Perhaps you've heard the verse in Romans that says,
"Faith comes by hearing,
and hearing by the Word of God." (10:17)
Today, I noticed a verse in Hebrews 4:2,
that says that the Word which they (the Israelites)
heard did not profit them,
not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
So, I'm trying to figure this out.
The Word of God is the center of this puzzle piece.
And if we are to have faith,
we must hear the Word of God.
But if we don't mix what we hear
with faith,
it will not profit us.
But we obtain faith
by hearing the Word.
But I suppose
that we could hear the Word
and hear the Word
and never profit from it
because we don't believe what we are hearing.
But how can we believe unless we've heard?
I have no idea where this is taking me
unless it is in circles.
Let me think it through another way.
Suppose my husband tells me he loves me.
And suppose I wouldn't know that he loves me
unless I heard him say that he loves me.
But, if I didn't believe his words,
if I didn't believe that he loves me,
then his words of love would not be profitable to me,
because I don't believe them.
So, I must hear them to believe them
but I must believe them to receive them
in order for them to profit me
with the security his loving words offer me.
So, when I hear the Word of God,
it helps me believe the Word of God
and believing the Word of God
helps me profit from the Word of God.
You really don't have to read this.
I just had to work it out on paper.
I am not certain quite
that even now I've got it right.
But I do know this.
If we really believed the Words of God
and what they say about Him,
and we did something about those Words,
we would have faith
that would change our lives
and change the world around us.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A few days later...I'm still thinking about this.
A few more examples to help me figure it out:
Suppose I was making meatloaf for supper.
I had all the ingredients.
I had the recipe or 'know-how' to make it.
But I don't mix it together.
I don't DO anything.
It will not profit my family in any way.
The ingredients will just sit there on the counter and draw flies.
Or suppose I know all of the steps to good health.
I know what to eat and how to exercise.
But if I don't mix this knowledge with action,
it will profit me nothing.
It's like love.
Faith worketh by love.
We can have all of the gifts of the Spirit
but if love is not in the mix
it profits us nothing.
We can learn and learn and learn
but never come to the knowledge of the truth.
We must not just know the right way to live-
we must walk uprightly.
We must work righteousness.
For righteousness, without the faith that Christ Himself
is our righteousness,
is nothing but a bunch of white-washed rules,
dressed up in black and white suits,
standing by to carry us off to the insane asylum.
But faith believes that Christ has finished the works of righteousness
and faith enters into the Rest of Christ Jesus
and everything faith does after entering the finished work
of Christ
is because the life of God is flowing out of it
doing what He does.
Faith is gratitude in what Christ has done.
And gratitude is active and present.
Gratitude is loving the author of our Faith.
Gratitude is believing that He IS the author
and the finisher of our faith.
Gratitude is the opposite of bitterness
and bitterness can destroy us if we are not pro-actively
grateful. And forgiving.
Jesus,
Help us understand
and help us mix faith with the Words
we hear and read.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Henri's Bread
I found a wonderful devotional book by Henri Nouwen at Goodwill awhile back.
It's entitled 'Bread for the Journey.'
The week of the pig roast, I read something that helped me in the area of hospitality. I love people and I like people, but sometimes, I feel shy.
Usually, when I am in the house getting myself ready at the last minute
to come out and greet people, I panic a little. All of those people descending
on our property, and I love them, but sometimes, I want to run and hide.
Just for a minute. Then I forget about myself and think about them and everything
is okay again.
But this year I didn't get that scared shy feeling.
Maybe because I was kind of ticked off that someone came with three children three hours early and made themselves completely at home in our front yard while I was trying to get a 20 minute nap at my husband's insistence.
And Jesus kept saying to me, "Don't miss me. Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for Me." But I think I missed Him a little bit. I think I only got partial grace because I insisted on thinking, "Coming three hours early to a party is just not right."
But back to Henri.
His words on hospitality gave me perspective.
Phil loved them too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'True Hospitality'
"Every good relationship between two or more people, whether it is friendship, marriage, or community, creates space where strangers can enter and become friends.
Good relationships are hospitable.
When we enter into a home and feel warmly welcomed, we will soon realize that the love among those who live in that home is what makes that welcome possible.
When there is conflict in the home, the guest is soon forced to choose sides.
"Are you for him or for her?"
"Do you agree with them or with us?"
"Do you like him more than you do me?"
These questions prevent true hospitality-
that is, an opportunity for the stranger to feel safe
and discover his or her own gifts.
Hospitality is more than an expression of love for the guest.
It is also and foremost an expression
of love between the hosts."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His words made me think about our family.
His words made me think about our church.
His words made me think about the Pig Roast.
His words made me think.
It's entitled 'Bread for the Journey.'
The week of the pig roast, I read something that helped me in the area of hospitality. I love people and I like people, but sometimes, I feel shy.
Usually, when I am in the house getting myself ready at the last minute
to come out and greet people, I panic a little. All of those people descending
on our property, and I love them, but sometimes, I want to run and hide.
Just for a minute. Then I forget about myself and think about them and everything
is okay again.
But this year I didn't get that scared shy feeling.
Maybe because I was kind of ticked off that someone came with three children three hours early and made themselves completely at home in our front yard while I was trying to get a 20 minute nap at my husband's insistence.
And Jesus kept saying to me, "Don't miss me. Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for Me." But I think I missed Him a little bit. I think I only got partial grace because I insisted on thinking, "Coming three hours early to a party is just not right."
But back to Henri.
His words on hospitality gave me perspective.
Phil loved them too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'True Hospitality'
"Every good relationship between two or more people, whether it is friendship, marriage, or community, creates space where strangers can enter and become friends.
Good relationships are hospitable.
When we enter into a home and feel warmly welcomed, we will soon realize that the love among those who live in that home is what makes that welcome possible.
When there is conflict in the home, the guest is soon forced to choose sides.
"Are you for him or for her?"
"Do you agree with them or with us?"
"Do you like him more than you do me?"
These questions prevent true hospitality-
that is, an opportunity for the stranger to feel safe
and discover his or her own gifts.
Hospitality is more than an expression of love for the guest.
It is also and foremost an expression
of love between the hosts."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
His words made me think about our family.
His words made me think about our church.
His words made me think about the Pig Roast.
His words made me think.
Famous Last Words
My mother had a sense of humor.
She liked to use the term, "Famous Last Words" in a funny, sarcastic way.
I can't seem to think of a good example at the moment.
But, if someone would say something like,
"I am never going to eat another Reese's peanut butter cup,"
she might say, "Famous Last Words."
I want to pull something together in this writing
so bear with me please.
I am also going to use the term 'sleeper cells'
which may get me a whole lot of 'business'
from unsuspecting clientele
but why stop reading now?
(For the longest time, I couldn't understand why
my book report on 1,11 Corinthians got the highest
amount of 'hits' until I finally read it myself.
Then I noticed that it had the word 'prostitution'
in it, and I think that might be why.
Disappointing, but hey, God can use anything.)
So, what I want to do-
(My husband would say, 'Don't tell me what you want to do,
just do it.)
is pull together our Senior Pastor's last sermon to us
as lead pastor
with some other things I've been thinking about.
So, to the best of my ability,
these are Pastor Frank's
'Famous Last Words.'
I don't quite like the sound of that,
but I think you all know what I mean.
(Pastor Frank and his wife, Lisa, are headed into a position of additional responsibility and increased potential to influence our nation to cry out to God and seek His face and experience the revival He has for our land. To do so, they must leave their 20 year role as Senior Pastor and worship leader of our church. We miss them already. And we wish them Godspeed and every blessing.)
~~~~~~~
God works in us that which changes, grows, and remains.
Pastor Frank's prayer for our church-1 Thess. 2:1-11
1) That God would give you spiritual power.
There is authority in our words. Let our yes, be yes, and our no be no. When we speak, it gets done. Walk worthy of the investment Jesus has poured out on our lives. Walk worthy of His calling.
2) That God would give you spiritual perseverance-
Endure hardship and suffering. Declare His Good News in spite of suffering.
We're in or we're out. Persevere. Stop whining and complaining.
3) That God would give you spiritual purpose.
Warn each other every day so none will be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
(Heb.3:13) Encourage one another. "You can make it. You can do it!" Jesus didn't say,
"Follow Me and I will show you how to do it." He said, "I will make you..." Mom and Dad, encourage your children. Be real.
David was anointed to be king and then had to go into hiding.
But after awhile, he came out of hiding. He came out of the cave.
He went to Judah.
Your purpose in life is not to hide in a cave and play safe.
Come out of the cave and proceed to your Judah, praising God and letting Him be God.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I certainly didn't do that sermon any justice but it leads me to the next thing.
I don't know how to proceed except to proceed.
I heard someone, who supposedly won the most improved award in his public speaking class but failed the class anyway, speak well on Sat. night. He said many fine things and I was so proud of him, but what remains as an echo in my head are the words,
"The horses are prepared for battle."
It's in the Bible but for the life of me,
I can't find it.
But if Steve R. says it's in there,
it's in there.
(A friend messaged me on face book with the reference-
Prov. 21:31-"The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
But deliverance is of the LORD.")
Then a friend's mother said to me that same night
that God had spoken to her or showed her
that it is time for the movers to move.
Something way beyond goosebumps came all over me
when she said that and I took those words personally.
And then, during the Sunday sermon,
I started thinking about sleeper cells
and if I understand it correctly,
sleeper cells are groups of people
ready to act at a moment's notice.
When the time is ripe,
they will be ready to do what they're waiting to do.
I think we've had sleeper cells in the church.
The sleeper cells have been 'preparing the horses for battle.'
They have been waiting
but they haven't been sitting around.
They've been getting ready.
They've dug their roots down deep in Him.
They are saturated with truth.
They are full of love.
They know God.
They are movers.
And it's time for these movers to move.
And then, in my own heart, I've been hearing these words.
(I was trying to explain the above to a friend,
and she said the same verse to me that I've been thinking about.)
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light."
That passage in Ephesians 5
goes on to say, "Walk wisely, not as fools,
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Don't get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit.
Encourage one another. Speak psalms, hymns, spiritual songs
to each other and to the Lord,
and give thanks for all things..
and submit to one another."
It sounds like a cell group, doesn't it?
Awake sleeper cells!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee Light!
Or we could say it this way.
"Now it is high time to awake out of sleep;
for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand.
Therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Walk in the darkness as you would in the day.
Don't get drunk. Don't lust.
Be free from strife and envy.
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and don't do what your flesh wants to do."
(Romans 13:11-14)
We have been entrusted with spiritual power, spiritual perseverance, and spiritual purpose. Don't hide these gifts in a cave. The mildew of fear, discouragement, and bitterness can destroy what has been entrusted to us if we hide or misuse our spiritual power, perseverance, and purpose. They are not pillows on which to sleep.
They are not weapons to wield selfishly.
Prepare your horse.
Prepare your weapons.
Use your power. Persevere. Have purpose.
Wake up!
The Lion of Judah is on the move.
It's time for the movers to move with Him.
With all due respect,
hold tightly to His tail.
And cover your ears-
He's about to roar.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Isaiah 52:1,2-
"AWAKE, AWAKE!
PUT ON YOUR STRENGTH, O ZION;
PUT ON YOUR BEAUTIFUL GARMENTS,
O JERUSALEM, THE HOLY CITY!...
SHAKE YOURSELF FROM THE DUST, ARISE;
...LOOSE YOURSELF FROM THE BONDS OF YOUR NECK,
O CAPTIVE DAUGHTER OF ZION!"
She liked to use the term, "Famous Last Words" in a funny, sarcastic way.
I can't seem to think of a good example at the moment.
But, if someone would say something like,
"I am never going to eat another Reese's peanut butter cup,"
she might say, "Famous Last Words."
I want to pull something together in this writing
so bear with me please.
I am also going to use the term 'sleeper cells'
which may get me a whole lot of 'business'
from unsuspecting clientele
but why stop reading now?
(For the longest time, I couldn't understand why
my book report on 1,11 Corinthians got the highest
amount of 'hits' until I finally read it myself.
Then I noticed that it had the word 'prostitution'
in it, and I think that might be why.
Disappointing, but hey, God can use anything.)
So, what I want to do-
(My husband would say, 'Don't tell me what you want to do,
just do it.)
is pull together our Senior Pastor's last sermon to us
as lead pastor
with some other things I've been thinking about.
So, to the best of my ability,
these are Pastor Frank's
'Famous Last Words.'
I don't quite like the sound of that,
but I think you all know what I mean.
(Pastor Frank and his wife, Lisa, are headed into a position of additional responsibility and increased potential to influence our nation to cry out to God and seek His face and experience the revival He has for our land. To do so, they must leave their 20 year role as Senior Pastor and worship leader of our church. We miss them already. And we wish them Godspeed and every blessing.)
~~~~~~~
God works in us that which changes, grows, and remains.
Pastor Frank's prayer for our church-1 Thess. 2:1-11
1) That God would give you spiritual power.
There is authority in our words. Let our yes, be yes, and our no be no. When we speak, it gets done. Walk worthy of the investment Jesus has poured out on our lives. Walk worthy of His calling.
2) That God would give you spiritual perseverance-
Endure hardship and suffering. Declare His Good News in spite of suffering.
We're in or we're out. Persevere. Stop whining and complaining.
3) That God would give you spiritual purpose.
Warn each other every day so none will be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
(Heb.3:13) Encourage one another. "You can make it. You can do it!" Jesus didn't say,
"Follow Me and I will show you how to do it." He said, "I will make you..." Mom and Dad, encourage your children. Be real.
David was anointed to be king and then had to go into hiding.
But after awhile, he came out of hiding. He came out of the cave.
He went to Judah.
Your purpose in life is not to hide in a cave and play safe.
Come out of the cave and proceed to your Judah, praising God and letting Him be God.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I certainly didn't do that sermon any justice but it leads me to the next thing.
I don't know how to proceed except to proceed.
I heard someone, who supposedly won the most improved award in his public speaking class but failed the class anyway, speak well on Sat. night. He said many fine things and I was so proud of him, but what remains as an echo in my head are the words,
"The horses are prepared for battle."
It's in the Bible but for the life of me,
I can't find it.
But if Steve R. says it's in there,
it's in there.
(A friend messaged me on face book with the reference-
Prov. 21:31-"The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
But deliverance is of the LORD.")
Then a friend's mother said to me that same night
that God had spoken to her or showed her
that it is time for the movers to move.
Something way beyond goosebumps came all over me
when she said that and I took those words personally.
And then, during the Sunday sermon,
I started thinking about sleeper cells
and if I understand it correctly,
sleeper cells are groups of people
ready to act at a moment's notice.
When the time is ripe,
they will be ready to do what they're waiting to do.
I think we've had sleeper cells in the church.
The sleeper cells have been 'preparing the horses for battle.'
They have been waiting
but they haven't been sitting around.
They've been getting ready.
They've dug their roots down deep in Him.
They are saturated with truth.
They are full of love.
They know God.
They are movers.
And it's time for these movers to move.
And then, in my own heart, I've been hearing these words.
(I was trying to explain the above to a friend,
and she said the same verse to me that I've been thinking about.)
"Awake, you who sleep,
Arise from the dead,
And Christ will give you light."
That passage in Ephesians 5
goes on to say, "Walk wisely, not as fools,
redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Don't get drunk with wine, but be filled with the Spirit.
Encourage one another. Speak psalms, hymns, spiritual songs
to each other and to the Lord,
and give thanks for all things..
and submit to one another."
It sounds like a cell group, doesn't it?
Awake sleeper cells!
Rise from the dead,
and Christ shall give thee Light!
Or we could say it this way.
"Now it is high time to awake out of sleep;
for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed.
The night is far spent, the day is at hand.
Therefore cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Walk in the darkness as you would in the day.
Don't get drunk. Don't lust.
Be free from strife and envy.
Put on the Lord Jesus Christ and don't do what your flesh wants to do."
(Romans 13:11-14)
We have been entrusted with spiritual power, spiritual perseverance, and spiritual purpose. Don't hide these gifts in a cave. The mildew of fear, discouragement, and bitterness can destroy what has been entrusted to us if we hide or misuse our spiritual power, perseverance, and purpose. They are not pillows on which to sleep.
They are not weapons to wield selfishly.
Prepare your horse.
Prepare your weapons.
Use your power. Persevere. Have purpose.
Wake up!
The Lion of Judah is on the move.
It's time for the movers to move with Him.
With all due respect,
hold tightly to His tail.
And cover your ears-
He's about to roar.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Isaiah 52:1,2-
"AWAKE, AWAKE!
PUT ON YOUR STRENGTH, O ZION;
PUT ON YOUR BEAUTIFUL GARMENTS,
O JERUSALEM, THE HOLY CITY!...
SHAKE YOURSELF FROM THE DUST, ARISE;
...LOOSE YOURSELF FROM THE BONDS OF YOUR NECK,
O CAPTIVE DAUGHTER OF ZION!"
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