Raindrops

Just recently, on Pinterest of all places, I was challenged to start my home school mornings in God's Word TOGETHER with my children. So this week we are meeting at the table at 8h30 in the morning with our Word of Life Quiet Times. (Not that the Word of Life Quiet Time is anything magic - just a tool to keep us on the same page, yet still at our own levels, as they have a journal for each age.)

So, WOW! I have been blessed beyond measure in just two mornings! We have started the book of Job this week, and I thought, "Again?" You see, we have recently finished reading through Job in our evening prayer readings as we are reading through the Bible chronologically in a year. And, the kids have studied Job in home school this year. BUT, I guess God knows I need to hear things a few times before they really sink in, so here we are again, in Job! I'm listening, Lord!

My greatest blessing during this time with my children has been the opportunity to be vulnerable with them. We talked about how Job was "blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil." We talked about how God blessed Job - He gave him MANY blessings! And how God allowed Satan to take those blessings away - his crops, his animals, his children! And yet Job said,

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.” 

And "Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God."

I shared with my children that I would like to believe my faith is strong enough to stand. I don't want to go through hard times and have my faith waver! But until I'm in the midst of a trial, how am I to know? We discussed those that HAVE wavered in their faith in times of trial and that we can't judge them, because we've never been in their shoes, but also our desire to be different if we experience similar trials of our own. I have to live DAILY in His Word, so that I have a solid foundation to stand on, and cling to Him in times of need!

We have been singing Blessings by Laura Story in our house a lot the last couple of days, so I'm going to include the lyrics.

We pray for blessings
We pray for peace
Comfort for family, protection while we sleep
We pray for healing, for prosperity
We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering
All the while, You hear each spoken need
Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things

'Cause what if your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

We pray for wisdom
Your voice to hear
We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near
We doubt your goodness, we doubt your love
As if every promise from Your Word is not enough
All the while, You hear each desperate plea
And long that we'd have faith to believe

When friends betray us
When darkness seems to win we know
That pain reminds this heart
That this is not, this is not our home,
This is not our home

What if my greatest disappointments
Or the aching of this life
Is the revealing of a greater thirst this world can't satisfy
What if trials of this life
The rain, the storms, the hardest nights
Are your mercies in disguise

I was able to go back to our break in, almost 2 years ago now, and remind them that maybe it happened so that we might better know God. And we decided it was worth it!

We discussed many more things, and our home school day was still a bit rough - even starting with Bible doesn't make my children perfect! ;) But I'm so glad that we started TOGETHER in the Word, and I don't want to forget this LFL.

This still gives me goosebumps - "What if a thousand sleepless nights are what it takes to know You're near". If you haven't heard the song, I urge you to listen.

And of course, when it comes to Job, I want to "Live Like That".

The Glory of my King

Do not claim honor in the presence of the king,
         And do not stand in the place of great men;
    For it is better that it be said to you, "Come up here,"
         Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the 
          prince,
         Whom your eyes have seen. Proverbs 25:6-7


Help me, Lord, to focus my life on the glory of my King rather than to seek glory for myself. When I have a clear picture of who God is, it will lead me to true humility.

Holy, holy, holy!  Lord God Almighty!

Early in the morning our song shall rise to thee.

Holy, holy, holy!  Merciful and mighty,

God in three persons, blessed Trinity!

Holy, holy, holy!  All the saints adore thee,

casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;

cherubim and seraphim falling down before thee,

which wert, and art, and evermore shalt be.

Holy, holy, holy!  Though the darkness hide thee,

though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,

only thou art holy; there is none beside thee,

perfect in power, in love and purity.

Holy, holy, holy!  Lord God Almighty!

All thy works shall praise thy name, in earth and sky and sea.

Holy, holy, holy!  Merciful and mighty,

God in three persons, blessed Trinity.

A Gentle Tongue

Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, 
   and a gentle tongue can break a bone. Proverbs 25:15


"Solomon writes that the gentle tongue breaks a bone, saying that even a gentle and sensitive tongue can be a powerful force. 'Gentle' means delicate, soft, or tender and is used elsewhere in Proverbs of a 'soft answer turning away wrath' (15:1).... Either wisdom or foolishness is always reflected in my speech!" Todd Kinzer


Are my words gentle? Lord, please continue to remind me that my tongue reveals my heart. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in Your sight O Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer."

Help me to spend more time meditating on Your Word "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh."

Quick to hear, Slow to Speak and Slow to Anger

James 1:19b-27 (Emphasis mine)

19But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger;

 ²⁰for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

 ²¹Therefore, putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.

 ²²But prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves.

 ²³For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror;

 ²⁴for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was.

 ²⁵But one who looks intently at the perfect law, the law of liberty, and abides by it, not having become a forgetful hearer but an effectual doer, this man will be blessed in what he does.

 ²⁶If anyone thinks himself to be religious, and yet does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this man's religion is worthless.

 ²⁷Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world.

I was so challenged by this passage in my quiet time this morning! Thank you, God, for reminding me that controlling my tongue and my anger are ongoing challenges in my life. I must continually check the mirror to see how dirty my face is and that it needs to be washed clean again! Lord, please change me. Renew me. Make me a doer of Your Word! I love that I have more than a religion with you, but a relationship. Abba Father, I am relying on Your strength to help me control my tongue and to help me to be slow to anger with my children. Implant Your Word in my heart and life.

God's Faithfulness

1 Samuel 17:37 The LORD who rescued me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will rescue me from the hand of this Philistine.

David had experienced God's protection, and knew that God would continue to be faithful. Experience has increased David's faith!

"God delights in using weak instruments to do great things through their faith. We must gain experience in the use of our faith as our shield and God's Word as our sword (Eph. 6:11-17). Such faith is the source of victory." Don Kelso

My God is Faithful!!!!

Hannah cries out to the Lord and asks him for a child. She promises that if He gives her a child, she will give that child back to Him. I wonder if she really believed that He would answer her in the way that she desired?
This passage really touched me this week - this is Hannah's response to God giving her a child. She has found the Lord faithful and this is her response.
Sometimes, having found God faithful so often, it is my nature to expect answered prayer and not be in awe of it. Lord, please keep my heart tender to God's love toward me. I am but a sinner, saved by grace, and I want to shout to those around me, "My God is faithful!"


1 Samuel 2:1-2
Then Hannah prayed and said,
         "My heart exults in the LORD;
         My horn is exalted in the LORD,
         My mouth speaks boldly against my 
         enemies,
         Because I rejoice in Your salvation. 
    ²"There is no one holy like the LORD,
         Indeed, there is no one besides You,
         Nor is there any rock like our God. 

Jonah

QT Today - Jonah received instructions from God and disobeyed. He had to be swallowed by a big fish before deciding to obey God. But the heathen king of Ninevah heard God's instructions one time and repented. Let me be more like the king of Ninevah, in that I am quick to repent and obey.

Our Great High Priest and A Perfect Sacrifice!!!

WOW!!!! That was the first thing I wrote in my Word of Life Quiet Time this morning.... (Now, for those of you in the US using the Quiet Time, we're on a different schedule here in SA, so don't think I'm crazy. You've already done this. ;)) But, back to WOW! I love how God works.

You see, 1). I am in week 10 of Beth Moore's study, A Woman's Heart, God's Dwelling Place (about the Tabernacle), 2). AND my pastor has started a series on the tabernacle Sunday nights at church, 3). AND about a month ago, God brought me in my QT to Hebrews - which brings to light that JESUS is the only sacrifice that takes away my sins, the only priest that can sit because His sacrifice is once and for all, that He is a better priest, a better sacrifice....

Now, do you think God is trying to teach me something?? Well, I KNOW He is, always! But, specifically today, I HAD to share. I'm STILL going WOW!!!

First read what I read....

Hebrews 10:19-25

Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

Now, in the OT Tabernacle, ONLY the High Priest could enter beyond the veil to the Holy of Holies, and he had bells on his garment so that people knew that he was still alive when he moved, and a rope tied to his leg so that if he wasn't they could get him out. Our God is a holy and just God, and if they didn't follow His regulations, there was consequence!
But when Christ died on the cross, that veil was torn, top to bottom. Read the Hebrews passage again - the veil that is His flesh! When Christ died on the cross He gave us access to the Holy of Holies through faith, "having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."
But before we get carried away, let us look at the "therefore". Now I'm sure that you've probably heard, like me, that when we see the word "therefore" we must look and see what it's there for! It's a matter of "if this", "then that"....
So, these are some of the verses that stood out to me as I looked back on Chapter 10....

For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. v. 4

By this will we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. v. 10

Every priest stands daily ministering and offering time after time the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins; but He, having offered one sacrifice for sins for all time,  SAT DOWN AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD, v. 11-12

And I am reminded of Hebrews 7:23-28:

The former priests, on the one hand, existed in greater numbers because they were prevented by death from continuing, but Jesus, on the other hand, because He continues forever, holds His priesthood permanently.
Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them. For it was fitting for us to have such a high priest, holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners and exalted above the heavens; who does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself.
For the Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son, made perfect forever.

Is anyone else saying "Wow" yet?
Anyways, back to Hebrews 10 and the "therefore".  "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful; and let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near."

It really speaks for itself, but it challenges me. This year has been a challenge toward self-discipline. I want to run the race with abandon! (see previous post) So, in light of that, this is the challenge that I received from Hebrews 10 today....
1. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful;
2. let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds
3. not forsaking our own assembling together
4. encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near.

I could expound on each of those points, specifically how I feel God is challenging me in each of them, but I think this post is long enough and I'll save it for another day. Thanks for following down the "therefore" path with me today, and I hope someone out there is saying, "WOW" with me as we consider God's Word and how amazing HE is!!!

Hebrews

SOOOO looking forward to digging into the book of Hebrews for the next 6 weeks in our Word of Life Quiet Time! Here is a section of the introduction by Don Kelso:

The key word in Hebrews is "better": used 13 times. It literally means higher in rank; thus, more prominent. 'Better' is used in the Book of Hebrews to build a series of comparisons:
a. Christ is a better messenger than prophets or angels (1:1-2:18)
b. Christ is a better apostle than Moses (3:1-6)
c. Christ gives a better rest than Joshua (4:1-10)
d. Christ is a better priest than Aaron (4:14-7:28)
e. The New Covenant is better than the Old Covenant (8:1-9:28)
f. Christ is a better sacrifice than the OT sacrifices (10:1-18)
g. The Christian life of "faith" is a better way to live (10:32-12:29)

WOW!

Quiet Time

I have been so encouraged in my quiet time this month. We have been reading Judges, and the stories of Gideon and Samson have come alive to me again.

Gideon was so unbelieving - over and over and over again God gave him sign after sign! Then God says that He is ready to deliver the Midianites into Gideon's hands, BUT if Gideon is afraid (still after all those signs?) that he should go down to the Midianite camp and God will give him another sign, and HE GOES! God has so much patience with his lack of faith! And it's amazing to me that what causes him to believe that God will give the Midianites into their hands is an unbeliever's dream and it's interpretation.

Samson was so bad! He is not what you think of when you think of an example you would like to follow, yet God used him over and over to fulfill God's purposes! And yet, we are told in Hebrews 11:32-33, "And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gedeon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthae; of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions." Here they are listed in the "HALL OF FAITH!"

This gives me hope. I don't have to be perfect. Christ has covered all my imperfections. He has set me free from the law! It's a good thing I don't have to be perfect, because I can't! And yet, in my imperfect state, I can still be considered faithful. God, you are amazingly merciful!!!

Today's Quiet Time....

Today's WOLSA Quiet Time passage is Psalm 84. WOW! Really enjoyed it this morning! Here is a quote from Don Kelso:

"Tabernacles," "courts," "altars," and "house" are descriptive designations for God's dwelling place. "Tabernacles" and "courts" are plural since there were several rooms in the temple complex where people would gather for worship, in addition to the temple itself. Like the sparrow and swallow that dwell there (v.3), the psalmist appreciates the place but His deepest desire is for the God of the place. "Soul," "heart," and "flesh" speak of the entire being and are the equivalent of "spirit and soul and body" (1 Thessalonians 5:23).

 

Psalm 84:10-12

For a day in Thy courts is better than a thousand outside.

I would rather stand at the threshold of the house of my God,

Than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

For the Lord gives grace and glory;

No good thing does He withhold from those who walk uprightly.

O Lord of hosts, How blessed is the man who trusts in Thee.