To Know God and Make Him Known

NO TURNING BACK -TO KNOW GOD AND MAKE HIM KNOWN

This last week of January,started off like every other Monday, we dressed and prepared for our day for Classical Conversations, our homeschool co-op. On the way, I noticed some light snow flurries. I wondered whether I should take the hills or take the highway. Since it was early in the morning and the snow had just started lightly, I decided to take the hills. It was a beautiful day.

On one of the hills, a man started spinning out of control . It appeared, he was going to slide down the hill or remain stuck. Believing I had no choice, I slowed down and stopped on the hill. Then when it was safe to go, I tried to proceed up the hill, but my van would not go. I put the van in reverse and tried again. Nothing! I could not get up the hill. I tried backing up and going farther down the hill but still my van would not go forward and get the momentum needed to go up the hill. 

It was not safe to keep reversing it back down this big hill because at the bottom of the hill was a big turn.. There was also a big ditch to the right of our van. What to do? I continued to pray for The Lord to help us to get up the hill. Nehemiah is crying and he is visibly upset. Thoughts are going through his mind that he is vocalizing like "Why did God allow this?" , "Why didn't God get us up the hill?", "Will we ever see Mopsie (our dog) again?", "Will we make it?". Through trying to get the car up the hill, I am doing my best to rely on God and calm my five year old son down. I had never seen him afraid like this and I had never seen him so shaken. I assured him God had us and we were safe. I told him to keep praying. He prays out loud. He cries out to God. Then I hear through the tears "no turning back, no turning back".

Hearing the words "no turning back" as a song from my son, I realize I should stop trying to go down this dangerously slip road in reverse as (1) someone could hit us from behind and (2) we almost ended up in the ditch. As I look at the questions my son was asking, I see the same questions have passed through my mind on many occasions. I just don't vocalize them now so much but God hears them in my heart. I hug Nehemiah and I remove him from the van. Just as I am walking down the hill, not knowing what to do, I cry out to God again to send someone. Along comes a man at that moment in his car and he asks us if we need help.

The man named Chris helps us get the van turned around to go down the hill. I wanted to do this but wasn't sure if I could make the narrow turn and avoid traffic coming up and down the hill (or should i say sliding up and down the hill). We thank the man. The whole time Nehemiah just asks "DO YOU KNOW JESUS?"  Chris, never did answer but we thank him. He stopped and he helped and we thanked God. Nehemiah tells him God put "no turning back" song on his heart to sing as we were in the van. 

Now we sit in the van at the bottom of the hill. What do we do? There are huge hills to the left and huge hills to the right. If I go to the right, I am not sure the car will make some of the hills going home. If I go to the left, will my van make it up the hill that we just tried but failed to do. My husband calls and tells me he called the property Manager of our Church who is about ten minutes away. Help is coming. 

Help arrives.  He offers to try to drive the van up this big hill.  However, he would need to walk down this big hill to get his car. I didn't feel safe with him doing that. We tried to get car seat out but that was not going to work because his car didn't have the correct seat fasteners. A decision is made to just drive me to Church and he would get his car later. Thank God for brothers in The Lord who sacrifice to help others all the time.

The van slides on some hills but we make it.  Later on as we are driving home on these same hills, Nehemiah says in a determined, confident voice "All this has made me know God!" I turn around and ask "Didn't you already know him?" He replies, " I knew Him but not like today. Today, I know Him more." I smile thinking how true it is that God bless us with knowing Him more today. Through a time of our faith being shaken, God revealed Himself to us.

We thought that was the end of challenging day. It was 3:00 pm. I was running out of gas and just made it to HESS. Then we decided to pick up some groceries and make a quick trip to the library to return some books.  Everything went smoothly until on the way home. An accident blocked our way home. Again, which way to go. If I go straight, I would have to travel all the way to next town and around where we live only to get home. The policeman points straight. I ask him if I can turn left although left is away from home, I know it loops me back to a place that is somewhat shorter than going straight. 

We get home thanking God all the way. We thank God when we arrive home safely from this long day. As I open the back of the van to get the groceries out, everything tumbles out. Glass shatters as it hits our driveway and bright red spaghetti sauce splatters. Now as I reflect it reminds me of Jesus blood spilled out for us among all the broken pieces of our lives. It is cold and I am tired. I get groceries into the house. I plan to go out later to pick up the pieces of glass when my husband gets home.

My husband arrives home a few minutes later. As I was getting the Chili on the table for dinner, I have severe pain in my left side (under my ribs). I thought it would go away but the pain intensifies and moves up my chest. I try to sit but the pain is too intense. I go upstairs to pray. It is getting worse. My son and husband are now worried. I calm them down but they are both running around looking very concerned. I decide to go get it checked at the ER. I am not sure if I can drive myself as the pain is increasing but it is only down the road. The sauce and broken glass is still in the driveway as my husband quickly grabs a street cleaning broom to remove the shards.

Three hours later, I asked to be released from the ER because it seems the pain disappeared as quickly as it came. After talking to the Doctor, he said that gas could have been caught in the left upper quadrant. They wanted to do more testing and x-rays after the initial EKG, blood work and preliminary testing, but I assured them I was fine. I had peace from God to deny all the x-rays at this lpoint. Praise God it is not an organ issue or a heart issue. My prayer of seeing son before he fell asleep was answered. I arrived home just as my son was falling asleep. I hugged, kissed him and praised God with him and my husband. 

As Nehemiah is falling asleep he says again "I definitely know God more today than I did yesterday. This has been my best day ever." Despite such a "rough" day, my son could say two things 1. I know God more today and 2. This day despite all the crying out, tears, pain, being stuck on hills, not being able to turn home, broken glass - THIS WAS THE BEST DAY EVER! 

That morning before all the chaos, my prayer excerpt from my journal was: "Prayer: Lord and Savior and Overcomer, thank you that you are our joy and peace. Thank you that you hear our prayers and you answer them in your way and your time. Thank you Lord that being with you is the best! Help me to spend time praying - talking and listening to you this am before day gets rolling. It is still dark here and I thank you that you light our day before the sun rises. Let me be singing when the evening sun goes down too. Lord, I lift up all the ladies and their families and pray you would give them the mind of Christ throughout their day and let them seek you early!!! I Love you JESUS!!!"  

The line from my prayer that stuck out to me is "Let me be singing when the evening sun goes down too." That night despite difficulties, pains and trials, we all were singing long past the time when the evening sun went down thanks to our Mighty God who is mighty to save, mighty to protect and mighty in power.

As the week went by, in addition to knowing Him more daily, God put on my heart to make Him known.  As we were reading the biography of Watchman Nee at the end of this week,our hearts were overcome with tears for the loss. There was a story in the book Heroes of the Faith - Wathchman Nee, Man of Suffering by Bob Laurent about a retired commander who thought all Christians were hypocrites and he cursed and bet any Christian who spoke of Jesus or passed his house. There was a young man named Todd who just received Jesus as His Lord and Savior and immediately heard this story and prayed "O Lord, you have shown grace to me. This is the first day of my salvation. I will go and witness to him." A couple begged him to not go as they feared for his life but Todd would not turn back. Again, I was reminded of my son singing "no turning back, no turning back." as we attempted to get up the snow covered hill at the start of the week. 

 Todd said he was going. Todd gets to the Commander's house and the Commander lets him in. Todd immediately says "I pray that you will accept The Lord Jesus as your Savior." The Commander gives Todd a chance to leave his house, but Todd refused to leave. Instead Todd says "I beg you to believe on The Lord Jesus." The Commander goes upstairs and gets his gun. He threatens to shoot Todd unless he leaves now. Todd said before you shoot me let me pray for you. "He knelt before thee commander and prayed 'O God, here is a man who does not know you. Please save him!" He stayed on his knees while the commander towered over him with the gun. "have mercy on him, Lord!" he cried out. "have mercy on the commander." (pg. 102-103)

Todd prayed like this for several minutes before he heard the sound of the gun being laid down. The commander knelt down and prayed and cried "O God, have mercy on Commander Deeds." The commander was saved!!! This is what the commander said to Todd "I have heard the gospel all my life, but today I have seen the gospel for the  first time." (pg. 103)  This story brought tears to our hearts and God  enlivened my heart to want to witness to whomever I would meet. I must admit, the words did not come yesterday but I prayed for those I met.

This week as I review the past week and give praise to God, I am reminded again of purpose in this life. I made for God. I am to know Him and make Him known. It is not about me. I am dead. My life is hid IN HIM.  Focusing on the Cross, the Gospel, the Good News that we were people in sin which separated us from our Father, our Holy God and made it impossible to have a relationship with God. God was still at work and still loved us but sin keeps us from knowing God. Knowing in Bible times and terms means being intimate with. It is not just an intellectual belief or knowledge like we may use the word in our culture. It also is not just an experience with God. It is having intimate daily fellowship through the only way possible, the cross. It is not about seeking within to find the answers. It is not about "inner healing" or "inner search for self" or "inner self examination". It is about seeing that the cross was enough. I do believe God heals and God reveals but not by any other means than the Cross. It is no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me. 

This week, I focused on Him through His I am statements: I am the bread of life (John 6:35,48)

I am the light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5); Before Abraham was, I am (John 8:58); I am the door (John 10:9); I am the good shepherd (John 10:11); I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25); I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6) and I am the true vine (I am the vine and you are the branches) (John 15:1, John 15:5). I thanked God for the Holy Spirit that came and lived in me at the moment of His salvation to me as I turned from me and turned to Him (all His doing by grace through faith in Who He says He is). I continued to praise Him from morning to night, and all week He has brought songs in my heart. 

I have been praying to lay down all selfish ambition, an idol of the heart, to want to do something great for God. This week, I learned more about God just wanting His greatness to shine out of me and to be with His greatness and to share His greatness. He put on my heart to share that we are to be mighty in spirit and not mighty in intellect. To be mighty in spirit is to have the inner witness of His Holy Spirit powerfully at work with His double edged sword, His Word. 

To God be the Glory and may every knee bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord!!!! I pray for all those who will read that God has mercy upon you and you be saved.  Yes we have a Savior who became sin who knew no sin to save us from our sins and bring us into intimate fellowship. He knows your name. He loves you with an everlasting love, and He desires to be a personal, intimate God to you. May you decide now to follow Jesus and never turn back. Always, keep the cross before you. Blessings!

Song - No Turning Back
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
I have decided to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.

Though I may wonder, I still will follow;
Though I may wonder, I still will follow;
Though I may wonder, I still will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.

The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me;
The world behind me, the cross before me; No turning back, no turning back.

Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
Though none go with me, still I will follow;
No turning back, no turning back.

Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
Will you decide now to follow Jesus?
Will you decide now to follow Jesus;
No turning back, no turning back.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zChBECGbHp8&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DzChBECGbHp8

TO KNOW HIM MORE

INTENTIONAL FOCUS ON KNOWING GOD

To Know God this is to be our main focus of life. When Jesus says follow me, it is not about trying to do what He does. It is having Him live in us and do what we cannot do. Submission and obedience to God must come from a new birth, a spiritual birth. Knowing someone does not end when you meet a person. To know means you have a daily relationship in which care about the other and are intimate with the other. Your being with them in all times is a relationship. What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us.” (A. W. Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy). In Ecclesiastes 3:11, we read that God has put eternity into our hearts. He has made everything [a]appropriate in its time. He has also set eternity in their heart, [b]yet so that man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end.  

God wants us to focus on knowing Him in this life. He wants us to throw off every "idol" of the heart" so we can know Him. The thing or person we end up focusing on more than God is our idol. If we tracked our thoughts and time like some track money spent, we may see that God takes up really little time in our thoughts and times. We can't intentionally focus on God if our mind and heart is already filled with other things that take up residence. What are idols that take up residence in our hearts and minds?

IDOLS OF OUR MINDS AND HEARTS

I remember one day lying down with my son when he was about 3 1/2 -4 and he said "they have mouths but they can't talk, they have eyes but they can't see and they have ears and they can't hear." He remember the idols of the Old Testament and he remembered a verse from Isaiah that at first I did not remember. God had connected understanding and wisdom in his heart. My son says he is a missionary and he is. Wherever he goes, he asks people "Do you know Jesus?" and the second thing he says is "Worship Him. He is God. Obey Him. Turn from idols."  If we are intimate with "idols" then that is who we become. We imitate who/what takes up our time, thoughts, energy. We can have a relationship with many useless things. God has a lot to say all throughout the Bible about idols (from all the stories of the Old Testament following up to teachings in the New Testament). The verse my son remembered about idols is:

Psalm 115: 3 says "But our God is in heaven; He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, The work of men’s hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak;Eyes they have, but they do not see; They have ears, but they do not hear; They have Noses they have, but they do not smell;They have hands, but they do not handle; Feet they have, but they do not walk;Nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them;So is everyone who trusts in them."

The last part of Psalm 115:3 grabbed my attention "THOSE WHO MAKE THEM ARE LIKE THEM." You may have heard we become like what/who we worship. We become imitators of our idols rather than The Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.   Idols are therefore anything that we think of more than God, even good things like good friends, good service projects, husbands, children, helping others, providing good, nutritious food to our families, staying healthy. I want to be an imitator of Jesus not any idols. In the Old Testament, people set up wooded objects or objects they made with their hands. Today, our idols may look like we know Jesus and not be following law something like donating money, doing good, lighting a candle and saying a prayer. All these things  done in order to be like Jesus may just be our own ideas of "our own god". 

It is important for us to ask God to show us any idols living in our minds and hearts. Ask for spiritual sight to not live a life of complacency. After God shows us, we need to lay them down. We can't worship who we do not personally know. Worshipping a "god" of our minds is not worshipping the one and only King. It is worshipping the "god" we fashioned with our own minds. How do we get to know the Only true God, the God who made everything, our Abba and Father, the God who came to earth and died for us, Jesus,the God who takes up residence in our hearts - the Comforter, Holy Spirit?

BEING BORN FROM ABOVE

In John 3, a man with much "knowledge" of God, a teacher of the Law came to Jesus at night saying you must be a teacher from God because no one could do these things you do Jesus.  Nicodemus wanted to know how to have eternal life? Jesus answered and said to him, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to Him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?”5 Jesus answered, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. 6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 7 Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ 8 The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.”  In order to see God, know God, one must be born from above. 
Nicodemus asked a good question, "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus was thinking of being born in the flesh. Jesus was talking about being born in the spirit. "BELIEVE" It is important to know the one we believe in or it would just be mental assent to a concept (like Jesus existed and died) or just believe in a concept of who we think Jesus is or who someone told us he is or just believing because we prayed, we believe.

The word "believe" in this and many verses, is the verb pisteuo derived from the noun pistis meaning "faith, assurance, belief".  But a verb is an action word.  The usage of the word pisteou means "commit unto, commit to (one's) trust, be committed unto, be put in trust with, be committed to one's trust."  We need to repent for the Kingdom of God is here. Repent means complete turn in mind and heart from our ways and idols and see and agree with God that He is who He says He is and not who we think He is.

The diagram below is something I saw in my early twenties. Man on one side and God on the other. We are separated from God. We are born with inherited sin basically because of the fall of Adam and Eve. We also all have gone astray. We want our own way early on rather than God's way. We do all fall short of God's glory. Jesus Christ came and provided a bridge from man to God so that we could have a relationship with Him again. The cross did bridge the gap. We deserved death but we inherited God's life instead. His blood brought us life here and now and for eternity and our standing before Him is as white as snow because of Jesus' righteousness and not our own. We call on the name of Jesus, God answers our cries. God puts His spirit inside of us and we grow from inside out. We cannot confuse outer change with inner rebirth. We can live in confidence without shame and guilt because In Christ, we have confidence to go boldly before the throne. We overcome because the Overcoming God lives inside of us.

1 John 5:5  who is he who is overcoming the world, if not he who is believing that Jesus is the Son of God? (YLT)

Romans Road:

 
We may be wonder, if we are Christians, why spend so much time on what we already know about the Cross. I don't think we ever get beyond the cross. The cross should be what we are looking at daily. At the cross, all was finished. Sometimes we don't get the spiritual significance of the cross. We hear it and we know as some fact that we heard. Sometimes, we try hard to believe and trust and think we do because of our mental agreement, but do we understand? How do we have spiritual understanding? How does Jesus take the scales off the eyes to see as he did for Paul in Acts 6 (conversion of Paul). A prayer does not save you. Jesus does. We are saved by faith through grace not of our own works.  How do we know God then? Once we "believe" - committed to, relationship with then God imparts His wisdom through the spirit. Remember, this wisdom is not understood by the natural man. God says:

1 Corinthians 2:10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.11 For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.13 These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy[d] Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. 14 But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one. 16 For “who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct Him?”[e]But we have the mind of Christ.

We children of God receive the SPIRIT OF GOD and not the spirit of this world  so we might know the things God has freely given us. We are then sealed by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 1:12That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ. 13In whom you also trusted, after that you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise, 14Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of his glory. I recommend reading all of Ephesians 1. You are sealed. You have an inheritance - eternal one that cannot be taken. 
 
To have life in the spirit, to Know God,the working of God in you, I recommend Romans 8.  One great promise God gave me was Romans 8:16-17 says 16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. It is important to have His Spirit bearing witness with our spirit.  Without His Spirit, we would be missing Him. We would be trying to do things apart from Him (this fruit will not endure or last).
 
He bears witness with our spirit! This is the internal witness. You cannot believe every spirit. You have to test the spirits to see which are of God. See 1 John 4. With God Himself living in you which is the Holy Spirit which reminds you of all Jesus taught and gives you spiritual wisdom, you can obey. You have the power to Obey because of what Jesus accomplished on the cross. The same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in you - Holy Spirit. (Romans 8:11). You serve an overcomer, a God that has overcome the world and this is why you can endure to the end and finish the race marked out before you.

RUNNING THE RACE WITH HIS WITNESS IN YOU SPURRING YOU ON

The purpose of our race - to Know God. After a whole week of studying with Good Morning Girls - goodmorninggirls.org about being intentionally focused, I am reminded that our focus is on Knowing God and not any earthly goals. We are to know God! To know God takes a commitment and belief. In the above book, God's Names by Sally Michael, we read "Soldiers must be trained so that they can fight well. They must do everything they are told. One way they train is with an obstacle course. An overcomer is someone w ho sees obstacles and does not stop." (pg. 112). God tells us that there will be a great tribulation. There will be much evil and it will seem in the end that Satan is winning. Jesus is coming back on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. He will gather His children. (Matthew 24:29-31).

The focus in all our being and doing is to know God. Know God in every relationship. In every craft, every thing we read, in every thing we play, in every conversation, we can ask God to know Him more and to have wisdom from above and not earthly wisdom.He is the OVERCOMING GOD and in Him (your being found in His death, burial and resurrection), you will overcome every trial, every obstacle and every pain. He will complete the work He has started in you.  Throw off all you love more than God. Throw off all he things you think about.

A great prayer for your family and the family of God in your walk/race before God is: Ephesians 1:15 Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16 do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, 18 the eyes of your understanding[c] being enlightened; that you may know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, 19 and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power 20 which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, 21 far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in that which is to come.22 And He put all things under His feet, and gave Him to behead over all things to the church, 23 which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

 

May we all come to know Him more and more each day and to make Him known. Set your eyes on Knowing Him!!!!!

Loving Not Just In Word But In Deed and Truth

Loving not just in word but in deed and truth

1 John 3:18 - Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and truth.

We llit the advent candle of love. We prayed about love. We have thought upon 1 Corinthians 13 for years.  I even wrote pages and pages on love.  Jesus' love is a love that lays his life down so we can have life here and forever. Love is God with us. God gives the abundant life and not that get up and make the donuts life. During the second week of Advent, God who is love, revealed himself in a broken stable half eaten by our dog.

While preparing for our day of school ahead, my son, Nehemiah who is five, said he was going to make something. In a few minutes, he made a beautiful Jesus in a feeding trough/manger. Within another couple of minutes, he had constructed a well designed stable. He had no pictures, no pinterest, and no magazines before him. He does however have a God given creative talent and he had a thought, and he went with what he saw in his mind. He then made a Joseph and a Mary out of foam paper. You can not see from the picture below but he also designed a head wrapping that is sitting behind Mary's head. During the creation of the stable, he was praising and singing songs to God. This made me rejoice to see him taking his faith and making it real. He was working out his faith not from someonelse's ideas but from his own idea that God gave him. Our family is intentional about our faith by planning devotionals, reading the Bible, and making crafts while we talk of Jesus, however as I have seen for many days, our God takes the unplanned and unintentional moments and shows Himself.

I was so proud of my son. I was rejoicing in God for this talent and for the blessing I have to be his Mommy. After this, the day got messy, real-life messy! I will spare you from the details but it was a day filled with too many errands, breaks, spills, training struggles and invasions of personal space. By the end of the day, it was discovered that the stable was eaten by our dog, yes, our sweet and lovable lap dog.

Mopsie chewed the whole stable and broke it to pieces and it was about to break my peace. Even the star was chewed. The one thing that made me rejoice the most and made me thank God this morning, was now in pieces on the living room floor. Mary, Joseph, and baby Jesus still sleeping in the feeding trough, were untouched. I was so focused on the broken peaces, I just set Mary, Joseph, and Baby Jesus aside.

Our son was sleeping when we found the broken and chewed popsicle stick stable. Right before I found the broken stable, my husband and I were talking about training in Godliness. Specifically, we were talking about how to teach our son to respect boundaries. We were just agreeing that we both want to compile a resource of training based on what God says. When we are facing trials, tests and stress, we could have a resource from God's word that we had prepared for specific intent, as we prayed in that moment. Sometimes we are praying when something happens and sometimes chaos is happening all around and we cannot hear, breathe or remember what to train. I recommended ABC I Believe by Sally Hunt contains many Bible verses and stories about practical and real scenarios.

Seconds after our conversation, I found the partially chewed stable all over the living room floor. I hurried to pick up the pieces and find the fresh replacement sticks and hot glue. I was going to remake it with the help of my husband before Nehemiah woke up. Then, the still small voice stopped me. Yes, I could make this easier for my son and try to replicate it but I realized this would be lying to him and cheating him of responding how God would want him to respond. We were just about to look at a photograph from earlier in the day to try to replicate this masterpiece but instead I said "we can't do that, it would be lying."
In this very hard moment, God gave my husband the wisdom to ask "Do we have anything on forgiveness to read to Nehemiah." I thought I would have time to come up with something, to plan a lesson and then to train. "No, there is no time". We hear Nehemiah call from the top of the stairs "Mommy". Time was up. I said a quick prayer and asked God to help me with a resource based on His word to train.

God quickly brought me to a story on forgiveness. The story is about a girl that attempted to try on a girls necklace when all the beads fell off braking the necklace to pieces. Time was short. We leaned on God and not our own understanding of how to handle this dilemma. Tom read the story and recommended scripture to our son. Then I read something from ABC I Believe by Sally Hunt and a verse from the Bible about loving, not just in word, but in deed and truth. Not knowing the stable was destroyed by the dog, Nehemiah says he is going to go get his manger now. My heart thumps. The moment was here!!!! We said "Nehemiah that is what we wanted to talk to you about. We found in on the floor all broken. Mopsie broke it." I was praying for peace but almost thinking chaos would envelop us and threaten to take our joy. Joy remained. Peace remained. Our Hope in God remained. Love remained. God gave wisdom to ask Nehemiah to show us how to rebuild it. Nehemiah did not show any anger and he responded in a God glorifying way. He said "no problem. I didn't think the other stable was high enough anyway." He made a new one for us at home and made one for Daddy to take to work.

While our son made the new manger, we talked. I knew that dealing with our hurt and pain wasn't as easy as making a new stable. Something he loved and my husband and I enjoyed was destroyed and in peaces now. We talked about forgivness and not just loving in word but in deed and truth. Our son very calmly said "I am angry at Mopsie but I wanted a taller one too." He was able to express anger but in a calm, respectful way. Instead of retaliating, Nehemiah was able to see the situation as an opportunity to rebuild and to experience how God loves and forgives us.  We recognized in that moment Mary, Joseph, Jesus and the feeding trough were not bitten, yet only the stable and star were broken. Both Nehemiah and Tom said "we are glad Jesus, Mary and Joseph are ok." Nehemiah also remained self controlled which we do not always see when we try to handle situations through control, reason or our own understanding of how life works. He then said "I forgive Mopsie." We saw love in a family not just in word but in deed and truth. We also saw love from a Savior.

Again, I remember that the stable was destroyed but Mary, Joseph and Jesus were perfectly fine. Only the "temple", "building", "structure", "house" or "stable" can be destroyed. God in me cannot be destroyed. God with me cannot be taken. Thank you God that everything around us might fall down but you eternally protect us. 

Here is the new manger Nehemiah constructed.

Our God is a God of new beginnings. He resurrects things that are dead. He makes all things new. When things are eaten, destroyed, forgotten and lost, Our God remembers and redeems.  With eyes of hope, we focus on the eternal and unseen promises of God.  God gives us His power, the same power that raised Jesus from the dead, to live as He wants us to live. No, we do not live according to rules for gaining favor with God but we instead live by the Spirit out of a heart that has been cleansed and made righteous by the blood of Jesus. He gives us the power and the love to obey not just in word but in deed and truth. At the end, my heart experienced God when Nehemiah took the broken pieces and offered a gift to Mopsie. The gift was a cross. The broken pieces turned into the cross - a symbol once again that God takes death and turns it to life. Broken pieces always have to go to the cross to turn to life.  May you take your broken pieces and broken heart to God, He promises you life.

Lessons Learned from A Dog Eating Our Son's Manger:
1. Although it may be easier to clean up messes for our children like rebuilding a half eaten manger set, it is better to speak truth and to allow the child to work through the seemingly hard things in life;
2. Pray first, call on Jesus' name and He gives wisdom;
3. What could have been chaos turned into peace and much learning because God gave wisdom and we chose to walk on what we thought was a hard path, only to find out it was easier than a path of doing what seems reasonable in our own eyes;
4. God took our feeble efforts at training and turned them into His glory;
5. God protects us. The whole stable around Mary, Joseph and Jesus were chewed, eaten and shredded but Mary, Joseph and Jesus remained untouched. This is quite a lesson since Mary, Joseph and Jesus would have been easier for our dog to chew. Likewise, our God has us in his hands. God is with us, His children, forever. Although we face much pain in this world, we will remain whole and protected by Him.
6. We cannot only say "I love you." We need to show love in deed and truth. In deed would be by our actions and in truth is by what God says is loving.

Scriptures to Medidate on:
Psalm 91
1 John 3:18
1 John 1:9
1 John 3:18

ADVENT-WAITING FOR HIS COMING!

Advent is a latin word that means COMING.  Jesus, Immanuel - God with us. He came but He is coming again. We wait with joy and expectation of His second coming and at the same time we rejoice that He came in the flesh as the baby in the manger. We live not by what is seen in this world but what is unseen for what is unseen is eternal. God has always been. He was in the beginning. He is the Alpha and Omega - the beginning and the end. The same God who was intimately creating us from His affection and not just speaking us into existence like He did the rest of creation is the same God who intimately came into the world as a baby to be with us and die for us to have eternal life.

These last 3 1/2 years have been a time of waiting.  A time of waiting on God. All my other support systems have not been able to be there to rely on. Friendships waxed and waned. The ministry visions have not come to pass. One child allive, 4 children died in my womb. My family church has gone through so many changes and losses. Family has had misunderstandings. Career as a lawyer on hold. All the years of hospitality, dinners and people constantly over non-existing. My husband facing his own struggles at work and where God wants him.  My Mom's lupus getting worse. My sister's fiancee dies to cancer at a young age. Lots of deaths in her family. Betrayal of trust.  It has been a time in which all my trust muscles had to be strengthened. I could go on about loss and death and what looks like a stump - death. However, with Jesus despite the darkest days, we have HOPE!  God is with me through it all. He comforts me and I am seeing shoots of His hope. 

Today, December 1, 2013, we light the candle of HOPE. In this season of waiting, Hope is what I know God has taught me. Hope is not hope if it is seen. If it is seen, no longer need to hope.  Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.  Romans 5:3-5 - 3 Not only so, but we[a] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;4 perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5 And hope does not put us to shame (disappoint), because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.  We lived sealed by our inheritance, the Holy Spirit our Seal of the Promise, God with us forever.

In this waiting, I am reminded that the Holy Spirit is the seal of our inheritance. Hope does not disappoint because God poured out His love through the Holy Spirit. God does not live in a temple made by human hands but in human hearts that trust and believe in Him.

God's first creative act, In the Beginning found in Genesis, is that he spoke "LET THERE BE LIGHT". Light dispels the darkness. We speak God's Word (the Word that was in the beginning, Word was with God and the Word (JESUS) is GOd in John 1:1-4). Light, a light that does not just dispel physical darkness to light our path that we physically walk on, but a spiritual light that gives hope and wisdom in our darkest days. Our God is the God with us not the God that just says something. I read once from Ann Voskamp's Jesse Tree Experience that God spoke all of His creation into existence by His authority but His creative making of us humans was by his affection. He intimately created Adam from the dust and Eve from Adam's rib. He formed us and His design on all human life is that He is intimately involved. He knew us before He formed us in the womb. His speaking and His presence is our HOPE. He is our Hope.

Today, we made a candle/light ornament to remind us that God is our Light and that He wants us to see the springing forth of hope/the shoot of hope coming from the cut off stump. We read of the Assyrians raiding Jerusalem and in God's judgment to cut down all the great trees of Jerusalem.  God does not leave his Nation without Hope. In the destruction there is always hope. We will be like trees planted by the waters bearing forth fruit in its season. Our roots in Him will be strong. We have a new family and new family roots. We have been grafted into this family by Jesus' death on the cross. He did what we couldn't do. We couldn't earn or be good enough to have a relationship with God. Jesus died and made available to all of us - HOPE, Hope with Him here and now and forever more. We don't have to worry, fret and live in fear. We can live in HOPE, LOVE, JOY and PEACE. Believe on His name and we will be saved. Trust in Him!

Going back to what I thought was cut off stumps and death in my life, I am seeing that life and light even in dark times. God is speaking life, light and hope. God has allowed me to pour into Nehemiah and Nehemiah is bringing many into His Kingdom. Everywhere he goes, He asks "Do you know Jesus?" His heart's cry is to be a fisher of men and he is sharing God's hope wherever he goes.  Our other four children are with God. They have eternal souls and I believe I will see them one day.The career on hold as been good because I am now able to be home with Nehemiah and focus on sharing the Lord and being with family.  Homeschooling has been wonderful to me t his year. Being home where God has me has been the biggest delight in my life but I didn't know this 6 years ago when I was pregnant and my job ended.  I see roots growing deeper in other's life because God is doing it (not me).   I do cry out to God and emotions are still there showing me hurt but God is strengthening me to see light in the darkness and speak out life to myself, family and others. LET THERE BE LIGHT!!!!  There is a light in the darkness, His name is Jesus.

His Word My Hope Secures

Week One - BELIEF AND PRAISE

My prayer this week was "May the words of my mouth reflect belief in you and your promises rather than unbelief." The song Amazing Grace kept coming to me especially the part "The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures."

We just finished our first week of the Living Like Jesus Study (Living Like Jesus (GMG Study - GoodMorningGirls.Org) - Leaving our Comforts and Walking in Faith)

I like using Saturdays to review the Scriptures,  observations, applications and prayers from the previous week's reading. This week I noticed a huge connection between believing what God says in our hearts and the outpouring of our belief/faith through praise. Belief leads to praise and praise leads to a fulfillment of promises told to her from the Lord. It is as if we realized the fulfillment in the spiritual realm when we believe and praise.

Luke started out with  stating that he wanted to set in order an orderly account of what occurred when Jesus came. He followed up on all things carefully and diligently to provide an orderly account. The purpose was to let Theophilus and others know the certainty of things. I see faith written all over these accounts. Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1). I think faith sees the certainty of things that God says.  As we read about John the Baptist, we see his purpose was to make the people ready/prepared for the Lord. In order to believe and praise, John the Baptist was to turn hearts toward God.

Also in Chapter 1, we read Mary's response to the Angel Gabriel's message to her about the birth of Jesus. She said "Behold the maid-servant of the Lord. Let it be to me according to your word." This response carried a cross with it - a cross of Jesus, a cross in her own life to have to tell her soon to be husband that she is already pregnant, the sneers and comments from other people who think she was unfaithful, the suspicions, her reputation. She would one day watch her son be crucified. However, Mary said she was God's servant to to let it be according to His Word.  We then read how Mary magnifies God. She makes God bigger (like using a magnifying glass) and herself smaller. He increases, she decreases as she praises Him.

Next in Chapter 1 of Luke, we see a Priest, Zechariah who did not believe the Angel Gabriel who tells him that his wife, Elizabeth is going to have a son, John the Baptist.  His response was not like Mary's and thus he is made mute. He can't speak until after the birth of his son.  Gabriel tells Zechariah "you did not believe my words which will be fulfilled in our time." After birth of John the Baptist and Zechariah speaks the words His name shall be John. We read that Zechariah's mouth opened, tongue loosed and he spoke praising God. After speaking words of belief, Zechariah'praised God.  Again, we see belief and praise connected.  The praise continues from Zechariah at the end of Chapter 1.  God is magnified in our belief of what He speaks.  Zechariah talks about God's salvation through Jesus, to show mercy, to serve God without fear.

When I look with my physical eyes and recall the many years that have gone by without a certain promise  being realized, I can start to try to make it happen on my own rather than wait on God so he can renew my strength. I am learning to wait on God and be able to say let it be as you spoken. Elizabeth said to Mary "blessed is she who believed for there will be a fulfillment of these things which were told her fromt he word." Although this message was spoken for Mary, I believed God was saying this in areas of my life, especially
my marriage. With Zechariah, Gabriel says the words he spoke will be fulfilled despite Zechariah's unbelief. This word fulfilld also spoken to Mary by Elizabeth who says that blessed is Mary who believed because there will be a fulfillment of these things spoken. Belief in what God says does bring a blessing of peace and words of praise to magnify God and encourage others.

Our hope can be secured by God's Word in what He says will happen. If you have an area in your life where you have unbelief and hopelessness, let God be yoru anchor and hope. Step by step, I am learning to do that in my marriage. My husband and I have worked on "issues" for 11 years of marriage and 6 years of dating. There is improvement then a period of time where the same issues come up over and over. There are times I say "not again". There are times where I feel hopeless or want to give up. There are many times where I just don't feel like be loving or intimate. However, in the last month, I am learning to take the promises in God's word about how nothing is impossible for God and that what God joins let no man separate. I am warring against Satan, the real enemy who tries to destroy our marriages. I have taken a stand and put on the armor God provides (Ephesians 6). We are in a spiritual war. For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 2 Corinthians 10:4 - For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, ⁵ casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, ⁶ and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled.

God is helping me and giving me strength to overcome feelings of hurt, betrayal, lack of trust, pain and pour out love, forgiveness, grace, humility and intimacy to my husband. The only reason for this is God's word above about the spiritual war going on. I am aligning myself with God and saying I want my marriage and that my husband is not my enemy. Satan uses lust, attractive ads, other women in the workplace to feel emotional needs, pornography, busyness, tv, computers or any other weapon he can to come against us. I too am learning my own pride in my own heart. I don't want to live a life of thinking I am more righteous or better than anyone. I am not. It is only through Jesus robe of righteousness and His power that sin is defeated.

In believing God's word about the spiritual war this last week, I have had much praise despite feelings of lack of trust and fatigue. God is our overcomer. This belief and praise has helped me to see with my spiritual eyes the fulfillment of God's promises. The more I respected my husband because God said so and pointed him to Jesus, I have seen my heart feel much closer to my husband.

"BLESSED IS SHE WHO BELIEVED FOR THERE WILL BE A FULFILLMENT OF THESE THINGS WHICH WERE TOLD HER FROM THE LORD."

Thank you Jesus for Gift of Reconciliation

Scripture: Colossians 1:15-23

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. ¹⁶ For ^[b]by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. ¹⁷ He ^[c]is before all things, and in Him all things ^[d]hold together. ¹⁸ He is also head of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will come to have first place in everything. ¹⁹ For ^[e]it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the ^[f]fullness to dwell in Him, ²⁰ and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say,whether things on earth or things in ^[g]heaven.

²¹ And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, ²² yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—²³ if indeed you continue in ^[h]the faith firmly established and steadfast, and not moved away from the hope of the gospel that you have heard, which was proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, ^[i]was made a^[j]minister.

Colossians 1:16 always brings me back to my first love, Jesus. God used v. 16 to see He is my all and all. God showed me that my purpose was not about my self or my life but was about Him. ALL THINGS HAVE BEEN CREATED THROUGH HIM AND FOR HIM.  We learn much about who Jesus is in the above Colossian verses. He is the image of the invisible God. He has all the attributes. He is God in the flesh . God was pleased for all of Himself to live in Christ. All things were created by Him (to show that He is the one true God) and all things are sustained by Him and continue because of Him. We know He is above all  things and before all things.  He is to have the supremacy in everything.

We also hear that God made peace by the blood of Christ's death on the cross. Reconciliation is a word that we all need to hear. We can and have been reconciled back to God. We are no longer enemies. We don't have to earn his favor nor do we have to run and hide. We were once alienated but now through Jesus' death, we can come near. Jesus makes us blameless and holy in God's sight when we continue in the faith, grounded and steadfast and not moved away from the hope of the Gospel.

After reconciliation with God, we can have reconciliation with others.  We can spread this ministry of reconciliation to others that are alone, afraid and in hiding.

Many of us are living with broken relationships whether broken marriages, broken in law relationships, broken family relationships, and broken friendships. We don't have to live like this. God has provided a way to be reconciled back to him by Jesus death on the cross. He has conquered death.  He brings us back into a relationship with Him. Our reconciliation with others is made through His forgiveness and sacrifice. We can forgive others through His power. God tells us that as far as it depends on us to be at peace with all men. This passage comes from Romans 12 where we are told to be a living sacrifice. It is good to read all of Romans 12 to see love in action in all relationships.  

I am learning through this gift of reconciliation due to Jesus death that I can bless those who persecute me. Through Christ, I can love and do good those who hate me. Through Christ, I can bless those who curse me. I am not to repay evil for evil. Through Christ, I can pray for those who spitefully use me. If my enemy is hungry, I am to feed him. If my enemy is thirsty, I am to give him a drink. Love needs to be sincere. 

Through Jesus Christ's sufficiency, I am seeing that I can have right relationships with others. I can't force them to love me but I can love as God gives me the power to love.

The Good News is that we were once alienated and enemies of God in our minds by wicked works yet now He, Jesus Christ has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death to present us holy and blameless and above reproach in His sight. We all have sinned and fall short of God's glory. Sin deserved death but God himself was born of flesh and died on the Cross. The grave could not hold him and He conquered death and sin. He rose again after 3 days.  If we believe in our heart He has been raised from the dead and confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord you will be saved.(see Romans 10:9). Call on the name of the Lord. We are then to continue on in faith, remaining steadfast to the Good news we heard.

Thank you that we don't have to live  away from you God or others. Thank you Jesus that you promised that you will never leave us or forsake us. (Hebrews 13:5-6). Call on the name of the Lord through Jesus Christ. May God's grace and peace be with you. May he heal your relationships and in all things, may he be your sufficiency. You were created for a purpose - to glorify God (reflect who He is) and enjoy Him forever. All things were created through Him and for Him. This means you - you were created FOR HIM.