Well, following redemption was the word hope. I strongly feel this is from God. I think I even know what situation He's referring to. The more I pray, the more He speaks. This is just the tip of the iceberg...
Tonight, we had our home group. Parts of me were really tired and not so sure I wanted to venture out. But we did. Our study tonight just happened to hit the leaders today- Faithfulness. It came from a book about the attributes of God. Timely to say the least.
Back to hope. I topic searched it, just like before.
I had no idea the word could be used so many ways:
v. intr.
To wish for something with expectation of its fulfillment.
Archaic To have confidence; trust.
v. tr.
To look forward to with confidence or expectation: We hope that our children will be successful.
To expect and desire.
n.
A wish or desire accompanied by confident expectation of its fulfillment.
Something that is hoped for or desired: Success is our hope.
One that is a source of or reason for hope: the team's only hope for victory.
often Hope Christianity The theological virtue defined as the desire and search for a future good, difficult but not impossible to attain with God's help.
Archaic Trust; confidence.
Alright, the definition doesn't do a whole lot for me, but it's part of the model I was using for studying.
I found Romans has quite a bit to say about hope.
Romans 4:20-21
20Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, 21being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.
The Message:
19-25Abraham didn't focus on his own impotence and say, "It's hopeless. This hundred-year-old body could never father a child." Nor did he survey Sarah's decades of infertility and give up. He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions. He plunged into the promise and came up strong, ready for God, sure that God would make good on what he had said. That's why it is said, "Abraham was declared fit before God by trusting God to set him right." But it's not just Abraham; it's also us! The same thing gets said about us when we embrace and believe the One who brought Jesus to life when the conditions were equally hopeless. The sacrificed Jesus made us fit for God, set us right with God.
I was so encouraged as I read that the first time. Even more so now. Knowing that God has the power to do what he promises. Well duh! Why do I sell it short by worrying? Like Abraham, I should have it strengthen my faith. Reading what the message had to say just about blew me away (I italics the parts again). I love the point "He didn't tiptoe around God's promise asking cautiously skeptical questions." He was ready for God.
Romans 5:5
5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.
Hope does not disappoint us. Amen. God enabled.
The Message:
3-5There's more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we're hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we're never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can't round up enough containers to hold everything God generously pours into our lives through the Holy Spirit!
Ok, again, WOW! Passionate patience, steel of virtue. And again, that reminder to be ready for God to work. The trust to know he doesn't shortchange.
Romans 12:12
12Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
The Message:
11-13Don't burn out; keep yourselves fueled and aflame. Be alert servants of the Master, cheerfully expectant. Don't quit in hard times; pray all the harder. Help needy Christians; be inventive in hospitality.
It's so easy sometimes to get so distracted. The comes discouragement. I've made a conscious choice this last week that when worry/sadness/concern or anything else creeps in, to take it to the Lord in prayer. I have a feeling someone reading this has been prayed for a couple times this week as well. ;)
I haven't mentioned my job on here...I don't think anyway. I saw the obvioius provisions- break for me, fun for the kids (they get to play in another area), a little extra money. Well, the best provision is time to pray. There aren't a lot of demands on me and it's fairly quiet (with lots of white noise). What a perfect time to walk and talk with God.
Tonight I'll end with:
I Thessalonians 1:3
3We continually remember before our God and Father your work produced by faith, your labor prompted by love, and your endurance inspired by hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The Message:
Every time we think of you, we thank God for you. Day and night you're in our prayers as we call to mind your work of faith, your labor of love, and your patience of hope in following our Master, Jesus Christ, before God our Father. It is clear to us, friends, that God not only loves you very much but also has put his hand on you for something special. When the Message we preached came to you, it wasn't just words. Something happened in you. The Holy Spirit put steel in your convictions.
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Redemption
Since I'm on an updating streak today, it's only natural to update here as well...
As I went to have my quiet time tonight, the word redemption kept going through my mind. I've watched some issues and ugliness come up recently, to which, there is no worldly hope. Thankfully, I have a God who is stronger than a hopeless situation.
Redemption brings hope. We have hope because of redemption. I decided to do a quick topic study on remdemption, it took me all over and ofcourse gave me periphreals (I know I spelled this wrong, but I don't feel like spell checking) all over.
dictionary.com defines is as (bolding is mine):
1. an act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed.
2. deliverance; rescue.
3. Theology. deliverance from sin; salvation.
4. atonement for guilt.
5. repurchase, as of something sold.
6. paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note.
7. recovery by payment, as of something pledged.
8. conversion of paper money into specie.
One of the synonyms listed for it is freedom. I like that. Or, justification and purification. I honestly hadn't put that into context until just now.
The first passage I went to was Psalm 65:6-7
6 who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength,
7 who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.
At first, I wasn't sure why it came up for redemption. So, I glanced down at the study notes (which I've stopped doing most of the time). The commentary referenced God restoring peace from turmoil. Uhm, yeah. I get that. We have a God of order. Chaos and turmoil aren't his. Check out the passage in The Message:
2-8 We all arrive at your doorstep sooner or later, loaded with guilt, Our sins too much for us— but you get rid of them once and for all. Blessed are the chosen! Blessed the guest at home in your place! We expect our fill of good things in your house, your heavenly manse. All your salvation wonders are on display in your trophy room. Earth-Tamer, Ocean-Pourer, Mountain-Maker, Hill-Dresser, Muzzler of sea storm and wave crash, of mobs in noisy riot— Far and wide they'll come to a stop, they'll stare in awe, in wonder. Dawn and dusk take turns calling, "Come and worship."
Next reference was Romans 3:24. I'll paste in 3:23 as well...
Romans 3:23-24
23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
or, Message:
21-24But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.
I really like how The Message expanded it. I have such a long and sorry record. Restoration.
Next,
2 Corinthians 5:17-18
16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
I added 16 in. It hit me, right, smack in the forehead. It was the term "worldly point of view." IMO, the worldly view cares not about their eternity and often times lacks grace- something I've been freely given.
Message:
16-20Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.
Ofcourse, more meaning comes...I feel like the study tonight was personalized by God for me. I'm blessed to be met this way. Anyway...I italics the part that stood out so very much. I honestly don't know off the top of my head of any relationships I need to settle. But I do know I was given this passage for a reason.
I went on to Philippians. The verse I was sent for wasn't what popped out. What popped off the page was Philippians 1:9:
9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
I had earlier highlighted the summary note- "Real love requires growth and maturation." I'm pretty sure I overuse the word love.
Message:
9-11So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.
Again, WOW!
Oddly, tonight, I used the last page in my notebook. I have more I could write, but, this is probably enough of an entry for now. We'll see what other thoughts God brings to me.
As I went to have my quiet time tonight, the word redemption kept going through my mind. I've watched some issues and ugliness come up recently, to which, there is no worldly hope. Thankfully, I have a God who is stronger than a hopeless situation.
Redemption brings hope. We have hope because of redemption. I decided to do a quick topic study on remdemption, it took me all over and ofcourse gave me periphreals (I know I spelled this wrong, but I don't feel like spell checking) all over.
dictionary.com defines is as (bolding is mine):
1. an act of redeeming or the state of being redeemed.
2. deliverance; rescue.
3. Theology. deliverance from sin; salvation.
4. atonement for guilt.
5. repurchase, as of something sold.
6. paying off, as of a mortgage, bond, or note.
7. recovery by payment, as of something pledged.
8. conversion of paper money into specie.
One of the synonyms listed for it is freedom. I like that. Or, justification and purification. I honestly hadn't put that into context until just now.
The first passage I went to was Psalm 65:6-7
6 who formed the mountains by your power, having armed yourself with strength,
7 who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.
At first, I wasn't sure why it came up for redemption. So, I glanced down at the study notes (which I've stopped doing most of the time). The commentary referenced God restoring peace from turmoil. Uhm, yeah. I get that. We have a God of order. Chaos and turmoil aren't his. Check out the passage in The Message:
2-8 We all arrive at your doorstep sooner or later, loaded with guilt, Our sins too much for us— but you get rid of them once and for all. Blessed are the chosen! Blessed the guest at home in your place! We expect our fill of good things in your house, your heavenly manse. All your salvation wonders are on display in your trophy room. Earth-Tamer, Ocean-Pourer, Mountain-Maker, Hill-Dresser, Muzzler of sea storm and wave crash, of mobs in noisy riot— Far and wide they'll come to a stop, they'll stare in awe, in wonder. Dawn and dusk take turns calling, "Come and worship."
Next reference was Romans 3:24. I'll paste in 3:23 as well...
Romans 3:23-24
23for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
or, Message:
21-24But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we've compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ.
I really like how The Message expanded it. I have such a long and sorry record. Restoration.
Next,
2 Corinthians 5:17-18
16So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer.17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:
I added 16 in. It hit me, right, smack in the forehead. It was the term "worldly point of view." IMO, the worldly view cares not about their eternity and often times lacks grace- something I've been freely given.
Message:
16-20Because of this decision we don't evaluate people by what they have or how they look. We looked at the Messiah that way once and got it all wrong, as you know. We certainly don't look at him that way anymore. Now we look inside, and what we see is that anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins. God has given us the task of telling everyone what he is doing. We're Christ's representatives. God uses us to persuade men and women to drop their differences and enter into God's work of making things right between them. We're speaking for Christ himself now: Become friends with God; he's already a friend with you.
Ofcourse, more meaning comes...I feel like the study tonight was personalized by God for me. I'm blessed to be met this way. Anyway...I italics the part that stood out so very much. I honestly don't know off the top of my head of any relationships I need to settle. But I do know I was given this passage for a reason.
I went on to Philippians. The verse I was sent for wasn't what popped out. What popped off the page was Philippians 1:9:
9And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,
I had earlier highlighted the summary note- "Real love requires growth and maturation." I'm pretty sure I overuse the word love.
Message:
9-11So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.
Again, WOW!
Oddly, tonight, I used the last page in my notebook. I have more I could write, but, this is probably enough of an entry for now. We'll see what other thoughts God brings to me.
Wednesday, March 12, 2008
A little bit of this and that...
This is kind of a catch up post, but just mainly highlights from recently.
I was drawn to Hebrews the other night...
Hebrews 2:1
1We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
It was interesting to me because I've been reading a lot of Proverbs lately.
Hebrews 2:8
and put everything under his feet."
In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.
This was a perspective thing for me. Big picture...trust.
2 Timothy 2:4
4No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.
and in The Message:
1-7So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!— to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn't get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. It's the diligent farmer who gets the produce. Think it over. God will make it all plain.
I sometimes get so caught up. Busyness. Things that don't matter distract me from where God wants me.
I just got done reading Gracia Burnham's book, In the Presence of My Enemies. Many, many things stood out to me. The most immediate though was spending time in God's word and continuing memory work. Gracia and Martin were in the jungle for 15 months, without a Bible. I kept thinking, what would I do? Would I be able to remember passages? Would I hold true to God's truths? Seeing God's faithfulness throughout their time is trully amazing. At one point, she talked about how she'd prayed so long that they would be released that she decided to change her prayer. She'd pray for a hamburger- because after all, to have one, she was pretty sure they'd have to be released first. Uhm, no, God is pretty funny and pretty clear. It was about the time their ransom money came through. The terrorists asked them if there was anything they wanted (as they were all celebrating the money) and Martin says "well, Gracia's been praying for a hamburger." Sure enough, someone went across the water and brought them back burgers, fries (I think) and cokes. Gracia is an amazing woman. I got to hear her speak recently and was extremely moved.
I'm off to read for now.
I was drawn to Hebrews the other night...
Hebrews 2:1
1We must pay more careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away.
It was interesting to me because I've been reading a lot of Proverbs lately.
Hebrews 2:8
and put everything under his feet."
In putting everything under him, God left nothing that is not subject to him. Yet at present we do not see everything subject to him.
This was a perspective thing for me. Big picture...trust.
2 Timothy 2:4
4No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs—he wants to please his commanding officer.
and in The Message:
1-7So, my son, throw yourself into this work for Christ. Pass on what you heard from me—the whole congregation saying Amen!— to reliable leaders who are competent to teach others. When the going gets rough, take it on the chin with the rest of us, the way Jesus did. A soldier on duty doesn't get caught up in making deals at the marketplace. He concentrates on carrying out orders. An athlete who refuses to play by the rules will never get anywhere. It's the diligent farmer who gets the produce. Think it over. God will make it all plain.
I sometimes get so caught up. Busyness. Things that don't matter distract me from where God wants me.
I just got done reading Gracia Burnham's book, In the Presence of My Enemies. Many, many things stood out to me. The most immediate though was spending time in God's word and continuing memory work. Gracia and Martin were in the jungle for 15 months, without a Bible. I kept thinking, what would I do? Would I be able to remember passages? Would I hold true to God's truths? Seeing God's faithfulness throughout their time is trully amazing. At one point, she talked about how she'd prayed so long that they would be released that she decided to change her prayer. She'd pray for a hamburger- because after all, to have one, she was pretty sure they'd have to be released first. Uhm, no, God is pretty funny and pretty clear. It was about the time their ransom money came through. The terrorists asked them if there was anything they wanted (as they were all celebrating the money) and Martin says "well, Gracia's been praying for a hamburger." Sure enough, someone went across the water and brought them back burgers, fries (I think) and cokes. Gracia is an amazing woman. I got to hear her speak recently and was extremely moved.
I'm off to read for now.
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Due...
I'm due for a long, lenthy post. I honestly don't have that in me tonight. I can tell you that God has met me in so many different ways recently. One of them, I'll share. I was having an "issue" of epic proportions. I had finally chosen to escalate it as I knew there was no truth to what was being said. I was talking to my dear, wonderful, godly friend and she says "so, have you spent 5 minutes with Jesus?" Uhm, well, no, I hadn't...I...uh...usually do my reading at night. ;) Good call, friend (and that's of course one of the many reasons I love her). So, I spent that 5 minutes with Jesus. Opened my Bible and for lack of knowing where to go, I went to the Proverbs chapter cooresponding to the day. I'll be darned, found 2 verses that totally fit the situation. I finished reading and prayed. No surprise, the phone rang within a few minutes. It was the escalation. I calmly walked into the other room, without my list of wrongs and explained the situation. Didn't have to spill it all either. It's now handled and handled well.
I got to go hear Gracia Burnham speak this last weekend. Wow, amazing woman. I remember vividly when she and her husband were kidnapped and remember praying for them. She made an interesting point at the very end. I'm going to paraphrase here as I don't remember her exact words...but she was talking about the best things having already happened and just keeping on. God showed her how there was so much more to come. I think there are times I've thought that perhaps I just missed out...that instead of becoming a midwife and delivering bbies in 3 world countries (like some of the wonderful women I met at VCF), I was wasting my time. I don't think God thinks like that. I think that He knows the potential he's put in me and He's willing to mold me and make me. I think I like that. I'll go along for that ride and let Him just do...
I got to go hear Gracia Burnham speak this last weekend. Wow, amazing woman. I remember vividly when she and her husband were kidnapped and remember praying for them. She made an interesting point at the very end. I'm going to paraphrase here as I don't remember her exact words...but she was talking about the best things having already happened and just keeping on. God showed her how there was so much more to come. I think there are times I've thought that perhaps I just missed out...that instead of becoming a midwife and delivering bbies in 3 world countries (like some of the wonderful women I met at VCF), I was wasting my time. I don't think God thinks like that. I think that He knows the potential he's put in me and He's willing to mold me and make me. I think I like that. I'll go along for that ride and let Him just do...
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