Afraid of God's Will?

graphic from thegospelforoc.com

In a recent conversation with a new friend, she asked, "Does it really matter to the Lord what I do for a job?"  She is afraid to ask God what he thinks.  Why?  Because she is afraid she might find out God's will requires a radical change in her life. 

When we first come to Jesus Christ for salvation, we come with repentance.  That means we are turning our back on our sins and on unbelief, and that now we are willing to change from our way to his way.  Or at least, we are willing to have him make us willing to change.  If I am afraid to learn that God wants something different from me, does that not mean that I am refusing to give up my will?  Hmm.  What happened to repentance?  Does it only go so far?

As my friend is a new Christian, I can understand her fear.  The problem is, she fears the wrong thing.  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, the Bible says.  The fear of the Lord is what drives the Christian to understand his will.  As my friend learns to fear God and obey his direction, she will find that she will also trust him more; as she proves him, she will find that the result of submitting to God's will is better than any of her own plans could have turned out.  Truly, it is the goodness of God that leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4)!  He is so gracious and kind.

I wrote a post on this topic several years ago, and it bears repeating:

Trusting God's Answers

“But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.”  Luke 9: 45

Have you ever been afraid to ask God about a particular passage of the scripture? I have. Soon after I was saved I began to hear preaching and to come across Bible literature about a lady’s wardrobe.  It wasn’t just about modesty, for if it had been, I would not have been bothered.  I thought I was modest. (It’s amazing how the Bible opens blinded eyes!) This stuff I was hearing and seeing had to do with women wearing pants, and how God designed women and men, and what the Bible has to say on the subject of a woman’s wardrobe.  For some weeks I pondered and wondered.  I searched the scriptures, looking for a verse that said my outward appearance didn’t matter. (It wasn’t there.) Then I began to argue with God.  While I didn’t want to be a rebel against the Lord, I also didn’t want to submit to his will if it meant giving up my pants.  What would my family and friends think? Wouldn’t people look at me strange if I only wore skirts?? How could I afford a new wardrobe?!

The whole question could have been solved much sooner for me, if I had just asked God the clear meaning of the passages I had read. But I was afraid to ask him! I think I already KNEW what God wanted me to do. So why was I afraid? Did I think submitting to his will was going to make me miserable?  Did I think God wanted me to feel conspicuous? Was he going to destroy my comfortable LIFE?  Did I think God just did not know what he was doing?  After all, in our culture, women wear pants. If I gave in to this, what else was he going to demand from me?  (Pants on ladies is not the subject of this post, so keep reading.)

Since that time, other similar issues have come up for me, issues that I was afraid to ask the Lord about -- how he wants me to act towards or react to the unloveables in my life, what he wants from me now that he owns me, what kind of missions offering does he want me to give? The Bible has the answers to all of those questions. Certainly I have not gotten the victory over every fear concerning what God might ask of me, but I do thank the Lord for this promise:

“For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.” Luke 9:56

There is nothing that God could ask of me, that, if I obey him, will make my life miserable.  Oh, I might be afraid to give up this security blanket or to be put into that uncomfortable situation or to humble myself, but I know now that on the other side of obedience there is joy and a peaceful conviction that I am in the will of God.

My husband knows a man who thinks maybe the Lord is calling him to be a preacher.  This man is afraid to ask the Lord about it, because he is afraid of the answer. A call to preach would mean EVERYTHING that his family is comfortable with would change.  They would have to move away, take a very serious pay-cut, and move into the spotlight as a preacher’s family. He would have to learn to speak in front of people on a very regular basis (oooh!), and come up with messages that he is convinced are from the Lord, to feed his church. The burden to pray would be great.  The burdens of his church family would add to the burdens of his own family. His wife would be a preacher’s wife, and his children would become PK’s.  His dreams and aspirations for this life would go up in a puff of smoke! Now that’s scary! Is God set out to destroy this man’s life and that of his family?  No.  God wants to save his life.  God may be giving this man an opportunity to serve him right in the center of His perfect will. What an opportunity!  What peace can be found when God’s answer is known AND acted upon. 

What does God want for your future or your career (or lack thereof)? What does he want you to look like, and how does he wish for you to spend your free time?  Are you afraid to ask him? If you are God's child, he has a wonderful plan for you. His plan for you is better than any of your own plans. Go his way.  It may take a leap of faith to ask him what it is, but you won’t regret following him in it. 

Biblical Election

Why is there so much confusion over election?  In my experience, election is commonly understood as predestination.  Predestination is the idea that God, from the foundation of the world or even earlier, determined that some of the souls he created would be saved and go to heaven, and others would be eternally lost.  

According to Noah Webster (1828) one who is "elect" is:
chosen or set apart
taken by preference from among two or more
selected or designated to eternal life
designated by God to salvation
predestinated to glory
or set apart as a peculiar church and people.  

I, for one, am very happy to know we don't derive our doctrine from the dictionary, but from the Bible!

Who are God's elect?  If I am absolutely certain I am one of them, could I be wrong?  What if I am deceived by my own heart?

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?  Jeremiah 17:9 

Could you ever really have the "peace that passes all understanding" if you thought there was a chance that maybe, just maybe, God had not designated you to eternal life?  How could you witness to people with the confidence that, if they were willing to receive Christ, he would save them from their sins?  And, if God has ordained some to hell to begin with, and others are destined for heaven whether we tell them about Jesus or not, why bother to testify of him at all??

I submit to you that predestination, in the sense that God has pre-ordained some to eternal life and others to hell, is a false doctrine.

First of all, from the standpoint of logic, would it make sense that God would predetermine some to a hell that he did not create for man in the first place??  Of course not.  Matthew 25:41, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.  We can't rely on logic, however.  We'll take a look at the Bible instead.


At its root, "elect" means to be specially chosen.  According to God's word, his elect, specifically, is his Son, Jesus Christ.  Isaiah 42:1,  Behold my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth; I have put my spirit upon him: he shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.

This was fulfilled in Matthew 12:15-18, so we know the prophesy of Isaiah is speaking of Jesus Christ:

But when Jesus knew it, he withdrew himself from thence: and great multitudes followed him, and he healed them all; And charged them that they should not make him known: That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Behold my servant, whom I have chosen; my beloved, in whom my soul is well pleased: I will put my spirit upon him, and he shall show judgment to the Gentiles.

Election, or pre-destination, is based on being found IN CHRIST, who is God's elect.  If I am "in Christ", then I am elect.  Simple.  My righteousness is in his righteousness, and my election is in him also:

2 Corinthians 5:17,21:  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.  [. . .]  For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

So, now,  back to our dictionary definition, with better understanding we can say that one who is "elected" by God is:
chosen or set apart because he is in Christ
taken by preference from among two or more because he is in Christ 
selected or designated to eternal life because he is in Christ
designated to salvation because he is in Christ
predestinated to glory because he is in Christ
or set apart as a peculiar church and people. 


It's like this.  Say an airplane is scheduled to fly to NY.  We'll say it is predestinated to go to NY.  If you are in that airplane, then you are predestinated to go to NY with the airplane.  If you are not in the plane, you don't go.  This is an oversimplified illustration, but it works nicely anyway. If you are in Christ, you are predestinated to go to heaven.  And if you are NOT in Christ, you are under the wrath of God, NOT destined for heaven until you repent of your foolishness and your unbelief, and receive him as your Savior.  John 3:36, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.  

We are chosen of God according to his foreknowledge (1 Peter 1:2), that is, that he knew from the beginning who would be his.  And who would those people be?  Those who receive Jesus Christ.  John 1:12, but as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.  I could not have been elected or predestined for heaven before I knew Christ, while I was still in my sins! No one is elect who is still in their sins! You have to be saved from your sins before you can be elected to eternal life.

A parenthetical thought: What does it mean to receive Christ?  Well, what does it mean to receive a guest into your home?  You open the door and invite him in, and provide for his wants.  That is what Jesus wants.  Open your heart's door and let him in.  In fact, give him the whole house, to do with as he pleases.  That is what it means to receive him.  Open the door and get out of his way.  Let him take over.  End of parenthetical thought.

Election seems rather simple.  So then, why IS there so much confusion over this?   Well, it's because of verses such as Romans 8:29, Whom he did foreknow, he predestinated... Predestinated to what? To be saved and go to heaven?  NO.  ...to be conformed to the image of his Son.  And, as the text goes on to say, those whom God predestinated to be conformed to the image of Christ, he also called, and justified, and glorified.  So, those who receive the Lord Jesus Christ as their Saviour are predestined, according to the foreknowledge of God, to be made like him.  And is that not our goal as Christians, to be more like Jesus every day?

And then there's Ephesians 1, where it says, According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, [...] Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Christ Jesus to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will, etc.  Well, who is the letter written to?  The saints at Ephesus.  Saved people.  People who are IN CHRIST.  Turn there in your good ol' KJB and see how many times the words "in Christ" or "in whom", referring to Christ, appear there.  It's all based on the foreknowledge of God, not pre-determination.

People who teach predestination say that the will of man is so depraved that we could not possibly choose, on our own, to receive Christ as our Saviour from sin.  But the Bible says differently.  Look at the invitations we are given to come to him!  God wants us to respond to him!

Mark 8:35 And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Matt. 11:28  Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.

John 7:37[...] Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

John 4:10 Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

Rev. 22:17  And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.

Salvation through the blood of Jesus Christ is available to EVERY soul on earth.  The Bible says so.

John 7:37  [...] Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink.

Romans 5:18 [...] even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.

1 Tim. 2:3,4  [...] God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

1 Tim. 2:6  Who gave himself a ransom for all, [...]

1 Tim. 4:10  [...] the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that believe.

Titus 2:11  For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men,

Hebrews 2:9  But we see Jesus, [...] that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

2 Peter 3:9  The Lord is [...] not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

1 John 2:2  And he is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Well.  That's pretty plain.  No one is predestined to go to hell.  All can go to heaven if they choose the right way and get IN the way -- Jesus.  He said,  I am the way, the truth, and the life:  no man cometh unto the Father, but by me. John 14:6

Writing these posts is good for me.  It helps me to learn the Bible better and to verbally defend my faith.  (Hey, I should  have my kids do this!)  I think one reason people are hesitant to talk about their beliefs is that they don't know how to defend them.  I want to be able to open the Bible and show someone what God says.  I always learn something when I do this, and I hope you do, too.  :)

Thanks for listening!

*   *   *   *   *

Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, 

it was needful for me to write unto you, 

and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith 

which was once delivered unto the saints.

Jude 1:3 

A Post From the Past - Eternal Security

Recently in our family Bible time, my husband taught us about the Bible doctrine of election.  If you are one of the "elect", as the word is widely (mis)understood, then you would never worry about losing your salvation.  Elect is elect, right?  But there are better reasons not to fear losing your salvation.  While I am thinking about writing a post on election, here is one about eternal security.

(The following is a re-post from back in the days when I had a brain)

The doctrine of eternal security, or "once saved, always saved", is one that comes under fire often.  Many people trust Christ for their salvation, only to be told later that it is possible to lose it.  When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary, the sinless blood he shed there was the payment for sins.  For all sins.  For everybody's sins.  For everybody's sins in the past, for all the sins that were committed on the day of Christ's death, and for all of the sins that would be committed in the future of humanity.  When Jesus died, your life was still many years in the future. And yet, his death paid the penalty for every one of your sins!  They were all covered at once. I can tell you that I KNOW I have been saved from ALL my sins (past, present, future), and I will give you some scripture that explains why.  But before I do that, think about these things:

~When Christ saved you, did he give you everlasting life or temporary life?

~Which one of your sins did Jesus NOT pay for when he was crucified for you?

~What kind of sin is bad enough to make you lose your salvation -- murder? Skipping church? Gossip? Unbelief? Adultery? Neglecting your Bible or prayer? And for how many times? One?  A hundred?

~Where is the "peace that passeth all understanding", if every day I wake up fearing I might have lost my salvation?

~Once you "lose" it, how ever do you get it back (IF you can get it back)???  No one in the Bible was ever saved twice!!

~No one who teaches eternal INsecurity ever believes that they have lost it, or that they could lose it.

~No one who asks the Lord Jesus Christ to save their soul ever does so believing He might forsake them in the future.  That is not faith.  You have to be taught that you can lose it, and that teaching does not come from the Bible.


One of the reasons this heresy, that one can lose his salvation, is now so prevalent is that the newer Bible versions have removed the good words "justification", "redemption", and "propitiation" from the text.  These words have been substituted with other words or other phrases that do not give us any assurance that salvation, the free gift of God, is for eternity.  I will be quoting here from the King James Bible.  If you are not reading the KJB, I suggest you open your version, whatever it is, to the following references to see what you are missing.

Read:
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,"
Romans 3:23-26

"Justified" is a judicial term that means one has been declared righteous. Although you were once guilty, the penalty for your has been paid in full.  You are no longer viewed by the Judge as guilty. Hooray!! Once a person has been justified, or declared righteous, he is never tried again for those crimes.

To be "redeemed" means to be bought back.  In the book of Romans, chapter 7, the apostle Paul says he was "alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and [he] died." Later in the chapter he says he was now carnal, "sold under sin". No longer spiritually alive, Paul had an terrible new master --sin! (See chapter 6.)  In order to be saved, he must be REDEEMED.  Bought back.  And he was!  The blood of Jesus Christ was the payment, praise God. There is no scriptural example of one who was once redeemed by the blood of Christ, and then sold back to sin again!

A "propitiation" is a price paid to appease one whose wrath has been incurred.  John 3 says of those who are lost (have not been eternally saved), "the wrath of God abideth on them." God the Father ordained that his own precious, sinless Son would be that payment. Isaiah 53:11 says, "He [God the Father] shall see the travail of his [Jesus Christ's] soul and shall be satisfied." When I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior from sin, I was accepting him as the only offering that I could present to God the Father for the forgiveness of my sins.  No other offering coming from me was good enough to appease the wrath of God!  Remember when Cain was too proud to ask Abel for a LAMB? Cain gave his own offering, not the one God ordained. The offering God ordained was the blood of an innocent lamb. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God!
"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10
"The blood of Jesus Christ [God's] Son cleanseth us from ALL SIN." 1 John 1:7


There are two verses that people often use to teach that one can lose his salvation.  One of them is 2 Timothy 2:12, "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:"  But look at the context.  The Bible is speaking here of denying Christ reign in our hearts and lives. If we deny him first place in our hearts, he will deny us reign in his kingdom! The Bible goes on to say, "If we [We who? We Christians!] believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself."  It is God himself, and God alone, who does both the saving and the keeping.  You can read Galatians for more about that.  Whether or not we can do something to keep our salvation is the theme of that book!

The other verse people use to teach eternal insecurity is this one: "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." Hebrew 10:26,27  That's true -- there is no more sacrifice for sins. The sacrifice for sins was made ONCE AND FOR ALL (Hebrews 10:10) at Calvary .  God does chasten us for sin after we have been saved.  That is not to say that he condemns saved sinners to hell for their sins.  That's impossible.  (What would those "saved" sinners then, have been "saved" FROM??)  "And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:1,2

Although those two passages appear to be saying you could lose the salvation that God gave you for eternity, there are many MORE verses that very plainly say you can not.  Read and believe the following verses, which apply to all who have repented of their sins and received Christ Jesus:

John 10:28  We shall NEVER perish
John 10:29  No one is able to remove you from God's hand.
John 6: 37  God will in NO WISE cast out those that come to him.
John 6: 39  The responsibility for keeping us saved belongs to God, and Jesus Christ can lose nothing.
Johns 5:24 says the kind of life I now have is EVERLASTING.
Romans 8:38 says nothing can separate the saved from the love of God.
1 Peter 1:5 says we are kept by the power of God.
Jude 24  God is able to keep us from falling.
Philippians 1:6 says that the Lord will continue his good work in us until the day of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:13 says my salvation was sealed by the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 2:8 says our salvation is the GIFT of God, and Romans 11:29 says the gifts and calling of God are without repentance -- that means he doesn't take them back!
There are many more verses in God's Word which assure us of our eternal salvation.

While it IS possible for the Christian to lose his assurance of salvation, his rewards, his joy, or his fellowship with the Lord, he cannot lose his salvation!

"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:11,12  You either have the Son or you don't.  If you have the Son, you are saved. Forever. God has put this promise in writing for us, and that's the key.  If your final authority is the written word of God, you need never fear he will cast you away.  Believe the Book!

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Hebrews 10:23 

Forgiving AND Forgetting

Have you ever found yourself repeatedly asking God’s forgiveness for the same sin?  Sometimes it is very hard for a woman to forgive herself for the sins of her past. We lose our joy even though we know what the Bible says about God’s wonderful forgiveness:

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

As far as the east is from the west, so far hath he removed our transgressions from us. Psalm 103:12

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Hebrews 8:12

So why do we find it so hard to quit reminding God how badly we have behaved?

The Lord brought this home to me in a very personal way.  Once upon a time, someone I especially love hurt me profoundly.  Okay, you’re all wondering who it was, and guessing it was my husband. Okay, you’re right, it was. He’s a good man, and I love him. He was oblivious to my feelings in this situation and he really didn’t mean to hurt me. But for days I cried in secret, actually grieving, and my heart felt like it had been ripped open. Because I knew that I was being overly sensitive, and because I knew he didn’t mean what he said, I tried to keep my pain to myself. I resolved not to mention the offending words even though I felt he had bludgeoned me with them. My anger and indignation was gone; I was read to forgive. I had forgiven him. But long after my hormonal over-sensitivity was gone, my heart was still bleeding profusely. I cried to the Lord; the pain was still there.  And I was trying, with God’s help, to forget the whole thing.

One day, what started out to be a casual conversation evolved into a pouring out of my heart.  All the tears I had kept back suddenly gushed out, and so did my accusation.  When he knew what he had done, my dear husband felt like so much scum. “I’m so sorry,” he told me, “That was a terrible, awful thing for me to say. I am soooo sorry!”  I felt a million times better after coming clean with my hurt feelings. Suddenly my heart was healed (99%) and I felt like myself again. Life was all better.  And I loved him more than ever!

For several days, out of the blue, my husband would say, “I am so sorry I hurt you like that. Please just punch me, or something!  I feel so bad!”  I didn’t want to hit him.  I wanted to forget the whole thing.  As long as he didn’t say anything more to me about it, I was reasonably happy. But his apologies kept reminding me, rubbing salt into the wound of my heart.

Suddenly the thought came to me, This is what it’s like when I tell God that I’m sorry for the same sin over and over again!  Jesus Christ forgave me at Calvary!  Why won’t I let him forget?  I now had a new resolve.  I would let go of my sins and completely accept God’s love and forgiveness, as well as his “forgetfulness”!

Again, If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9.

"All" is all, and that is all that "all" will ever mean!

Knowing our sins are GONE is a wonderful source of joy for the Christian.  Believe the God who loves you when he says, "It is finished.  I forgive you."

Understanding God's Grace

Last week as I was preparing my Sunday School lesson I got to thinking about Noah.  The Bible says, "But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord," Genesis 6:8.  It was a wonderful thing for Noah and his family that they did.  No doubt about that.  God's grace brought them through the destruction of the entire world and all its inhabitants, and through a brand new beginning in a world that was now hardly recognizable.  I wonder about the emotional impact that great flood had on Noah, and more especially, on the womenfolk who were aboard the ark. God made everything new. The Bible says Noah found grace.

But the grace that brought the Noah family through that terrible apocalypse also required Noah to endure possibly a hundred years of ark building while the world mocked on.  As a "preacher of righteousness"  (2 Peter 2:5) he warned the world of God's coming judgment and had not one convert (except maybe his sons' wives). There was much work to do in gathering food for his family and all God's animals.  He and his family endured an entire year of cabin fever in a closed-up boat, eating the same simple meals every day and cleaning up after a whole population of smelly beasts.  When they got off the ark, they must have felt like they had traveled to a different planet.  How lonely they must have been those first few years! 

In my way of thinking, supposing I were Noah, finding grace in God's sight would have meant something different.  God would have come to me and said, "Noah, you have found grace in my sight.  I am going to completely destroy the world and everyone in it, but I will save you and your family.  I am going to make an ark big enough for your family and all the animals I choose.  Your neighbors will be respectful of your faith, and even though none of them will believe you, they won't bother you, either.  In fact, I will cause them to help you gather food for your journey.  The ark will have lots of windows, with strong awnings, so you can get some fresh air in there, and there will be a covered deck so you can go outside and get some sun after the first forty days. When you come off the ark, I will have made you and your sons beautiful homes and fields all ready to harvest.  My grace will make things easier for you."

That's not what happened, though.  Finding grace with God didn't mean an easier life, in fact, it meant a lot more trouble and difficulty and things Noah would otherwise never have experienced. 

So here is what I have been thinking about.  The troubles and difficulties I am seeing now -- are they actually part of God's grace in my life?   I think they must be!  Knowing that these things are part of the process of his grace should make my heart more grateful, don't you think?  I know this.  Every Christian knows this.  But I feel like this is sort of a new realization, like this "bad" stuff really is God's plan for me, and not just obstacles for me to overcome in order to follow his plan.  This IS the plan!  I can trust him with this!  Up until now, I think my understanding of God's grace has been all wrong.  I''ll be chewing on this for a while.

For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
so are my ways higher than your ways,
and my thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:8,9

Image from sxc.

Three Days and Three Nights

For as Jonas was three days and three nights
in the whale's belly;
so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights
in the heart of the earth.
Matthew 12:40

Have you ever wondered how we get three days and three nights from Friday afternoon to Sunday morning? Tradition can really mess up the way we understand God's word.  For a concise explanation, see here. 

Another tradition we should examine is observing the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the vernal equinox. 

Why did "the church" adopt the "observing of times" in their worship?  Did you know that the early Christians didn't keep an annual observance of the resurrection day?  That observance was added to the church "calendar" many, many years later.  See my earlier post on the word  "Easter", if you are curious about the use of that word  in the King James Bible, in Acts 12:4.

Don't be one of those to whom Jesus was speaking when he said, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition. Mark 7:9  

How Shall We Order the Child? ~ Part One

In Judges 13 begins the story of Samson.  Like many other new parents, Samson’s mother and father desired to have the Lord tell them exactly how they were to raise this child.  “God, what is your will? How shall we diaper him, Lord? Cloth or disposable?  How should we spank correctly? Private school or public school, Lord? How can I teach him to respect and obey me?  And, Lord, how shall I teach him to respect and obey YOU?”

The response the Lord gave to Manoah and his wife was, I am certain, not the kind of answer they were expecting to hear. Here is their conversation, in short, in Judges 13:12-14:

“How shall we order the child, and how shall we do unto him? And the angel of the LORD said unto Manoah, Of all that I said unto the woman let her beware. She may not eat of any thing that cometh of the vine, neither let her drink wine or strong drink, nor eat any unclean thing: all that I commanded her let her observe.”

The answer to the question, how shall we order the child was, in essence, that the mother was to keep herself holy and separated and obedient unto the Lord!  The diapering method and the child’s training and discipline were not going to be nearly as important in the life of that child as the influence of a godly mother was going to be!

To me, this is a sobering truth. No amount of correcting, training, reading aloud, giving of advice, counseling, yelling, spoiling, caressing, or reasoning with my child will have a greater influence in his/her life than will my example as a mother who is wholly given to the Lord.  How will my child know that I love the Lord who gave him to me?  He will know when he sees me committed to reading (and obeying) my Bible.  He will know when I consistently fall to my knees in prayer, rather than worrying or fretting.  He will know when he sees that I am committed to learning and memorizing and acting upon God’s word.  He will know when he sees that I am repentant –not making excuses-- when I do wrong.  He will know when I bundle him up and take him and his siblings to church on a cold, sleepy morning.  He will know when I accept a difficult situation as if it is from the Lord, and thank him for it.  He will know when he hears me break out into singing God’s praises.  He will know, because in my consecration to the Lord I draw my child to the Lord.

A six-foot shelf full of child-training books will not teach me to raise my children the way living a godly life will.  “But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day,” Proverbs 4:19.   The closer I get to the Lord, the more I obey his Word and seek his face, the clearer will be God’s will for my child’s upbringing.

Rather than fretting over whether God wants my girls to have music lessons, or how to get them to apply themselves to their schoolwork, or when is a decent hour for bed-time for my children, I am resolved instead to keep fellowship with God.  His working in MY heart and in MY life is the answer to all my questions concerning the children he has blessed me with!

Hymn From the Heart -- There Is a Fountain

I love hymns about the blood. True Christianity is a bloody religion.  An innocent animal shed its blood in the garden of Eden.  Abel's offering was a blood offering.  Right from the start of history, the atonement for sin has been through the blood.  There is a red river running through the entire Bible, a picture of the sinless blood that would one day be shed by the Lord Jesus Christ for the sins of every man, woman, and child.  For four thousand years God's people offered up to him the blood of bulls and of goats, but the day finally came. Because of that great love wherewith he loved us, the Son of God redeemed us sinners from death and hell with his own blood. That blood he shed was the LAST BLOOD the Father would ever require! That fountain of pure, holy blood that ran from his earthly body was the last sacrifice for sins. Even two thousand years later, the blood of Christ has not lost its power. All my sins are under the blood, never to condemn me again.  Yes, I do love to sing about the blood!

There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel's veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
That fountain in his day;
And there may I, though vile as he,
Wash all my sins away.

E'er since, by faith, I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
And shall be 'til I die.

Then in a nobler, sweeter song
I'll sing thy pow'r to save,
When this poor lisping, stamm'ring tongue
Lies silent in the grave.



...the blood of Jesus Christ his Son
cleanseth us from ALL sin.
1 John 1:7

What Are You Going to Do When Your World Falls Apart?

by Ray Perdue

For man also knoweth not his time:
as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in the snare;
so are the sons of men snared in an evil time,
when it falleth suddenly upon them."
Ecclesiastes 9:12

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God,
that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day,
and having done all, to stand."
Ephesians 6:13

Evil Days

Part of human nature causes us to build our own little worlds. Some people spend their entire lives constructing their worlds, which revolve around themselves. We think we are in control of our lives, circumstances and events. We plan and think that things will turn out a certain way. We never take into consideration the uncertainties of life. We think everything will always be our definition of perfect.

However, the Bible is still true, and the greatest source of information about life. The rain still falls on the just and the unjust. Whether we know it or not, whether we expect it or not, to everyone there comes an Evil Day. The Evil Day is one in which everything we hope for fails. It is when your world falls apart. It is when everything goes wrong, and we think that nothing good will ever happen.

Everyday, thousands experience Evil Days, most of the time the rest of us do not care, just as long as it is not happening to us. But, your Evil Day is coming, too. No amount of plotting, scheming or evading can prevent it from coming to you. It’s arrival is as certain as your death. You cannot avoid it. Most people will experience many Evil Days, some more than others.

What will you do?

Since you know that you will have Evil Days, you must ask yourself, what are you going to do when it comes? What will you do when your world falls apart? What will you do when life doesn’t turn out like you think it should? When your child becomes ill, or even dies. That’s your world falling apart. Your world falls apart when your parents become ill, and die. When a sibling becomes ill, you lose your job, your spouse dies, your spouse leaves you—all of these are examples of one’s world falling apart.

Do not think that it will never happen to you, because it could, and some of it will.

The Evil Day comes and shatters all of your hopes and dreams. It’s never wrong to have these goals, hopes and dreams, but what if something prevents them from becoming a reality? Will you go insane? Will you react foolishly?

What you can do:

Here are some things that you can do to prepare for the Evil Day, and to take you through it.

Get in the Word of God. No other one thing will help you more than this. It will prepare you for it, and it will keep you on the right path when it does come.

Stand. Follow Ephesians 6:13, and stand for something. Stand up for what you believe in; stand up for what is right. Get involved in a cause that is bigger than you or I, and just stand!

Find a strong, Bible-believing church, and stay there. Don’t hop from place to place, find a good one and stay there. When trouble comes, don’t use it as excuse to quit on God, stay in church!

Listen to your pastor. God placed him in that position for a reason. He can help you, if nothing else, through the preaching of the Word of God.

Let God be real to you. Don’t make God some little fairy tale creature that you only believe in when you are sick or in trouble. Have a real, daily relationship with Christ, and follow him.

Reprinted with permission.
(c) 2007 Ray Perdue/Swamp Fox Files
 [The preceding article originally appeared on The Swamp Fox Files on February 15, 2007.]

Ten Ways To Help Your Pastor, Your Church, and Yourself

1) Treat your pastor with the proper respect. Treat him the same way you would a doctor, a lawyer, or a politician. A pastor's role is more important than all of these professional roles because he is God's appointed leader for you and your family. Therefore esteem him very highly in love for his work's sake. (I Thess. 5:12-13).

2) Follow your pastor as he follows Christ, I Cor. 11:1, Heb. 13:7. Never blindly follow anyone but always follow the man of God who is following Jesus Christ as set forth in the Word of God, Phil. 3:17-21.

3) Pray for him often (see Eph. 6:18-20; II Thess. 3:1-2). You know how much opposition you receive from the world, the flesh, and the devil; your pastor receives even more, therefore, pray for him!

4) Obey him as he admonishes you and teaches you the Word of God, see I Thess. 5:12 and Heb. 13:17. These verses teach that you should submit, obey, and follow.

5) Do not speak against or listen to any gossip or slander about your pastor, I Tim. 5:19 reads, "Against an elder receive not an accusation..." and Eph. 4:29 reads, "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth...," and Prov. 6:16-19 teaches that God hates for us to hurt people with words. Listening to gossip and slander is just as much a sin as speaking it.

6) Support him financially so he can keep his mind on the work of the ministry (see I Tim. 5:17, 18 and Phil. 4:10-19). The ministry of the Word of God is twice as important as just making a living. If a man cannot properly care for his family, he will be distracted from the ministry. It costs your pastor just as much to live as it does you, and in some cases more because of the additional transportation and the way he is expected to dress.

7) Encourage your pastor. Tell him when he has helped you. Eph. 4:29 teaches that we should speak that which edifies. You minister grace to your pastor when you tell him how he has helped you. He will be a more effective, dedicated servant of God if you give him some feedback on his ministry to you (see Prov. 3:27). It will also be very encouraging if you tell your Sunday School teacher, husband, or wife, and children how they have helped or been a blessing to you. Praise doesn't cost – it pays great dividends – in the home, in the church, in the school, and on the job.

8) Be patient and understanding with your pastor, your mate, and your children. Do not expect your pastor or his family to be perfect, they are human. John 1:5, and James 5:17 teach that a man of God has the same human weaknesses and temptations that we all face.

9) Stay busy serving the Lord. This will bless your life and be a tremendous encouragement to your pastor. You have a spiritual gift, so use it. John 13:17 teaches, "If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." Happiness doesn't come from knowing what is right, happiness comes from doing what is right. Therefore, serve the Lord.

10) Be a blessing to your pastor, your family, and all who know you by being a soul winner. People all around us are lost in sin, dying and going to hell. Do all in your power to win them to Jesus Christ. Tell them what Christ has done for you and what He can do for them. Reflect on what your salvation means to you and then realize that those who are lost in sin need the same joy, peace, assurance, and hope that you have.

~ By Ron Hood

Are You Eternally Secure? or Insecure?? Re-Post

Recently in our family Bible time, my husband taught us about the Bible doctrine of election.  If you are one of the "elect", as the word is widely (mis)understood, then you would never worry about losing your salvation.  Elect is elect, right?  But there are better reasons not to fear losing your salvation.  While I am thinking about writing a post on election, here is one about eternal security.

(The following is a re-post from back in the days when I had a brain.  Sorry the formatting is messed up.  If I still had a brain, I could fix it.)

The doctrine of eternal security, or "once saved, always saved", is one that comes under fire often.  Many people trust Christ for their salvation, only to be told later that it is possible to lose it.  When the Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary, the sinless blood he shed there was the payment for sins.  For all sins.  For everybody's sins.  For everybody's sins in the past, for all the sins that were committed on the day of Christ's death, and for all of the sins that would be committed in the future of humanity.  When Jesus died, your life was still many years in the future. And yet, his death paid the penalty for every one of your sins!  They were all covered at once. I can tell you that I KNOW I have been saved from ALL my sins (past, present, future), and I will give you some scripture that explains why.  But before I do that, think about these things:

~When Christ saved you, did he give you everlasting life or temporary life?

~Which one of your sins did Jesus NOT pay for when he was crucified for you?

~What kind of sin is bad enough to make you lose your salvation -- murder? Skipping church? Gossip? Unbelief? Adultery? Being depressed? (The Bible instructs us to rejoice, you know.)

~Where is the "peace that passeth all understanding", if every day I wake up fearing I might have lost my salvation?

~Once you "lose" it, how ever do you get it back (IF you can get it back)???  No one in the Bible was ever saved twice!!

~No one who teaches eternal INsecurity ever believes that they have lost it, or that they could lose it.

~No one who asks the Lord Jesus Christ to save their soul ever does so believing he might forsake them in the future.  That is not faith.  You have to be taught that you can lose it, and that teaching does not come from the Bible.


One of the reasons this heresy, that one can lose his salvation, is now so prevalent is that the newer Bible versions have removed the good words "justification", "redemption", and "propitiation" from the text.  These words have been substituted with other words or other phrases that do not give us any assurance that salvation, the free gift of God, is for eternity.  I will be quoting here from the King James Bible.  If you are not reading the KJB, I suggest you open your version, whatever it is, to the following references to see what you are missing.

Read:
"For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood,"
Romans 3:23-26

"Justified" is a judicial term that means one has been declared righteous. Although you were once guilty, the penalty for your has been paid in full.  You are no longer viewed by the Judge as guilty. Hooray!! Once a person has been justified, or declared righteous, he is never tried again for those crimes.

To be "redeemed" means to be bought back.  In the book of Romans, chapter 7, the apostle Paul says he was "alive without the law once, but when the commandment came, sin revived, and [he] died." Later in the chapter he says he was now carnal, "sold under sin". No longer spiritually alive, Paul had an terrible new master --sin! (See chapter 6.)  In order to be saved, he must be REDEEMED.  Bought back.  And he was!  The blood of Jesus Christ was the payment, praise God. There is no scriptural example of one who was once redeemed by the blood of Christ, and then sold back to sin again!

A "propitiation" is a price paid to appease one whose wrath has been incurred.  John 3 says of those who are lost (have not been eternally saved), "the wrath of God abideth on them." God the Father ordained that his own precious, sinless Son would be that payment. Isaiah 53:11 says, "He [God the Father] shall see the travail of his [Jesus Christ's] soul and shall be satisfied." When I received the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior from sin, I was accepting him as the only offering that I could present to God the Father for the forgiveness of my sins.  No other offering coming from me was good enough to appease the wrath of God!  Remember when Cain was too proud to ask Abel for a LAMB? He gave his own offering, not the one God ordained. The offering God ordained was the blood of an innocent lamb. Jesus Christ is the Lamb of God!
"Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." 1 John 4:10
"The blood of Jesus Christ [God's] Son cleanseth us from ALL SIN." 1 John 1:7


There are two verses that people often use to teach that one can lose his salvation.  One of them is 2 Timothy 2:12, "If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:"  But look at the context.  The Bible is speaking here of denying Christ reign in our hearts and lives. If we deny him first place in our hearts, he will deny us reign in his kingdom! The Bible goes on to say, "If we [We who? We Christians!] believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself."  It is God himself, and God alone, who does both the saving and the keeping.  You can read Galatians for more about that.  Whether or not we can do something to keep our salvation is the theme of that book!

The other verse people use to teach eternal insecurity is this one: "For if we sin willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries." Hebrew 10:26,27  That's true -- there is no more sacrifice for sins. The sacrifice for sins was made ONCE AND FOR ALL (Hebrews 10:10) at Calvary .  God does chasten us for sin after we have been saved.  That is not to say that he condemns saved sinners to hell for their sins.  That's impossible.  (What would those sinners then, have been "saved" FROM??)  "And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world." 1 John 2:1,2

Although those two passages appear to be saying you could lose the salvation that God gave you for eternity, there are many MORE verses that very plainly say you can not.  Read and believe the following verses, which apply to all who have repented of their sins and received Christ Jesus:

John 10:28  We shall NEVER perish
John 10:29  No one is able to remove you from God's hand.
John 6: 37  God will in NO WISE cast out those that come to him.
John 6: 39  The responsibility for keeping us saved belongs to God, and Jesus Christ can lose nothing.
Johns 5:24 says the kind of life I now have is EVERLASTING.
Romans 8:38 says nothing can separate the saved from the love of God.
1 Peter 1:5 says we are kept by the power of God.
Jude 24  God is able to keep us from falling.
Philippians 1:6 says that the Lord will continue his good work in us until the day of Jesus Christ.
Ephesians 1:13 says my salvation was sealed by the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 2:8 says our salvation is the GIFT of God, and Romans 11:29 says the gifts and calling of God are without repentance -- that means he doesn't take them back!
There are many more verses in God's Word which assure us of our eternal salvation.

While it IS possible for the Christian to lose his assurance of salvation, his rewards, his joy, or his fellowship with the Lord, he cannot lose his salvation!

"And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." 1 John 5:11,12  You either have the Son or you don't.  If you have the Son, you are saved. Forever. God has put this promise in writing for us, and that's the key.  If your final authority is the written word of God, you need never fear he will cast you away.  Believe the Book!

Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) Hebrews 10:23 

A Peculiar People

“…that he might redeem us from all iniquity,
and purify unto himself a peculiar people…” Titus 2:14

The word “peculiar” brings to mind the thought of being rather eccentric and unique, maybe a bit strange.  Are you peculiar? Most of us don’t like to stand out or have attention drawn to us, but it would seem here that the Lord desires that we be noticed.

Consider whether a girl or woman displaying these things would be considered by many to be peculiar in this time and place:  courtesy, sobriety, modesty, hospitality, faithful church attendance, kindness, quietness, punctuality, a joyful countenance, and especially, a tongue that speaks naturally and gracefully of Jesus Christ.  Even many Christians would consider a woman who exhibited these behaviors to be a bit different!

But the word “peculiar” doesn’t just mean unique.  According to Noah Webster’s 1828 dictionary, peculiarity has to do with belonging to another, to the exclusion of others.  In other words, when you received Christ as your Saviour, you became the exclusive property of God  Almighty.  He owns you, and he only.  That is a wondrously special privilege! Not everyone has that privilege. Belonging to the Lord makes us peculiar just by definition. But a lady who behaves in the ways listed above shows the world that she is not her own; she is owned by another – by Jesus Christ. Her being a bit “peculiar” tells the lost world that they do NOT belong to him. God has elevated her to a privileged place. If you are saved, he has elevated YOU to a privileged place. Let us strive to be peculiar in our words and actions, that others may see whose we are.

Note to self: used 3/12.

Getting Away From God

Have you ever felt lost in your Christian life? You knew who your Father is, but you didn’t seem to have any fellowship with Him, and you couldn’t “see” his working in your life any more?  Has your flesh gotten the upper hand and drawn you away from the Lord?  Have you ever gotten ahead of him and found yourself wandering around with no direction? This can easily happen when we take our eyes off the Lord, even for just a minute!

Recently I lost Emily at Kmart. She doesn’t normally wander away, but when she didn’t see me she thought I had left her. How many times have I told her, “I would NEVER leave you”? But, leaning on her own understanding, Emily went out the door in a hurry!  When I looked up she was GONE. Without a trace! I called her name repeatedly, but she could not hear me!  After tearfully wandering in the parking lot for a bit, Emily actually thought about asking the taxi man to take her home, or maybe she could walk home by herself. But more than she wanted to be home, she really just wanted her mommy! Shortly my daughter was discovered by a K-Mart employee, who took her back inside the store. Emily went along willingly and sorrowfully, knowing she was helpless and in danger of being run over or stolen away, and very sorry for not staying with her mom. We were tearfully but happily reunited a few moments later, and I spent the rest of the afternoon recovering from a near heart attack.

What a picture these circumstances lend us.  If you have wandered from the Lord, there are some things you need to realize.  First of all, God has promised that will never, ever leave you nor forsake you (Hebrews 13:5), so stay right in the place where you were last with him. Keep doing what you know he wants you to do for this moment, and the next, and the next, until he makes himself known to you again. When you don’t “see” him, don’t panic. He is still there. Just trust him and wait on him.


Second, as a wandering Christian, you are not “lost”. You are still saved. Unlike me, our heavenly Father is never an irresponsible parent (*blush*). If you are truly saved, he is holding you in both hands, never to let you go. (“And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." John 10:28,29; “If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.” Psalm 139:10) He knows where you are at every moment, even when you are far away from him! (“Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there." Psalm 139:7,8) He knows that when you are away from him, you are not only helpless, but you are in danger, too. You are in danger of losing your way, as Demas did (2 Timothy 4:10), in danger of wild beasts (“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour,” 1 Peter 5:8), and in danger of living without the blessings of God on your life. Are you aware how precarious your circumstances are?


Next, before you can get help finding the Lord again, you have to be willing to admit that you have left him! That is called confession. Real repentance will make you willing to turn around and go back to him. No one can make you go back to fellowship with Christ if you don’t want to, but aren’t you miserable without him? The Bible says the Lord Jesus calls his sheep by name. Can you hear him calling your name as you wander? He loves you and he left all to win your soul, just as the good shepherd left the ninety and nine to find the one little sheep that had left him. (“How think ye? if a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains, and seeketh that which is gone astray?” Matthew 18:12.)  You belong to Jesus Christ!


Finally, what a joyous occasion it will be when you and your Saviour find each other again! He is a good God, a wonderful Saviour! The Bible says there is actually joy in heaven when a sinner repents! (“I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth”, Luke 15:7)  The whole population of heaven is excited about your return. There is nothing better than being restored to fellowship with Jesus, except not losing that fellowship in the first place.  I was SO happy to have my dear child back, and Emily has stayed very close to me ever since.  But we both would have been better off not going through that experience! 


If you have never been saved, the Bible says you are in darkness, and you do not know where you are going.  You may think you know where you are, but you do not know the way Home.  If you have been saved and you are away from God, going Home might be the easy way out, but having your fellowship with Christ restored right now would be so much better! Be warned – getting back to him will take longer than it did to get away from him.  But the results will be worth your trouble.

I hope you have never wandered away from your Father.  But if you have, know that he loves you and he is earnestly seeking you. Turn around. Be willing to be led back to him.  Not only will you have your fellowship with him restored, but you will also find safety, security, and JOY in him!

Who Is Your Real Master?

This man says he has been a Christian all his life, but that is not possible.  Believing in God does not make one a Christian. Being born in a "Christian" nation does not make one a Christian. One is born into the family of God spiritually, not physically. This is why you need to be born AGAIN.  Just like your first birth, you go from darkness to light in a moment. You'll know when it happens!  Lost religious people can't be expected to share the gospel based on their love for the Lord. But if you have been saved from your sins once and for all by the blood of Christ, and you are not making any effort to tell others that they need to be saved also, check yourself. 
Who (or what) is your real master?

Music Practice

Strains of lovely music (and some not so lovely) fill our house daily.  We are all enduring the rigors of violin and piano practices, which are often accompanies by dissonant notes, harsh screeches (made by either student OR instrument), and cries of frustration.  Mistakes can be discouraging, but they are a part of learning!  If you never make any mistakes, it means you are learning nothing new.  If you are an expert at everything you do, you are not growing at all. Are you stumbling in your Christian life, discouraged by a lack of progress?  Are you laboring over Bible reading, joy, time in prayer, forgiveness?  Keep practicing!  Don't be discouraged by those "dissonant notes", those failures to be expert.  Trust the Lord Jesus to grow you in his time.  The Bible gives us this conditional promise (Galatians 6:9):

"Be not weary in well doing,
for in due season we shall reap,
IF we faint not."

For all their hard work, my aspiring musicians are reaping well-executed difficult pieces, the delight of achievement, and the joy of moving beyond past lessons.  Keep practicing, don't give up! And you, too, will reap the joy of getting better and better at what Jesus wants you to be.  Don't be weary!

Water in the Desert

I was talking recently with a friend who was having a very difficult week.  She had many complaints, but the biggest one was of her own attitude in the midst of all her trials.  She was spiritually dry.  Parched.  Cooked.

 As it just so “happened”, the Sunday morning message at her church at the end of that awful week seemed to be directed right at her.  You know how that is, don’t you?  She had been desperately thirsty for some encouragement, for some empowering from God’s Word, and she told me it was there that morning like water in the desert.

Water in the desert.  We all know how important water is here in the desert Southwest.  Just as water is vital to our physical survival, God’s Word is vital to our spiritual survival.  It seems so amazing and refreshing to us when God seems to know (but of course he knows!) just what we need from his Word when our hearts are lonely, burdened, despondent, or frightened.

Do you remember Hagar? Hagar and her son Ishmael were cast out into the wilderness.  While wandering the wild and desolate land they soon depleted their water supply. Hagar left her son to die, and then she lifted up her voice and cried.  Here she was, wasted, far from home, far from her daily water supply.  Sometimes we wander far away from God’s Word, too, don’t we?  But when Hagar despaired, God, in his infinite mercy, heard her. The Bible says he opened her eyes, and right in front of her she saw a WELL! Water! Life!  God showed Hagar the source of life, and he gave her just what her soul and body craved.  He did not provide her with just a teaspoonful of water, but a lifetime supply!

What would have happened to Hagar if she had seen the well, but had not drawn out the water? How many times have you been spiritually dry, and neglected to open your Bible or receive the preaching of it? That God-given water was the saving of Hagar’s life and the life of her child.  All she had to do was draw it out. The Word of God is the saving of our spiritual lives, as well. I am glad to be able to report that my friend took of the water of life freely that Sunday morning.  She was spiritually revived and energized!  Praise the Lord for his provision!

God’s Word is like a well for us.  There is plenty there to satisfy our thirst! If, in your heart, you have been wandering in the wilderness, cry to the Lord for understanding, for comfort, for courage, for help as you read or listen.  He loves you and cares for you just as he did Hagar and her son. He is ever ready to show you just the thing your soul is longing for!  Don’t turn away from it, and don’t be satisfied with just a teaspoon of relief – keep going back for more.  Get your fill of God’s life-sustaining Word!

Psalm 119 on the Bible

Some time ago as I was reading through Psalm 119, I decided to make a note of all of the things I was instructed to DO with God's Word, either by example or by direct command.  As I then continued to read through my Bible, I also continued to write these things in the flyleaf of my Bible. Too bad I didn't note the references.  Do you have any additions?

What to Do With God's Word

walk in it

keep it

respect it

learn it

take heed to it

seek it

hide it in my heart

rejoice in it

meditate on it

delight in it

long for it

take counsel in it

understand it

talk about it

choose it

adhere to it

observe it

love it

trust in it

hope in it

find comfort in it

remember it

think on it

turn to it

know it

consider it

abide in it

perform it

fear it

esteem it

stand in awe of it

praise it

publish it

thank God for it!

note to self: used 3/12?

Trusting God's Answers

“But they understood not this saying, and it was hid from them, that they perceived it not: and they feared to ask him of that saying.”  Luke 9: 45

Have you ever been afraid to ask God about a particular passage of the scripture? I have. Soon after I was saved I began to hear preaching and to come across Bible literature about a lady’s wardrobe.  It wasn’t just about modesty, for if it had been, I would not have been bothered.  I thought I was modest. (It’s amazing how the Bible opens blinded eyes!) This stuff I was hearing and seeing had to do with women wearing pants, and how God designed women and men, and what the Bible has to say on the subject of a woman’s wardrobe.  For some weeks I pondered and wondered.  I searched the scriptures, looking for a verse that said my outward appearance didn’t matter. (It wasn’t there.) Then I began to argue with God.  While I didn’t want to be a rebel against the Lord, I also didn’t want to submit to his will if it meant giving up my pants.  What would my family and friends think? Wouldn’t people look at me strange if I only wore skirts?? How could I afford a new wardrobe?!

The whole question could have been solved much sooner for me, if I had just asked God the clear meaning of the passages I had read. But I was afraid to ask him! I think I already KNEW what God wanted me to do. So why was I afraid? Did I think submitting to his will was going to make me miserable?  Did I think God wanted me to feel conspicuous? Was he going to destroy my comfortable LIFE?  Did I think God just did not know what he was doing?  After all, in our culture, women wear pants. If I gave in to this, what else was he going to demand from me?  (Pants on ladies is not the subject of this post, so keep reading, and don't send me any hate mail.)

Since that time, other similar issues have come up for me, issues that I was afraid to ask the Lord about -- how he wants me to act towards or react to the unloveables in my life, what he wants from me now that he owns me, what kind of missions offering does he want me to give? The Bible has the answers to all of those questions. Certainly I have not gotten the victory over every fear concerning what God might ask of me, but I do thank the Lord for this promise:

“For the Son of man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them.” Luke 9:56

There is nothing that God could ask of me, that, if I obey him, will make my life miserable.  Oh, I might be afraid to give up this security blanket or to be put into that uncomfortable situation or to humble myself, but I know now that on the other side of obedience there is joy and a peaceful conviction that I am in the will of God.

My husband knows a man who thinks maybe the Lord is calling him to be a preacher.  This man is afraid to ask the Lord about it, because he is afraid of the answer. A call to preach would mean EVERYTHING that his family is comfortable with would change.  They would have to move away, take a very serious pay-cut, and move into the spotlight as a preacher’s family. He would have to learn to speak in front of people on a very regular basis (oooh!), and come up with messages that he is convinced are from the Lord, to feed his church. The burden to pray would be great.  The burdens of his church family would add to the burdens of his own family. His wife would be a preacher’s wife, and his children would become PK’s.  His dreams and aspirations for this life would go up in a puff of smoke! Now that’s scary! Is God set out to destroy this man’s life and that of his family?  No.  God wants to save his life.  God may be giving this man an opportunity to serve him right in the center of His perfect will. What an opportunity!  What peace can be found when God’s answer is known AND acted upon. 

What does God want for your future or your career (or lack thereof)? What does he want you to look like, and how does he wish for you to spend your free time?  Are you afraid to ask him? If you are God's child, he has a wonderful plan for you. His plan for you is better than any of your own plans. Go his way.  It may take a leap of faith to ask him what it is, but you won’t regret following him in it.