Monthly Archives: January 2016

Off Kilter

Posted on January 31, 2016 | Leave a comment

1 John 1:5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

Ponderings:
The image of a teeter-totter came to my mind.  On one end are the options of darkness and sin and on the other light and forgiveness. They’re the competing elements of life that bring up the issue of finding balance.  Choosing to hover between those options is only going to leave us Off Kilter much of the time.

That struggle and making balance our goal is the inescapable evidence of our incompleteness and our need. Why would we want to settle for balance when we can get off the teeter totter and stand on firm ground with these promises?

“God is light; in him there is no darkness at all…If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

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Posted in 1 John, Reality, Sunday

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The Perfect Tutor

Posted on January 27, 2016 | Leave a comment

I John 2:27 NIV As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

I love this passage. I hope you’ve experienced it’s truth in your own life too. Sometimes you hear people ask “how do you know this church stuff is real?” This verse is the answer. Anointing is not a word that is commonly used and only heard occasionally in church.

It’s really easy to begin to depend on what other people know for your faith. That’s their anointing.   It’s not what “they” know that transforms you. God promises he will give you your own real, life-changing faith and absolute truth in the time you spend getting to know him through his Word and his Spirit. That’s your anointing.

I remember a Bible study where a man came who’d struggled with addiction for many years. He didn’t have the history of the basic childhood Bible stories or even regular church attendance. He must have really felt like a fish out of water…but for whatever reason…he came. Not only did he come that night but he did the reading for the next week and came again.

There was a moment when he shared something he’d learned from that reading and followed it up with “and nobody taught me that” with such excitement that my heart was filled with gratitude and praise.  That was his anointing and God proved himself The Perfect Tutor again.

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Posted in 1 John, Annointing, Growth, Wednesday

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Seeds of Forever

Posted on January 24, 2016 | Leave a comment

Genesis 19:15With the coming of dawn, the angels urged Lot, saying, “Hurry! Take your wife and your two daughters who are here, or you will be swept away when the city is punished.” 16When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.

My Thoughts:
This brings to mind, “once saved, always saved.” Right now Lot seems like the most stupid of men doesn’t he? What makes him hesitate? Is it the need to act immediately without time to reason and prepare or maybe some kind of disbelief; in the message, in the timing, in God? Any one of those options lead to the same conclusion. He’s not Godless but doesn’t seem all that Godly either! Lot is unsure of who he’s to follow, himself or God.

However God is not unsure about Lot. It’s hard to fathom why, but God has committed himself to Lot and He will not hesitate to act to save him and his family. And therein lie the Seeds of Forever. We think we have chosen God but remember he first loved us. We think we have committed ourselves fully but our choices are limited by “the truth we now have.”

Here’s the good news. God’s heart and your salvation are not limited by “the truth YOU now have.” When your heart spoke those words of commitment, God chose to accept the Christ in you…and your words, without reservation. He’s sure about that. His intention is for your forever even if you hesitate and he has to grasp your hand and lead you to safety.

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Posted in Daily Faith, Genesis, Sunday

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Potential

Posted on January 20, 2016 | Leave a comment

I Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres…12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known…13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Thoughts:
How in the world do you love as Jesus loved…when some people just seem to deserve our criticism or even contempt? It would be so good to have a manual for this. A book that would help us look at them with eyes that see past what they say and how they act and see them made in God’s image. Oh wait…we do.

Spoiler alert: You aren’t perfect either and one sin isn’t worse than another. We have all broken Jesus’ heart.  Jesus came to you in a relationship of Potential rather than problems.  Thank God for that kind of love.  It seems the very least Jesus might expect is that we let our hearts be broken for the potential of  others in his name.

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Posted in 1 Corinthians, Daily Faith, Grace

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That’s the Truth

Posted on January 17, 2016 | Leave a comment

2 Peter 1:12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

Thoughts:
I had to stop and remind myself to pay attention to what comes after verse 12 because that verse is such an important thought for me.  I believe it with all my heart. I can be devout, I can be faithful…but…I am only “established in the truth [I] now have.   I am still a learner.

There are so many controversies that rage in the world of faith; devout people blowing up abortion clinics, devout muslims killing themselves and others in the name of holiness. Devout Christians with polar opposite views on the very same subject. Christians, like me, wanting so much to do the right thing and have the right position on any topic.  In the name of God, the temptation becomes picking a side to follow…rather than picking a Savior to follow.

That’s the Truth I need to be reminded of.

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Posted in 2 Peter, Daily Faith, Reality, Sunday

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Divine Reading

Posted on January 13, 2016 | Leave a comment

It was just a few years ago that I first heard of Lectio Divina (Latin for “Divine Reading”). It’s not a theological analysis of biblical passages but choosing to read and ponder your personal relationship with God through his Living Word.

Genesis 2:15 “The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it. 16 And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”

God took a risk when He gave Adam the possibility of choosing not to obey rather than physically preventing him from eating. Think about the trust involved in giving that freedom to Adam…and to us!  That’s prime Divine Reading [and pondering].

For God to be willing to risk letting his creation make a wrong choice seems like the ultimate submission on his part. The omnipotent God staking His reputation on “our” choices because “He first loved…” is pretty amazing when you think of it.  He did have a plan but sometimes I just wish he’d done it the other way.

Lord, give me this day the courage to make you proud.

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Posted in Divine Reading, Genesis, Prayer, Wednesday

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Every Moment

Posted on January 10, 2016 | Leave a comment

Philippians 2:12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling,

Don’t live in the paralysis of self-analysis wondering about your every choice. Believe that God is in Every Moment, every thought, everything that happens; that His Spirit is guiding and interceding; that your behavior is being influenced by God…whether or not you’re consciously aware of it. That’s the “much more in my absence” part.

Be prepared to be dragged into the correction of conscious awareness sometimes; to have to admit you made the wrong choice, to have to repent, to have to forgive, and to have to ask for forgiveness. That’s the “fear and trembling” part.

Be prepared to have moments of grace and glory that warm you, change you, teach you, humble you…and surprise you with the conscious awareness of knowing that you did hear from God and responded. Remember it’s a joint effort, you are not in this alone. That’s the “working out” part.

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Posted in Growth, Philippians, Sunday

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Reminders

Posted on January 6, 2016 | Leave a comment

“No matter what changes God has performed in you, never rely on them. Build only on a Person, the Lord Jesus Christ, and on the Spirit He gives. All our promises and resolutions end in denial because we have no power to accomplish them.” Oswald Chambers

The word “denial” made me think of Peter [the rock] and then King David [a man after God’s own heart]. Somehow there’s comfort for me in recognizing God saw past their humanity to those descriptions. They are my Biblical examples of the truth of what Chambers says. There are illuminating moments of real personal Godliness to enjoy. But there are also moments of the dismal reality of being way too human.

Those moments are not reward and punishment. They are Reminders. One is a reminder of His reality in you and the other that He cares enough to let you know you still need him. Either way it’s a blessing.

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Posted in Blessing, Daily Faith, Jesus is there for You, Oswald Chambers

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Limitless Then…

Posted on January 3, 2016 | Leave a comment

Back in Genesis God tells Abram in Chapter 17 “Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life. I will make a covenant with you, by which I will guarantee to give you countless descendants.” At this, Abram fell face down on the ground. Then God said to him, “This is my covenant with you: I will make you the father of a multitude of nations!…”

The definition of a covenant is “a solemn, and binding agreement or promise usually under seal between two or more parties especially for the performance of some action.”  Maybe a covenant is not a static, one-step, New Year’s resolution kind of thing but more like a cycle renewed each year?  That concept makes sense to me.

That first step across the line from unbeliever to believer is only one step, but a momentous one, all  based on the awareness of “if’s.”    That’s when the cycle of “then’s” begins.   It’s the beginning of God’s personal covenant with you: his promise he will move the “if’s” to “then’s.”
If…God, Then awareness…
If…awareness, Then the Holy Spirit…
If the Holy Spirit…Then truth…
If truth…Then grace…
If grace…Then forgiveness…
If forgiveness…Then mercy…
If mercy…Then love – 1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us…
If love…continuous renewal and Limitless Then…

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Posted in 1 John, Blessing, Genesis, New Year, The Real You

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