7:11 (He gives good gifts)
Luke 6:35 & 36 (He is merciful)
Good drill... and I hope you learned a lot about the Father from this little study. John 3:16 says "For God (that's the Father) so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life". Sending Jesus was all His idea and plan... Thank you Father.
John 5:26 (All of Life lives in the Father and the Son)
Isaiah 64:8 (We are the work of His hands)
Matthew 7:11 (He gives good gifts)
Luke 6:35 & 36 (He is merciful)
Good drill... and I hope you learned a lot about the Father from this little study. John 3:16 says "For God (that's the Father) so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life". Sending Jesus was all His idea and plan... Thank you Father.
F is for Family
Family is very important.
God established the family when He created Eve for Adam. Scripture tells us that from that time a man shall LEAVE his father and mother... which means to not let them make his decisions for him anymore, but to be his own man and make decisions for this new family... and CLEAVE or cling to his wife... which means to value his wife and her needs and opinions.
We have talked now about how Joseph was going to divorce Mary, but listened to the angel and had faith that he was supposed to stay with her... even though this would cause him and Mary to be excluded. He was a righteous man for doing what God said... and here, he sets the example of leaving and cleaving to his wife and their new family.
Another aspect of Joseph's leadership over his family is that Jesus was known as Joseph's son and as a carpenter by trade... just like Joseph. This tells me that Joseph was a good father to Jesus, and people could see that THAT was true.
*Action*- Let's practice cleaving... show value for the needs and feelings of a family member this week by doing something nice for them... or for part of your week, give each family member a day.
God established the family when He created Eve for Adam. Scripture tells us that from that time a man shall LEAVE his father and mother... which means to not let them make his decisions for him anymore, but to be his own man and make decisions for this new family... and CLEAVE or cling to his wife... which means to value his wife and her needs and opinions.
We have talked now about how Joseph was going to divorce Mary, but listened to the angel and had faith that he was supposed to stay with her... even though this would cause him and Mary to be excluded. He was a righteous man for doing what God said... and here, he sets the example of leaving and cleaving to his wife and their new family.
Another aspect of Joseph's leadership over his family is that Jesus was known as Joseph's son and as a carpenter by trade... just like Joseph. This tells me that Joseph was a good father to Jesus, and people could see that THAT was true.
*Action*- Let's practice cleaving... show value for the needs and feelings of a family member this week by doing something nice for them... or for part of your week, give each family member a day.
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