Monday, November 26, 2007
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
THANKFUL
I am thankful for so many things. This Thanksgiving feels so different. I truly feel like it is a time when I genuinely am celebrating the blessings God has given me. I am thankful for my salvation and all that knowing Jesus entails. A life of abundant grace, knowing that I have the Holy Spirit who can help me to learn and know the scripture that can lead me. I am so thankful for the scripture that God has provided. I am thankful for the wisdom God has given others as they speak it to me. Thankful for a husband that knows and lives out the Word of God. I love when we talk, that he will say "The bible says, the Lord says" or is always referring to a Biblical principle. I thank God that I am in a church where the leaders are grounded in the Word, the Truth and they live it. Thank you Lord for that. I've lived it out differently before so I am thankful for the truth now. I am thankful for friends who lovingly correct me because they love the Lord more than me. Besides having shelter, meals everyday (too many actually) healthy family, a great school system and the many things in my life that are privileges--it's almost shameful at how great life can be. I am thankful for contentness in life because of Jesus Christ and the sacrifice he gave for me. So completely undeserving, but thankful me.
Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
2Pe 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence
Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;
2Pe 1:3 seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence
Sunday, November 18, 2007
MRGEE IN AMERICA!!!
Here is MRGEE teaching the boys to play chess...they are greatly enjoying the visit.
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
EIGHT IS GREAT
Today is my oldest son's eighth birthday. As I wrote his card out last night, I got so emotional about it. I actually wept. Time really does go by way too fast. It made me reflect--have I done enough? Have I wasted so much time. Am I too hard on him? Even though I have had two baby boys after him, I still feel like he is my little baby and he was just born. All of a sudden, he's eight! Where did the time go? His first adventures were also mine since I was a brand new mom, so completely unaware of the true responsibilites that were ahead of me. I do remember the night he was born, I asked my husband, "are you going to sleep?" Because I thought one of us should stay awake all night and make sure the baby keeps breathing. This unbelievable sense of needing to protect him came over me. The next 5 weeks of sleep deprivation as he thought day was night and night was day had me thinking I surely would go crazy. During his seventh week, I woke up and had this amazing realization that I loved this little guy, that I was in love with him. It really did take me that long to feel a real bonding--all I knew up until then was meeting his needs. I also had a traumatic experience with his birth, so I think it took me a while to make it through that emotionally. Anyway.....enough about me for goodness sake!
He's such a beautiful person with an incredibly tender demeanor. His father and I love his sense of humor. We can just sit and chat with him as though he were our age and we're even more interested than is! I love his laugh a
nd the way his eyes twinkle when he is happy (just like his dad.) He is so passionate about reading that it baffles me. We often have to make him put a book down just to go to bed hours after bedtime! And, it isn't uncommon to find him with bookmarks in 2-4 different books that he is reading simultaneously. Before he was two, he was reading. Not full words, but letters. I'll never forget the day he walked up to me and said "Mama, W437GTYK571." Startled, I paused for a second and said "What did you just say?" I then looked around thinking "am I on candid camera or something." He repeated it. "W437..." and as he did, I realized that the list of numbers was on a packing sticker from a new delivery we got...it was on his forehead! The boy had read it and memorized it and my husband stuck it to his forehead with the instructions, "Go tell Mama!" The next few days, he still remembered it. It boggled my mind, but we had a lot of fun with things like that. We always remind him that God gave him a good brain and he must be thankful for it, not show it off. My hope is that he uses it for God's glory...I pray he lives out a life sharing God's Word and living it. He certainly won't have any trouble reading or remembering it!
nd the way his eyes twinkle when he is happy (just like his dad.) He is so passionate about reading that it baffles me. We often have to make him put a book down just to go to bed hours after bedtime! And, it isn't uncommon to find him with bookmarks in 2-4 different books that he is reading simultaneously. Before he was two, he was reading. Not full words, but letters. I'll never forget the day he walked up to me and said "Mama, W437GTYK571." Startled, I paused for a second and said "What did you just say?" I then looked around thinking "am I on candid camera or something." He repeated it. "W437..." and as he did, I realized that the list of numbers was on a packing sticker from a new delivery we got...it was on his forehead! The boy had read it and memorized it and my husband stuck it to his forehead with the instructions, "Go tell Mama!" The next few days, he still remembered it. It boggled my mind, but we had a lot of fun with things like that. We always remind him that God gave him a good brain and he must be thankful for it, not show it off. My hope is that he uses it for God's glory...I pray he lives out a life sharing God's Word and living it. He certainly won't have any trouble reading or remembering it! I remember when he was just maybe four and I was explaining salvation again to him. When I got to the part about Jesus had to take all of sins on his body, he said so sweetly, "Did it hurt?" Oh my goodness, the tenderness that was on his lips. "Yes, honey, it really did hurt him..."
I am just so thankful for my eight-year-old baby boy! HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Sunday, November 4, 2007
NAME SAKES
I have three brothers.
My three boys' middle names are for my brothers...
I always felt bad not using my husband's brother's name, Malcolm, but I figured that we carry on the surname...and who knows--we may have more children in the future...
I just love my brothers so much I wanted to honor them in this way.
Saturday, November 3, 2007
DEVOTION I gave from the last ladies' event...
I wanted to spend a few minutes sharing a verse that I have been studying and have learned a lot from.
It’s from 1 Peter 4:7-11
It seems like a simple command, but as with all scripture, there is always a fresh lesson to us.
1Pe 4:8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
The kind of love this is referred to here is from the Greek word, agape.
This is the kind of love Jesus has for humankind, it means an unselfish love.
A selfless love that’s about the other person.
So, Simon Peter’s words are for us to love one another with the same kind of love as revealed in Jesus, seen as spiritual and selfless and a model for humanity.
The same word (in the Greek) for love is used in
Colossians 3:14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
John Macarthur said “Supernatural love poured into the hearts of believers is the adhesive of the church. “
And the same word for love was used in I COR 13 4-13, which I will share more on in a minute, but for now verse 13
1Cor 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Not only are we told to love in this AGAPE way, but the word fervent is used.
This one word fervent is such a strong word and it gives this command a very strong initiative.
FERVENT means having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit or feeling, enthusiasm which is SINCERE, strong and lasting.
Matthew Henry commented in this way
“There is a special relation between all sincere Christians, and a particular amiableness and good in them, which require special affection. (2.) It is not enough for Christians not to bear malice, nor to have common respect for one another, they must intensely and fervently love each other.
Think about fervent in this way…from the John Macarthur study Bible ”to be stretched or strained to maximum capacity. It can be used to describe a runner who is moving at maximum output with tense muscles, straining and stretching to the limit. This kind of love requires a Christian to put another’s spiritual good ahead of his own desires in spite of being treated unkindly, ungraciously or even with hostility.”
We are supposed to love each other with deeper affection. This requires the kind of love you must work for. And, as we’re told in the passage, it’s to happen above all things, it’s our responsibility and there’s not an excuse to do otherwise.
So, what is love? Is it that I feel an overemotional love for you and that means I’m being obedient to what God is telling me to do here?
Well, let’s peek at what God says love looks like
1Co 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1Co 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1Co 13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
1Co 13:7 It always protects (or bears all things), always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
We are to be patient—fervently
We are to be kind—fervently
We are to fervently do whatever we can not to envy someone else. Envy is the opposite of selfless service to others. If that creeps up, recognize it and repent. Make an effort to change that. If you still feel it, repent again and just don’t let it affect the other person. That’s loving them. Love isn’t proud---fervently thank God that whatever good you have in you is from God. Never rude, love never wants its own way--consider others…consider others first and foremost. Don’t keep a record of wrong. If you’ve forgiven someone—don’t bring it up again, give them a clean slate. Be passionate about that and sincere. Never rejoice in evil, but always rejoice with truth. Love never has pleasure in someone else’s sin, even the sin of an enemy.
Love is devoted to truth in everything.
What’s the purpose?
Well, if we were to move on in vs 11, we’re told that it glorifies God. Another way to describe glorifying God that I read says it this way: so that God’s presence may be evident in everything. I love that. So that God’s presence may be evident in everything.
Another meaning of that word glorify is to magnify. To magnify God.
In all we do, we should ask, does it glorify Him or how does it glorify Him?
But, let’s look at what God says is the purpose for loving one another fervently within this verse…
Because love covers a multitude of sin.
So, we’ve learned about what kind of love Peter is telling us to have—and the purpose for other Christians? To cover their sin. How much sin? A multitude of sin.
So, if covering sin is the purpose, we have to realize we’re talking about dealing with someone who has sinned against us, or sinned around us. That’s what these particular verses are talking about.
Now this scripture is taken from Proverbs 10:12 that says this
“But, love covers all transgressions.”
Macarthur says: “It is the nature of true spiritual love whether from God to man or Christian to Christian to cover sins.
So, if a person has sinned, and repented…what should you or I do?
You treat it as done and forgotten. You bury the sin in oblivion. It’s not that we do away with the sin—only Jesus can do that; but it’s forgotten and you move on. By doing that, you’re helping that person to move on in their Christian walk. That’s truly covering a multitude of sin.
As Christians, we know that we are to love one another as Christ loves us. God tells us Above all, have fervent love for one another. We are incapable of that unless Christ permeates our lives. This is why unbelievers don’t forgive and move on. We have the ability to love one another, forgive offenses and progress in our walks.
That ability comes from Christ alone; it’s a gift that He has given us that enables us to reciprocate it to others in the same body of Christ.
The trouble comes when we aren’t spending time in the Word, when we aren’t praying, when we aren’t doing what we are supposed to do—if we aren’t being permeated with Christ, how can we ever love fervently?
A good example that we’ll have all around us soon is how the leaves change color. Leaves are truly yellow to orange in their original form. But, the leaves spend lots of time in the sun over spring and summer and get loads of green coloring and turn a wonderful luscious green. It’s only when the leaves stop spending time in the sun due to seasonal changes and they stop soaking up all that healthy chlorophyll that the green color begins to fade away and the leaf begins to show its true colors.
We may see it as a beautiful change in color (and I certainly love the foliage) but the truth is, the leaf is dying. That leaf needs chlorophyll to survive. The tree stops producing chlorophyll and the leaves dry out and the green color fades.
Isn’t it the same with us? We are sinners, our sin nature is there, it may not be yellow to orange in color, but we know what it is. We are truly sinful in our original form. It is only when we spend time with Jesus, time in the Word, time soaking in His truths that the sin gets covered and we begin to live a life that is holy. But, when we are lacking and not soaking in His truths, that behavior that is characteristic of that sin nature, creeps out and begins to show through. The leaves change due to outside influences that affect them on the inside. What we have to remember, is that we need to make our outside influences—reading the Word, being around our sisters in Christ, praying and spending time with God, we need to make these things happen so that we are affected on the inside to become more like Christ…
And then, we will be able to have fervent love for one another.
It’s from 1 Peter 4:7-11
It seems like a simple command, but as with all scripture, there is always a fresh lesson to us.
1Pe 4:8 Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins.
The kind of love this is referred to here is from the Greek word, agape.
This is the kind of love Jesus has for humankind, it means an unselfish love.
A selfless love that’s about the other person.
So, Simon Peter’s words are for us to love one another with the same kind of love as revealed in Jesus, seen as spiritual and selfless and a model for humanity.
The same word (in the Greek) for love is used in
Colossians 3:14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
John Macarthur said “Supernatural love poured into the hearts of believers is the adhesive of the church. “
And the same word for love was used in I COR 13 4-13, which I will share more on in a minute, but for now verse 13
1Cor 13:13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
Not only are we told to love in this AGAPE way, but the word fervent is used.
This one word fervent is such a strong word and it gives this command a very strong initiative.
FERVENT means having or showing great warmth or intensity of spirit or feeling, enthusiasm which is SINCERE, strong and lasting.
Matthew Henry commented in this way
“There is a special relation between all sincere Christians, and a particular amiableness and good in them, which require special affection. (2.) It is not enough for Christians not to bear malice, nor to have common respect for one another, they must intensely and fervently love each other.
Think about fervent in this way…from the John Macarthur study Bible ”to be stretched or strained to maximum capacity. It can be used to describe a runner who is moving at maximum output with tense muscles, straining and stretching to the limit. This kind of love requires a Christian to put another’s spiritual good ahead of his own desires in spite of being treated unkindly, ungraciously or even with hostility.”
We are supposed to love each other with deeper affection. This requires the kind of love you must work for. And, as we’re told in the passage, it’s to happen above all things, it’s our responsibility and there’s not an excuse to do otherwise.
So, what is love? Is it that I feel an overemotional love for you and that means I’m being obedient to what God is telling me to do here?
Well, let’s peek at what God says love looks like
1Co 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.
1Co 13:5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.
1Co 13:6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.
1Co 13:7 It always protects (or bears all things), always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
We are to be patient—fervently
We are to be kind—fervently
We are to fervently do whatever we can not to envy someone else. Envy is the opposite of selfless service to others. If that creeps up, recognize it and repent. Make an effort to change that. If you still feel it, repent again and just don’t let it affect the other person. That’s loving them. Love isn’t proud---fervently thank God that whatever good you have in you is from God. Never rude, love never wants its own way--consider others…consider others first and foremost. Don’t keep a record of wrong. If you’ve forgiven someone—don’t bring it up again, give them a clean slate. Be passionate about that and sincere. Never rejoice in evil, but always rejoice with truth. Love never has pleasure in someone else’s sin, even the sin of an enemy.
Love is devoted to truth in everything.
What’s the purpose?
Well, if we were to move on in vs 11, we’re told that it glorifies God. Another way to describe glorifying God that I read says it this way: so that God’s presence may be evident in everything. I love that. So that God’s presence may be evident in everything.
Another meaning of that word glorify is to magnify. To magnify God.
In all we do, we should ask, does it glorify Him or how does it glorify Him?
But, let’s look at what God says is the purpose for loving one another fervently within this verse…
Because love covers a multitude of sin.
So, we’ve learned about what kind of love Peter is telling us to have—and the purpose for other Christians? To cover their sin. How much sin? A multitude of sin.
So, if covering sin is the purpose, we have to realize we’re talking about dealing with someone who has sinned against us, or sinned around us. That’s what these particular verses are talking about.
Now this scripture is taken from Proverbs 10:12 that says this
“But, love covers all transgressions.”
Macarthur says: “It is the nature of true spiritual love whether from God to man or Christian to Christian to cover sins.
So, if a person has sinned, and repented…what should you or I do?
You treat it as done and forgotten. You bury the sin in oblivion. It’s not that we do away with the sin—only Jesus can do that; but it’s forgotten and you move on. By doing that, you’re helping that person to move on in their Christian walk. That’s truly covering a multitude of sin.
As Christians, we know that we are to love one another as Christ loves us. God tells us Above all, have fervent love for one another. We are incapable of that unless Christ permeates our lives. This is why unbelievers don’t forgive and move on. We have the ability to love one another, forgive offenses and progress in our walks.
That ability comes from Christ alone; it’s a gift that He has given us that enables us to reciprocate it to others in the same body of Christ.
The trouble comes when we aren’t spending time in the Word, when we aren’t praying, when we aren’t doing what we are supposed to do—if we aren’t being permeated with Christ, how can we ever love fervently?
A good example that we’ll have all around us soon is how the leaves change color. Leaves are truly yellow to orange in their original form. But, the leaves spend lots of time in the sun over spring and summer and get loads of green coloring and turn a wonderful luscious green. It’s only when the leaves stop spending time in the sun due to seasonal changes and they stop soaking up all that healthy chlorophyll that the green color begins to fade away and the leaf begins to show its true colors.
We may see it as a beautiful change in color (and I certainly love the foliage) but the truth is, the leaf is dying. That leaf needs chlorophyll to survive. The tree stops producing chlorophyll and the leaves dry out and the green color fades.
Isn’t it the same with us? We are sinners, our sin nature is there, it may not be yellow to orange in color, but we know what it is. We are truly sinful in our original form. It is only when we spend time with Jesus, time in the Word, time soaking in His truths that the sin gets covered and we begin to live a life that is holy. But, when we are lacking and not soaking in His truths, that behavior that is characteristic of that sin nature, creeps out and begins to show through. The leaves change due to outside influences that affect them on the inside. What we have to remember, is that we need to make our outside influences—reading the Word, being around our sisters in Christ, praying and spending time with God, we need to make these things happen so that we are affected on the inside to become more like Christ…
And then, we will be able to have fervent love for one another.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)