tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-69971493495238248722024-03-04T22:17:30.040-06:00Reality Checkwith Debbie ChildersDebbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-73719969781151322252011-11-12T22:11:00.002-06:002011-11-12T22:22:36.855-06:00<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUp6ATZ_WbvJRUYfx9_pBRrNrC57phyphenhyphen80an95cIP8QnspgcOPwQbOujbN_TCcZBc9uKuAQ5ocFHnnxFixhjbLCA0f1wnCYbeGayOPPAAwiQqQqZ4Cz6qRaKlINpB0W9o4v6RU2EoBeMJE/s1600/Identity+is+everything.jpg"><img style="MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 286px; FLOAT: left; HEIGHT: 320px; CURSOR: hand" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5674328559521039234" border="0" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUp6ATZ_WbvJRUYfx9_pBRrNrC57phyphenhyphen80an95cIP8QnspgcOPwQbOujbN_TCcZBc9uKuAQ5ocFHnnxFixhjbLCA0f1wnCYbeGayOPPAAwiQqQqZ4Cz6qRaKlINpB0W9o4v6RU2EoBeMJE/s320/Identity+is+everything.jpg" /></a><br /><br /><div>I saw this picture today and I just loved it. It reminded me of the passage in the second chapter of Joshua where Rahab tells the Israelites that the people of Jericho had "melted with fear" 40 years before because the Israelites had God on their side. The people of Jericho knew that NO enemy could stand against the people of God. </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>And yet, the Israelites spent the next 40 years wandering in the wilderness because they didn't believe the truth about the power of God through them as much as their enemies did!</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>Things haven't changed much...the people of God still sometimes forget who they are in Christ and who Christ is in them. As a result many Christians live defeated lives with an occasional victory instead of the abundant life of victory God intends for them to live.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>We have a promise we can claim...in a battle with our enemy, Satan, we are ALREADY winners! The victory is already ours! The enemy knows it, but he knows that as long as we DON'T know it, we might as well not have it! </div><br /><div></div><br /><div>So if you want to EXPERIENCE the victory that is already your possession, then live boldly as the victor that God has created you to be. Walk through life with the assurance that you are empowered by God, unconditionally loved by God, accepted by God, complete in Him, and VICTORIOUS through Him!</div>Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-24094076394679495912011-08-22T11:45:00.001-05:002011-08-22T11:54:22.819-05:00The Expunging Power of God's ForgivenessThis is a long read, but it will bring you great rejoicing and provoke some serious thought as well. I wrote this a few months ago, but was reminded of it again today. Maybe it's for someone that needs to hear it today..
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<br />Sometimes God just surprises me with an illustration from real life that teaches me a great spiritual truth. It’s almost like I understand fully what He is saying all at once, but then He sort of unwraps this gift of revelation slowly in order to show me what He is saying in detail. This morning I saw something on television that God used to take me on a detailed journey in thought, reminding me of His full forgiveness. I’m inviting you to take that journey again with me now as I re-trace my steps of understanding this incredible truth.
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<br />The important thing to note first is that when Jesus was on the cross dying for my sins, He saw me. And He saw my entire life; all the sins I would ever commit and in fact all the sins of the entire world were in His view that day. And He died to forgive every one of them.
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<br />So we can emphatically state that the forgiveness for all sin was purchased by the death of Jesus on the cross. There had never before been a sacrifice that was effective enough to forgive sin fully and forever. And after the death of Christ there would never be a need for another sacrifice to add anything to His because His was enough. In fact, Jesus said, “It is finished” indicating His completion of all that God required to provide forever and full forgiveness for those who receive Christ and have His forgiveness applied to them.
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<br />Now, let’s take this journey one step further. When I came to an understanding that I was a sinner in need of a Savior I responded to His invitation and received Christ as my salvation. At that moment, the forgiveness Christ purchased on the cross was applied to me. And it was a package deal. I didn’t just get forgiveness for all the sins I had committed up until the day I received Christ as Savior. I got fully and forever forgiven for all my sins for all my life!
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<br />Remember that Jesus looked ahead through the corridors of time when He was on the cross. He looked ahead to see me and to see you. But did He just see the sins I had committed up until the day I was saved? Was His view limited to only a portion of my life? Of course not. From the cross, Jesus saw every sin I would ever commit for my entire life and paid for them all.
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<br />We are limited by time and space. We can only see a limited view of things. But God’s view is not limited by time, space, or anything else. He sees our tomorrows as clearly as we see our yesterdays. So when Jesus was on the cross, everything in my life was future tense at that point. He saw the final day of my life as clearly as He saw the day I was born.
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<br />So the death of Jesus was enough to take care of all my sin and the sin of all the world…past, present, and future…because that’s what God saw that day. When God’s forgiveness is applied to me, it’s applied completely; withholding nothing for a future day when I might need it again. God’s wrath over my sin is fully satisfied forever, no matter how badly I mess up in the future. Nothing I ever do will surprise Him. He saw it before He saved me and saved me anyway.
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<br />When I think about this fully, I have to realize that in God’s view, even the record of sins I will commit 10 years from now were already on my record and in His archives on the day that I was saved, even though in my limited view I haven’t seen them yet.
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<br />Now, back to what I saw on TV this morning. Fox News reporter Orlando Salinas was in Miami, Florida reporting on the job shortage there. Because the jobs are so limited there, only the top candidates get hired. In Florida there is a huge population of criminals who have records of law breaking going back for many years. In some cases, many years have passed since their last conviction, but that old record is keeping them from getting jobs. So convicted criminals are now seeking to have their criminal records “expunged”. Orlando Salinas went into great detail describing the process of expunging.
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<br />When a judge approves the expunging of a criminal’s record, a court clerk literally goes to the basement, the attic, or wherever the archives are located. He looks for the record until he finds and it. Then he physically removes the criminal record and obliterates it. There is absolutely no record left of the crime. The crime can never again be used against the former criminal and in fact he is no longer even identified by the law as a convicted criminal. It is “just as if he never committed the crime.”
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<br />The former criminal and those closest to him may remember the crime, but in the eyes of the law it is gone forever. The crime is in the former criminal’s memory, but it’s no longer in his past.
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<br />Here’s what God showed me. Because God’s vision transcends time and space, all of the sin record of my life (past, present, and future) was recorded and archived on the day of my birth as if they had already happened. When I received Christ as my Savior, the debt caused by the penalty for my sins was marked “paid in full.” Jesus suffered and paid the penalty for my sin.
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<br />But God didn’t stop there. He sent Jesus to the archives to pull my entire sin record and then He obliterated it. God forgives fully and forever, but He doesn’t stop there. He JUSTIFIES….it is “just as if I never sinned.” In fact, just as a former criminal who has had his record expunged is no longer considered a criminal, God justifies me and no longer calls me a sinner. He calls me a saint.
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<br />At this point you may be shouting glory or you might be wondering why I’m making such a big deal of this. Here’s why…We often accept, believe, and even praise God for such truths, but we don’t carry the truth to the furthest extent. If we are truly already forgiven, fully and forever, why do we keep asking God for what He’s already given us? Isn’t asking Him for forgiveness basically saying that we don’t believe Him when He says we are fully forgiven? Isn’t continuing to ask Him for forgiveness just like asking God to send Jesus back to the archives to look for and destroy a record that no longer exists?
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<br />If God says that I am justified forever (and He does) then that means that in regards to the guilt of my sin (what is charged against me) I will forever be “just as if I’ve never sinned”…and that will not change even on those occasions when I sin (because even my future sins were already archived and subsequently obliterated). So when we ask God to forgive us, we’re asking Him to do something He’s already done…and our request reveals that we don’t believe Him.
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<br />Does that mean that God doesn’t see me when I sin? Or worse yet, does it mean that He doesn’t care if I sin? Of course it doesn’t mean that. Sin will still destroy what is beautiful in our lives and prohibit us from living in the abundance of Christ’s life in and through us. When we sin it is still crucial for us to confess that sin to God as the Holy Spirit convicts. But confession is not the same as asking for forgiveness. Confession is simply agreeing with God about my sin. The Holy Spirit’s conviction is not condemnation because my guilt record has been eternally expunged. His conviction is simply convincing me that something is a sin and that it will bring destruction to my life. It is His way of convincing me without condemning me…and He only does that for those who have experienced the expunging of their archive of sin through their relationship with Jesus.
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<br />Do we still sin? Yes.
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<br />Does God see our sin? Yes, in fact He saw it before we even did it. But He’s not surprised by it, disappointed by it, or unprepared for it because He saw it before He even saved us and fully forgave us.
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<br />Does He still charge our sin to our account? Absolutely not. When He looked over my life at the point of my salvation, He scooped up every sin I would ever commit and put them in my record…then He expunged my record. He obliterated it.
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<br />Does He still point out my sin to me? Yes, because He loves me and wants me out of the danger of all that sin can do to me. He convicts me without condemning me because there is no longer any condemnation for one who has had the record of their crimes against God expunged.
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<br />Praise God for His expunging, obliterating, justifying grace by which I am fully and forever forgiven!
<br />Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-19146155999164065932011-08-09T23:46:00.003-05:002011-08-09T23:57:18.655-05:00Knowing vs learning something...Sometimes I rely on what someone has taught me about God instead of coming to know Him and His ways for myself. And when what I’ve been taught is not the full truth about a matter, I tend to doubt God instead of doubting what I’ve learned about Him.
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<br />For instance, I’ve heard preachers and teachers say that God will always speak to you and assure you in the midst of the storm. I have experienced that.
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<br />But I also have experienced times that He doesn’t. When I’ve gone through those times when I didn’t hear God clearly through the storm, I wondered if God had abandoned me or if I had somehow done something to push Him away from me. I had to ask if He was mad at me and letting me suffer in my storm?
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<br />But my issue was not that God had not acted according to His character. My problem was that He didn’t act according to what I had believed He would do! My belief was wrong. God is always right.
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<br />Sometimes, He wants you to <strong><em>remember</em></strong> that He is with you and that He is able to take care of everything. And He wants you to to know it by faith in the midst of the storm without Him having to speak it to you. Sometimes He waits until the time of trouble is passed before I hear from Him. It’s almost like He’s silent when I need to hear from Him most and then when the calm returns I find that He was there all along; but He was silently watching and He was quietly active in my circumstances. I always wondered why He did that.
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<br />Now I get it. In the Bible, when God said, <strong><em>“Do not fear,”</em></strong> He also gave the reason the instruction was possible when He said <strong><em>“for I am with you.”</em></strong> That’s the answer to living a life out from under the control of fear. The ability to operate without fear is in the constant <strong><em>KNOWING</em></strong> that He is with me. If I have to depend on Him to tell me in the midst of every trial and every scary situation of my life, then I don’t <strong>KNOW</strong> it and I will be afraid. But if I truly <strong>KNOW</strong> it, then He won’t have to remind me of it every time a problem arises. And I will never fear if I constantly know and never doubt that He is with me.
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<br />You don’t come to know something in a way that you will never doubt it by having someone <strong>tell </strong>you over and over again. It's not something you can just<em> "learn"</em> by hearing it. You come to know something with assurance when you <strong>experience</strong> it over and over again. And when you experience something over and over again you will know that it is truth in a way that you will never doubt it, no matter how hard times get.
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<br />When God does not tell me or show me where He is working it’s because He wants me to know that He is working without me having to be reminded of it every time I face a crisis! I am going to have more troubled times in the future and those times will require an ever maturing faith. God’s silence is for a noble purpose. It is to grow me spiritually and to prepare me to be of greater Kingdom use.
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<br />I am convinced that the "overcomers" that will be victorious in times of tribulations that the future holds are those who <strong>KNOW</strong> the truth about God and His faithfulness. They don't have to be reminded of it!
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<br />Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-204883711712874672011-08-08T10:30:00.002-05:002011-08-08T10:39:41.920-05:00My life as a sailboat...Get ready...this is a long one. But it's worth the time if you tend to let your emotions run wild like I sometimes do!
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<br />The logo that my husband and I chose for our ministry, The Reality Group, is a sailboat. We chose that because it’s a perfect picture of how we feel about serving God. You can either be like a rowboat, trying hard and struggling to do all that you believe will please God. Or you can be like a sailboat, driven and empowered by the Holy Spirit within you…in other words, either YOU can serve and usually fail, or you can allow the life of Christ to serve through you and be victorious.
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<br />That part I knew with all my heart, soul, and mind. We have both learned the hard way that we must “sail” in service, empowered by God Himself. But recently we have experienced a time when God didn’t seem to be moving. It seemed that we were just <em>“dead in the water.”</em>
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<br />When that happens in the life of a believer there is always a tendency to return to life as a rowboat….I don’t know about you, but I would start paddling again at that point. If God didn’t move, then I’d move <em>“for Him.”</em>
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<br />After months of impatient waiting and unsuccessful attempts to get God to move again, I reached a point of hopelessness. I began to think that I’d never hear any direction from God again. I felt defeated at that point. The boat that was my life was sinking. I was not sailing because God wasn’t moving and I just quit rowing because I wasn’t getting anywhere anyway. (Bringing me to a point of exhaustion and surrender was God’s intent by the way…He never wanted me to row again!)
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<br />I desperately called out to God. I didn’t want to be dead in the water anymore. That’s when God began to show me what He was doing. You might remember that when Mary and Martha sent for Jesus because their brother Lazarus was dying, Jesus waited until Lazarus was dead to show up on the scene. They both questioned why Jesus took so long.
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<br />I believe it is because they already knew Jesus as a healer. But He was about to show them something new about Himself; a new characteristic that they could depend on in times of sorrow and death. He chose this occasion to show them, and in fact the world, that He was RESURRECTION AND LIFE!
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<br />In my situation I had known Jesus as the wind that empowered me. I had seen Him do incredible miracles through me that were totally out of my abilities. But there was another way that He wanted to show me I could trust in Him.
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<br /><em>19 This hope we have as an <strong>anchor</strong> of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:19-20
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<br /></em>Vs 19– the HOPE that we have in Jesus is to be the anchor for our souls (our mind, will, and emotions). It is that hope that keeps us steady and secure during troubling times.
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<br />God began to give me some incredible imagery to teach me truth and restore my hope. An anchor is what keeps the boat from drifting with the prevailing currents during a storm or just during the times when the boat is not in motion for whatever reason, INCLUDING those times when the wind is just not blowing. (Or in my life, when God is not moving.)
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<br />He showed me that though I have known Him as the <em><strong>“wind”</strong></em> I had never come to know Him as my <strong><em>“ANCHOR”…</em></strong>the hope for the times when God has me in a place of <em>stillness</em>….when the winds of ministry have <em>ceased</em> for a time. Those times of rest are supposed to be profitable for me, but they can also be devastating to someone who is accustomed to and enjoys <em>“sailing swiftly”…</em>as we do.
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<br />Here’s what I wrote after that revelation:
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<br />I need to know Jesus as my anchor, not just as my wind. I need to know how to let Him hold me steady in a still place and not get caught up in the current of my runaway thoughts that take me off in dangerous directions where I neither want nor need to go. I need to learn how to get to the TRUTH that will give me strength, peace, and a sense of security when the storms of my life try to draw my emotions away from that truth.
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<br />God brought me to a point where I realized that the thought process that usually happened during a crisis in my life would eventually destroy me if I didn’t let God show me this new way of thinking. If trouble entered my life my thought pattern tended to run wild. I would get a sense of something being wrong and I would start to stew over it like a mild current running alongside a sailboat. But after a season of stewing over the crisis, the mild current turned into an overwhelming jet stream in my mind and I would then find myself drowning in it.
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<br />If there was ever anyone that needed to know how to be held fast by my Anchor it was me. I needed to know truth so that I would no longer get caught up in such raging currents that would keep sweeping me further and further toward the destruction of my peace, my sanity, and my ministry.
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<br />So I asked God to show me how to hold on to the anchor. And His response was SHOCKING. What was so shocking is that I spend my whole life teaching that it’s not about me holding on…yet I still thought that was the answer.
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<br />God began to show me that sailors NEVER hold onto the anchor. They just stay on the ship and trust the anchor to do all the holding! They just trust that the anchor will hold.
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<br />The key to my peace of mind is not holding on to Jesus. It’s a matter of trusting that Jesus will hold on to me…that His grip is STRONG and SECURE enough FOR ME!!! No matter what storm, no matter what current, if I will simply<em> “stay on the ship”</em> He will keep me from drifting into dangerous water.
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<br />So, my next question of course was: what does it mean to <em>“stay on the ship”?</em> What was He teaching me with that? Here’s what I learned:
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<br />I tend to panic and jump off the ship and when I do I jump right into the current of my raging emotions!
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<br />I can be sure that the ship in which I have my hope (salvation) will NOT be destroyed because the anchor that secures it (Jesus) is stronger than anything that can come against it. It will stand strong during any storm. But if I panic and jump overboard because I’m somehow not sure that the boat will be strong enough, then the strength of my anchor does me no good.
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<br />In other words, if I jump overboard to look for my security in other sources that are not <em>“on the ship”</em> (God ordained sources), then I will get caught up in the dangerous current of my runaway thoughts; I’ll get caught up in them, overwhelmed by the storm, swept out to sea, and I will FEEL alone and helpless and HOPELESS. If I seek my security in anything else but what I have in Christ, then I’ll lose all hope because there is hope in nothing else.
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<br />Here is the truth. If Jesus is both the anchor and the wind, then we have to allow Him to <strong><em>“blow”</em></strong> and <strong><em>“hold”</em></strong> as He wills. When He is being our ANCHOR we can’t try to get Him to move the ship. And when He is being the WIND we can’t try to get Him to stop it. He’ll stop our forward motion when He knows it’s best to do so and it will always be based on what we need. And He’ll move us forward again when the time is right and not before.
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<br />It’s not enough to know Him as the wind of our personal ministries. We also must know Him as the anchor that holds our lives steady during the times that we are <strong>still</strong>. And remember that He said to <em>“be still and know that He is God.”</em> The times of stillness are just as important as the times of great activity…in fact they may even be more important. Don’t hurry them. Stay on the ship and trust the anchor!
<br />Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-62636489081163106502011-07-28T11:34:00.002-05:002011-07-28T11:40:16.081-05:00Stake your claim!<strong></strong><br />God gave Joshua an assignment that must have brought great joy to Joshua. God appointed him to divide the land among the Israelites. That would have been good news for a couple of reasons. First of all, if God gave him instructions to divide the land, that was confirmation that God was going to defeat their enemies and give them possession of the land. But there is more reason for rejoicing.<br /><br />Think about this…God gave Joshua the privilege of telling the people what they had been given as the chosen people of God.<br /><br />And we can rejoice in that assignment as well because that’s exactly what God has called the leaders in His kingdom to do today. One of the most important roles teachers, preachers, ministers, and all believers have today is to tell believers what they have in Christ!<br /><br />Sadly, many Christians hear more about what they lack than they do about what they have. They hear more about what they are NOT supposed to do than they do about what they CAN do through Christ. Since they don’t know what they have in Christ they spend their lives trying to get what God has already given them. We are joint heirs with Christ. Everything that He has belongs to us as well. We are complete in Him. His inheritance is our inheritance. We don’t have to wait for it and we certainly don’t have to earn it. We get it simply because we are children of God.<br /><br /><em><strong>“16 The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ…” Romans 8:16-17<br /><br /></strong></em>And notice that we have already been given everything we need for life!<br /><br /><strong><em>“2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises…” II Peter 1:2-4a<br /></em></strong><br /><br />Like the Israelites, we have been given an unconditional gift from God. Through Christ, we have everything we need. Everything that Jesus has is ours; His faith, His wisdom, His strength, His power. It is all available to us. It is our Promised Land. It is our inheritance.<br /><br />Everything we need for life and for living a Godly life is ours. It’s an unconditional gift of the grace of God. But just like the Israelites, whether or not we <strong>live</strong> out of the abundant life God has given us is conditional on us following His leadership all the way to the life He has for us.<br /><br />So many Christians get stuck in the wilderness because they have crossed the Red Sea into salvation, but they stopped short of crossing the Jordan into God’s promised land of His abundant, victorious life. It’s ours, but we don’t live in it.<br /><br />God wants us to stake our claim - take possession and live in the abundant land that He has given us as believers. We can quit walking in spiritual poverty and live out of the riches of the Kingdom of God!Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-71685978132814953872011-07-26T14:36:00.003-05:002011-07-26T14:42:10.825-05:00Wandering and wondering....In preparation for the release of my new book looking at the Book of Joshua, I'll be posting some excerpts from it here.<br /><br />Do you ever feel as if you are wandering through life and you wonder why? Well, you are not the first.<br /><br />At the Red Sea, with deep water before them and Pharaoh’s army behind them, the Israelites found themselves in an impossible situation. If God didn’t make a way, they would either die or be taken back into captivity. But God miraculously parted the Red Sea and they crossed over on dry land. Safe on the other side, they looked back as the army chasing them was crushed by the violent return of the walls of water into the dry sea bed.<br /><br />But that miracle and all the miracles that followed weren’t enough to convince the Hebrew nation that God could do the impossible. They continued to murmur and complain on the entire journey to the place where they could finally cross over to take possession of the Promised Land; the land that was already theirs. The group they sent to spy out the land returned with reports of a beautiful land, flowing with milk and honey. But sadly the reports also included facts about the inhabitants of the land. They were described as strong giants who lived in fortified cities.<br /><br />The people were struck with fear. Only two of the spies, Joshua and Caleb, spoke in favor of going on to claim the land under God’s leadership and protection. All the others were paralyzed and willing to settle for less than God had given them. They owned Canaan, but they refused to take possession of it.<br /><br />As a result, that generation of Israelites was destined for an aimless life <strong><em>wandering around</em></strong> in the wilderness instead of an abundant life in their promised land. They were owners of the richest of lands, but they lived the rest of their lives in a vast wasteland because they were afraid to take possession of their bountiful inheritance.<br /><br />It’s a perfect picture of the lives of most modern day Christians. We don’t exercise the courage, the drive, and the wisdom to live in the abundance of what we have already been given. Either we don’t know what we have inherited in Christ so we live in mediocrity and failure, or we know what our inheritance is and we refuse to take possession of it.<br /><br />We are joint heirs with Christ. Everything He has is ours as well. That is our inheritance. But we haven’t taken possession of it. Over and over we stand at the point where we can cross over to live in the abundance of His power, His provisions, His righteousness…His LIFE. And over and over, out of ignorance, fear, or apathy, we settle for spiritual poverty and aimless wandering in spiritual wilderness. <br /><br />If that is happening to you there is no need to wonder why...The answer is crystal clear. God never intended for us to wander in the wilderness. He has given us abundant life and if we will follow Him, He will lead us right to it and do everything that needs to be done for us to experience it fully!Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-72397460399757265542011-07-22T00:24:00.002-05:002011-07-22T00:52:55.196-05:00What God's doing now...It's been a while since I've posted...And I've been through a lot in the past two years. Today God drew me back to some old videotapes of previous speaking engagements. I watched them and realized that I have lost something. Well, let me re-phrase that. Actually, I haven't lost anything. I just forgot for a while that I have everything I need for life and godliness. Im suddenly remembering again that I have everything I need to do anything that God calls me to do in His power and strength. God is showing up in a fresh new way and I have had to face the fact that He has been showing up all along and waiting for me to join Him in what <strong>He</strong> was doing.<br /><br />He is reminding me that what I have is Christ...His power...His faith...His love...I can speak to Him and know that He will listen and respond in whatever way is best for me. I can listen to Him and know that He will speak clearly to me. I can do all things through Him.<br /><br />What I have been realizing over the last few months is that I once spoke boldly and with confidence when I spoke of Him. And the stress of dealing with things that have happened in our churches, in the world, and in my family have pretty much just sucked the joy and confidence out of my awareness. It's still there because it's the joy of the Lord and it's confidence in what He can do. But I've just taken responsibility to handle things that have never been my responsibility to handle. I've tried to fix things God never expected me to fix. I've let things and people bring me down and distract me from where I should always be focused.<br /><br />And that has caused me to operate almost on auto-pilot. I knew the truth. I taught the truth. But I failed to live the truth. Even though I taught the full truth of God's grace every Sunday morning and many times during the week too, I neglected to apply it to my own life. <br /><br />God never moved. He has not left me. He did not forsake me. I knew that all along. But I've learned that I need to constantly remind myself of the truth I know so well! I've learned that if I don't, even the teacher is capable of forgetting the lessons she teaches others!<br /><br />I don't know how often I'll post to this blog. I don't even know if anyone will ever read this post. That doesn't matter. I just wanted to record in some special way that God has brought me out of a low spot...a low spot where I planted my feet and dug in my heels for a while... and He has set my feet on a rock...a rock that's on higher ground than I've experienced in quite some time.<br /><br />The joy is back...the excitement of waiting to see what God is going to do next is back...the assurance that God is in control even over situations that seem impossible is back too. And my desire for the things of God is back in it's appropriate place in my life. It's top priority!<br /><br />And most of all, I'm experiencing the peace that passes understanding and the faith that moves mountains again! <br /><br />And I like it!Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-15633387625793225592009-05-21T08:35:00.003-05:002011-06-24T10:02:36.844-05:00New look...new attitude...new beginningNo, I'm not returning after the LONGEST migraine in history...In July of 2008 I posted a blog that said I was taking a few days off to try some new medicine to get over recurring migraines. Here I am 10 months later, just now returning. My migraines actually got better pretty soon after that post, but my life got crazier. I didn't even think that was possible at the time!<br /><br />Here's what happened...In 2007, we moved from GA to AL for Tim to begin a new pastorate. Our nation was a different place then; at least economically. We had a home we LOVED in GA, a lake home we LOVED in AL, and thinking that we could surely sell the home in GA, we bought another home we LOVE on the new church field. Originally we had planned to live in the lake house until our GA house sold, so we moved our clothing and essentials from GA to the lake house. But the 45 minute commute (sometimes twice a day) quickly became too much for Tim. So we found a 1940s bungalow, gutted it, and renovated it exactly like we wanted. We loved the way it looked when we finished. So we emptied the GA house and spread the furniture between the lake house and the renovated house. And we moved all our clothing, essentials, and stuff for daily living from the lake house to the new house.<br /><br />But shortly after that, the economy plunged and we got stuck with three houses. Not only did we have to PAY for all three of them, we had to take care of them. And by July 0f 2008, about the time I stopped writing my blogs, we were at a point where we knew that something had to go. We had to keep the house we were living in full-time because that was our "home"; where we worked, lived, and ministered. The house in GA just would NOT sell. So our only viable option was to sell the one house we didn't want to sell; the lake house.<br /><br />We had experienced such wonderful times in that house with our family. We loved being on and near the water; teaching our grandkids to ski, enjoying our daughter and son bring their families and friends to have fun with us there, extended family reunions there, and just the peaceful times of sitting on that awesome porch with the incredible view; relaxing with God and each other. And what incredible times of Bible study we both had in that setting!<br /><br />But when we put the lake house on the market it sold in less than a month, so we knew that God was in that plan. We had to take a huge loss on it, but at least we were out of the payment and the maintenance issues. But that meant that we had to then move all the furniture from the lake house BACK into the GA house. So for the third time in less than a year, we moved.<br /><br />Add to all that another million or so church/ministry/financial/family issues that were going on at the time, and that was about when I had a near "come-apart" and took a break to recuperate.<br /><br />So why am I back today? Nothing has changed about our circumstances really. Most of the "issues" still exist; the GA house still hasn't sold; I still miss having a waterside "get-away" house; the economy is even worse now....I have to admit that the last few years have been the most confusing and frustrating years in all of our years in ministry and I still don't know what God has been and is still doing....But for reasons I can't really explain, I feel like the fog is lifting and I am somehow experiencing peace now in the midst of all of it.<br /><br />I have had a hard time seeing past the present and having hope for the future, but God is beginning to restore the hope to me. I truly feel that He is about to do something though I have absolutely NO tangible evidence on which to base that feeling. But if I did, it wouldn't be "hope" or "faith"....It would be "sight" and that's not how we are supposed to live.<br /><br />For quite some time now, I have yearned to hear from God like I did years ago, but for the last couple of years I have only heard silence on many days. I've heard enough to continue to teach and write, but it just hasn't been the intensely personal and revolutionary revelations of the years before. And He has not yet told me why I had to and why I'm continuing to pass through that time.... But I am beginning to hear Him clearly again and I told Tim yesterday that I feel a new excitement about what God is about to show me.<br /><br />So here I am again, if anyone is even interested. The blog has a new look (which I will explain in a later post), to symbolize my new attitude at this new beginning. I don't know if I will post to the blog daily, weekly, or just whenever the "Spirit" moves, but for whatever it means....<strong><em><span style="color:#ffffff;">I'm back.</span></em></strong>Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-75396154766327502682008-07-31T23:45:00.001-05:002008-07-31T23:46:45.164-05:00still away...So sorry I'm not back to posting yet - came back from vacation with a series of migraines - on new medicine and hope to be feeling better and back to posting soon.Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-30552622707695424942008-07-24T17:09:00.001-05:002008-07-24T17:10:22.220-05:00on vacation...We've been on vacation this week - I'll be back on the blog site Monday, July 28th. <br /><br />DebbieDebbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-45569683342539762782008-07-18T08:57:00.011-05:002011-06-24T10:04:05.923-05:00The problem with tradition....<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#000000;"><em><strong>"knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19. but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." </strong></em><br /></span></span><br /><div align="right"><em><strong><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000000;">I Peter 1:17-19 (NKJV)</span></strong></em></div><br /><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000000;">Peter is referring to the practice of redeeming someone who had been taken into bondage. A price had to be paid so that they could be set free. What set us free was more precious than gold or silver. The blood of Jesus Christ was the payment God accepted to set us free. We have been set free from the bondage of sin and the curse of the law, <strong><em>but that’s not all</em></strong>.<br /><br />Peter was also telling his readers that they had been set free from the pointless lives they had lived as a result of the traditions their fathers taught them. That had special significance for the original readers of Peter’s letter. The way of life handed down to them by their forefathers had been empty, binding, and ineffective in meeting God’s standard for holiness and obedience. But God had set them free from such a pointless life of trying to please Him by keeping rules. They had been redeemed from such a life and they were now free to honor God by depending on His indwelling Holy Spirit to live through them.<br /><br />My favorite quote is one from Dr. Steve McVey of GraceWalk Ministries. He says, <em>"Tell a man who he is in Christ and he can't be stopped from godly activity. Try to control him through rules and you set him up for spiritual ruin." </em>I am convinced that when a person comes to an understanding that God has made them holy, and that they can live out of that holiness, then they will be constrained by the power of that understanding to live holy lives. But when religious leaders try to control the behavior of church members by pounding them with rules and traditions, the lives of those church members will usually reflect everything but holiness. What you usually get from that sort of teaching is "holier than thou-ness" that covers secret rebellion and unholy attitudes.<br /><br />Christians shouldn't have to be constrained by the rules. Peter is teaching us truth in the appropriate order by which we should live it. First, God has made us holy and we can live out of that holiness. Next, he taught us that we have been empowered by the life of Christ within, Who will work through us and then reward us as if we had done the work ourselves. And now, Peter is giving us one more holy motivation for living holy lives. A HUGE price was paid for our salvation. We were not redeemed with gold or silver or anything worldly. We were purchased with the blood of Jesus Christ.<br /><br />When Peter spoke of lambs, he was referring back to a foreshadowing picture of Christ in the sacrificial lamb that had been offered up in temple sacrifices. All of Peter’s readers would have recognized the requirements of perfection those animals had to meet. And Jesus fulfilled all the requirements of the Ultimate Sacrificial Lamb that would accomplish everything the lambs could never fully accomplish, thus redeeming us and ending the need for temple sacrifices forever.<br /><br />So Peter said, <strong><em>"Knowing all this truth should be enough to motivate us to holy lives." </em></strong>Knowing the power that resides within us and knowing the price that was paid to save us should constrain us to live holy lives. Rules will never constrain us to such lives. But the knowledge of God's transformation will. </span><strong><em><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000000;">Tradition won't do it, but truth ALWAYS will.<br /></span></em></strong>Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-15210277217243224792008-07-16T20:13:00.004-05:002011-06-24T10:05:06.855-05:00You've Been Redeemed, So Your Life Can Honor God....<span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#000000;"><strong><em>17. And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; I Peter 1:17 (NKJV)<br /></em></strong><br />If we take this verse out of the context of the entire passage, we could be deceived into believing that we will be judged for “our” works.<br /><br />Verse 17: The word “if” in this verse actually means “since.” Peter is addressing Christian readers of his letter and he is saying that since they have called on God to save them, knowing that salvation would eventually result in a day in which they would be judged for the work they did on earth, then they should be encouraged by that understanding, to honor Him in all that they do so that they will be judged favorably. This verse is not speaking of an eventual judgment to decide the eternal fate of believers. Their salvation is already established. We tend to associate judgment with punishment, but judgment can also simply mean “evaluation.” The judgment to which this verse refers is the “bema seat” type of judgment which will evaluate the righteous deeds and determine the rewards of believers (II Corinthians 5:10).<br /><br />You have to consider the order in which Peter wrote his encouragements. He had just established that the only reason we can be obedient unto holy lives is because of the indwelling Spirit of Christ within us. Once Peter established that such a life of obedience is possible, he then informed us that a life of holiness will be rewarded. First, he established that the only way we can live a holy life is by resting in Christ and allowing His Holy Spirit to lead, speak, and work through us. Then he gave us a great motivation for living such a life. If we honor God by resting in what Christ does through us, then we get the reward for it. I want to make sure you fully understand that process. When we rest in Christ, He does the work through us, and we get the rewards for it!!</span></span>Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-85659572462924688262008-07-16T00:20:00.005-05:002011-06-24T10:05:36.551-05:00Don't just act holy....BE holy!<span style="color:#000000;"><strong><span style="font-size:130%;">I've been going back over the last couple of days and looking at some of the absolute truths Peter declares in his epistles. Like this one....</span></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="font-size:130%;"></span></em></strong><br /></span><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-size:130%;"><strong><em>"because it is written, ”Be holy, for I am holy.” I Peter 1:16 (NKJV)<br /><br /></em></strong>Peter is stating the truth that God has enabled us to live holy lives by the power of His own holiness!!! He is holy and His Holy Spirit now lives within us. We have become holy by His own holiness, therefore we can "be" holy as He is holy.</span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;">An apple tree bears apples because it is by nature an apple tree. Sinners bear the fruit of sin because they are, by nature, sinners. Holiness defines our new nature. We are holy because God has made us holy in nature. We have become “partakers of the divine nature” of God. (II Peter 1:4) We are holy by nature, therefore we can bear the fruit of holiness. It bears repeating...</span></span><span style="font-size:130%;"><span style="color:#000000;"><strong><em>We can be holy because we are holy.<br /><br /></em></strong>If a Bible verse starts with the phrase, “it is written,” it’s always important to look back to the original passage from which the phrase is quoted. In this case, the phrase is taken from a multitude of Scripture passages, many of which are found in the Old Testament book of Leviticus.<br /><br /></span></span><strong><em><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-size:130%;">“For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy…” Leviticus 11:44a (NKJV)</span><br /><br /></span></em></strong><span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-size:130%;">This was a portion of a passage of Scripture in which God prescribed the methods that were to be taken in the preparation of foods and in the ceremonial temple cleansings. Certain precautions were to be taken so that the people would avoid unclean foods and unclean activities.<br /><br />In the days in which the Book of Leviticus was written, God used the ceremonial cleansings in the temple to illustrate the holy lives that were to distinguish His people from the rest of the world. In their outward ritual cleansings, the worshippers symbolically demonstrated that God had enabled them to live clean lives. God was teaching even then, that there was a connection between spiritual holiness and holy living. But remember that everything God instructed them to do in their temple ceremonies was a foreshadowing picture of what He would eventually do through Christ. In this case, the external ceremonial cleansing foreshadowed the spiritual holiness that Christians experience through their relationship with Christ. Our salvation provides the cleansing that was demonstrated in the temple rituals.<br /><br />Notice the cause and effect of the verse in Leviticus. God said that since He is holy, then those to whom He is God will also be made holy by His holiness. The fulfillment of the picture He painted in Leviticus is that in Christ, we have “become” holy (II Corinthians 5:21) and you can’t get more holy than holy. The word “holy” means that the job has been completed. If there is any part of something that is not holy, then the entire something is unholy. </span><br /><span style="font-size:130%;"></span><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;color:#ffffff;"><span style="color:#000000;">God says that believers are holy. If you are a beliver in Jesus Christ, then you already have all the holiness you will ever get. And by the way, no one else ever got any more holiness than you did!! Not Billy Graham. Not the apostle Paul or even Peter, the author of this book of truth. In fact, if you are a believer, then you are as holy as Jesus. All believers have been made equally holy, just as He is holy. Therefore, we can all now live holy lives.<br /><br />Basically what Peter is saying in verses 13-15, is that we can think right and live right because we are right</span>!!</span>Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-51482389830234909912008-07-14T21:43:00.005-05:002011-06-24T10:06:01.227-05:00Timeless truth....<span style="color:#000000;"><span style="font-size:130%;">Tim and I are passionate about sharing truth - and we are in good company because so many that have gone before us have shared that deepest desire of the heart. The Holy Spirit Who motivates and empowers me to teach and write about the Word of God is the same Holy Spirit who empowered the prophets of the Old Testament, the apostles of the New Testament, and all those who have taught the truth of Scripture throughout history. And the truth has always been and always will be about the grace of God expressed through Jesus.</span><br /><br /></span><span style="color:#000000;"><em><strong>10. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you… 12. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven – things which angels desire to look into. I Peter 1: 10, 12 (NKJV)<br /></strong></em><br /></span><span style="font-size:130%;color:#000000;">The recipients of Peter’s letters placed a lot of value on the words of the Prophets, so Peter wanted them to understand that the message he shared was no different from the message the Prophets had shared. The message of grace is on every page of the Bible. The ancient writers of the Scriptures were inspired by God to speak truths that pointed to Jesus. And during the miraculous days in which Peter lived, those truths had come to pass.<br /><br />Peter was saying, “We’re preaching the same message the Prophets preached!” The same Holy Spirit that inspired the Prophets also indwelt Peter and other preachers of his day and proclaimed the same message through all of them. And that same Holy Spirit still speaks the enduring and unchanging message of grace through Christians today. The gospel of Jesus Christ was, is, and forever will be the same. </span>Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-57454908891286504912008-07-10T00:57:00.002-05:002008-07-10T01:09:01.666-05:00Fireproof...Last night Tim and I had an incredible opportunity to preview the new movie Fireproof - it's done by the two brothers/church/film company that did Facing the Giants a couple of years ago. I can't even begin to tell you how wonderful the movie was. I am already excited about what God is going to do with this movie. I truly believe that God is going to use it to heal relationships and save marriages. It stars Kirk Cameron and they announced at the end of the movie that he took no money for doing it. He probably won't get it, but he deserves an Oscar for his portrayal of a fireman in a failing marriage. At times I found myself really disliking him; he was that good!<br /><br />As with Facing the Giants, the characters are believable and the interaction between the characters is personable. There are parts that are hilariously funny and other parts that bring you to tears. Please support this movie when it is released in September. They told us that the number of people that go to the movie the opening weekend greatly impacts the possibilities of more theaters showing the movie.<br /><br />You can go to the website <a href="http://www.fireproofthemovie.com/">www.fireproofthemovie.com</a> to see a trailer and get more information.Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-39041493300891808042008-07-08T22:31:00.003-05:002009-05-21T09:19:18.792-05:00Freedom From the Captivity of the Enemy....There is an interesting statement made in Exodus 13:17-18.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"><em><strong><span style="color:#33ff33;">“When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt armed for battle.” (NIV)<br /></span><br /></strong></em></span>This text takes place just after the account of God’s miraculous intervention forcing the Pharaoh to release the Hebrew children who had been held as slaves in Egypt. We are told that God did not lead the Hebrews through the area where they would face war, even though that was a shorter route to their destination. And we are even given the precise reason why God chose an alternate route. God said that if they faced war, they might turn around and go right back into captivity. So instead He led them toward the Red Sea where He could show them His mighty power.<br /><br />Couldn’t He have shown them His power in war too? Of course, He could have. But He knew He would never get that chance because the people would choose captivity over war. God had set them free. There is no way that He would have allowed them to be forced right back into captivity, but He certainly didn’t want them to go back to slavery by their own choice.<br /><br />Our enemy cannot force us into any form of captivity. But we can choose to sin or we can attempt to live by the law and in so doing we become victims of our enemy’s crafty lure back into bondage.<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong><em><span style="color:#33ff33;">“And you shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free.” John 8:32 (NKJV)</span><br /><br /></em></strong></span>Remember that the truth made you free. When God saved you He "made" you free. You are free because Jesus purchased your freedom with His own life. But you can be completely free, yet still live as if you are in bondage. The truth of God made us free, but it's believing that that that sets you free to live in freedom. Believing a lie is what keeps you in bondage. The only way our enemy, Satan, can bind up a Christian is by deception. And even then, they aren’t truly in bondage. They just believe that they are and for Satan’s purposes, that’s just as effective.<br /><br />The enemy will try to make you believe that you still have to live up to the measure of the law. Remember that the power of sin is found in the law, so if he can get you to focus on the law, he will be successful in getting you to sin. And if he can keep you in that sin long enough, it will ultimately bring great harm to you.<br /><br />The enemy will try to make you believe that you are still under the control of sin. He will try to convince you that you are in bondage to some activity that you just can’t stop doing. And you will finally give up in defeat to its power. Again, his goal is for sin to destroy you.<br /><br />I was once at the lake on a prayer retreat and we broke up from our groups to go pray alone. My friend saw some vicious looking dogs behind me where I was praying, but told me not to be concerned about them. She explained to me that they were in an invisible fence. I was within 10 feet of them, and there appeared to be no barriers dividing us, yet those dogs never got any closer to me.<br /><br />I learned later how an invisible fence works. An electrical wire is buried just under the ground to form a boundary. For several weeks, the dog wears a devise around its neck that emits an electrical charge every time the dog gets close to the boundary. The dog soon learns how far he can go without feeling pain. After the dog is trained, the devise can be removed from his neck, but the dog will still not venture close to the boundary line.<br /><br />Those dogs at the lake were fully free to have a meaty meal off of me, but they just didn’t know it. And their lack of knowledge about their freedom was just as effective as a 20 foot fence!!<br /><br />God has removed us from captivity to our enemy. If we believe the truth of God’s Word, he will never have any power over us again. The truth gives us victory over Satan. The truth makes us free and when we believe it, we can live freely in it!Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-44871922783163978972008-07-07T22:40:00.003-05:002009-05-21T09:20:19.658-05:00Freedom From the Control of Sin...Part TwoContinued from the last blog....<br /><br /><br /><br />So, if we are not under the law and therefore don’t have to focus on it, what will keep Christians from sinning? Since we have been set free from the condemnation of the law, can’t we just start sinning as much as we want? Well, let’s say you live in an imaginary country where speeding is not against the law. Should you drive 80 miles per hour around hairpin turns in rainy weather, just because you know you can do it without breaking a law? Of course not. Just because something is legal, doesn’t mean that it is beneficial.<br /><br />But Paul had to field similar questions when he was addressing the Romans.<br /><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span style="color:#33ff33;">“14. For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace. 15. What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? Certainly not! 16. Do you not know that to whom you present yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey, whether of sin leading to death, or of obedience leading to righteousness? 17. But God be thanked that though you were slaves of sin, yet you obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine to which you were delivered. 18. And having been set free from sin, you became slaves of righteousness.” Romans 6:14-18 (NKJV)</span><br /></span></em></strong><br />The reason that God can trust us enough to remove us out from under the law is that He also removed us out from under the dominion of sin at the same time. We were all born with that original bent toward sinning. It was the natural thing for us to do because that was our nature as sinners.<br /><br />Verse 14: But we are no longer under the dominion of sin. In other words, sin no longer has power over us. We can never again use the excuse, “I just couldn’t help it.”<br /><br />We often readily accept the fact that our salvation saved us from the penalty of our sin. We will even accept the fact that one day in heaven we will be saved from the very presence of sin. But how often do we fully realize and live out of the truth that we have already been redeemed from, set free from, released from the POWER of sin on a daily basis?<br /><br />You may say, “but it sure feels like sin has power over me.”<br /><br />Well, if so, it’s because you are not fully living out of the truth of Romans 6:14. When I am at the beach on vacation and I hear that a hurricane is coming my way, I head for home because a hurricane comes ashore on a beach! Now, does that hurricane still have all its power even though I leave the beach? Sure it does, but it no longer has power over me!!<br /><br />If I live out of the truth of Romans 6:14, I will realize that sin still has all the power it ever had, but it no longer has power over me, because I no longer live under the law where sin’s power dwells. And when I feel the temptation to sin, I must believe with faith that I no longer have to choose to sin.<br /><br />Verses 15-16: These verses prove that sin is a choice. If you present (willingly give) yourself as a slave to obey something, then you will become a slave to obey whatever that something is, even though you are not required to do so. Why would you want to willingly subject yourself as a slave to sin when you have been set free from it?<br /><br />Sin is always destructive and God loves us so much that He doesn’t want us to be destroyed by it. That’s one of the reasons why God set us free from its rule over us.<br /><br />Paul said that all things may be lawful for Christians, but not all things are beneficial to them. (I Corinthians 6:12) God doesn’t do anything harmful to you when you sin, but SIN itself always does. Romans 8:1 says that there is no condemnation left for sin, but it doesn’t say that there are no “consequences” for them.<br /><br />When the Holy Spirit convicts me of sin, it is not to rain down condemnation on me. Instead, it’s to say, “Here’s an area of your life where I want something better for you. You are settling for less than the best here. This is going to hurt you if you don’t let Me take it out of your life.”<br /><br />Verses 17-18: What keeps us from going back into sin once we understand that we are not under law, but instead under grace? Well, these verses are clear about that. Though we were once slaves of sin, we became slaves of righteousness and became obedient “from the heart.” Do you see where our motivation for obedience originates? Not in our knowledge of and adherence to the law, but “from the heart.”<br /><br />At the point of our salvation, God exchanges our sinful hearts for pure hearts into which He implants His Holy Spirit. And it is out of that new heart, filled with the Holy Spirit, that our obedience springs forth. You may feel that Christians can’t be trusted to be obedient without God giving them a set of rules to follow and the accompanying punishment that goes with breaking those rules. But God is not placing His trust in Christians when He releases them from bondage to the law. He trusts His own work in us. He trusts the new heart He has placed in us. He trusts Christ who lives within us.<br /><br />Let me just ask you something. When you truly focus on Christ and what He has accomplished in your life, do you really want to go out and sin? Is the deepest desire of your heart to be rebellious or is it to obey God? I believe that when we fully realize the heart change we have experienced, we will be obedient “from the heart” and we will never experience bondage to sin or the law again.<br /><br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"><strong><em><span style="color:#33ff33;">“But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter.” Romans 7:6 (NKJV)<br /></span><br /></em></strong></span>The point of being set free from the law is not that we “can” sin. It’s that we no longer “have to.” We don’t have freedom so that we can do whatever God’s law forbids. Instead, we have the freedom now to be obedient because we are enabled to do so and we have a desire to do so. We are not motivated by the regulations of the written law that only produces condemnation and gives sin strength. We are now motivated by the desire of our pure hearts.Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-27280151541741236372008-07-06T22:12:00.001-05:002009-05-21T09:21:07.411-05:00Freedom From the Control of Sin...Part OneMore thoughts about freedom – Think about this.....Americans don’t have to live under the control of the Japanese government, the government of Great Britain, or the government of any other nation we’ve encountered in battle. Why is that? The answer is simple. It’s because WE WON!!! We don’t have to live under the control of a defeated enemy. We are free as Americans because the victory was ours.<br /><br />Because of the victory Christ won on the cross, our ultimate enemy has been defeated. Satan was defeated forever and we are free to live in Christ’s victory which includes victory over the power of sin in our lives.<br /><br />But how does that play out in the reality of our lives every day? How do we LIVE in that victory over sin? Well, it has a lot to do with being free from the law. It may seem that focusing on the law would keep us “in line” and away from sin, but in reality it’s a focus on the law that sets us up to sin!<br /><br />Paul encouraged the Galatians to stand firm in their freedom in Christ and to never be tempted to get tangled up in bondage to the law again. (Galatians 5:1) That’s because sin finds strength in the law!!<br /><br /><span style="color:#ff0000;"><em><strong><span style="color:#33ff33;">The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. I Corinthians 15:56</span><br /></strong></em></span><br />When preachers and teachers try to motivate Christians to the right behavior by using the law, they are only setting them up for defeat. Here’s how that works:<br /><br />One Sunday morning our church drainage system malfunctioned and every restroom in our church had to be closed. I spoke to a woman after church who said that she had never before sensed a need to use a restroom at the church, but on that Sunday she wasn’t even able to concentrate on the service because she kept thinking she had to use the restroom!!<br /><br />If you’re on a diet and you spend all day reminding yourself that you can’t have fried chicken what will you end up doing? You’ll go out and get yourself some fried chicken before the day is over!<br /><br />That’s how it is when we focus on the law. When we keep our minds on the law that points out sin, it actually makes us want to sin. But when we realize that we don’t have to focus on what is right and wrong so that we will only do what is right, then our minds are free to focus on Christ. And when we stayed focused on Christ, the last thing we’ll want to do is sin!<br /><br /><br /><em></em><strong></strong>To be continued....Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-17441564812572510082008-07-05T08:25:00.004-05:002009-05-21T09:22:50.234-05:00Freedom from the Condemnation of the Law....On July 4th I started writing about freedom and I had some more thoughts about the freedom we have in Christ. In Him we have freedom from the condemnation of the Law. To completely grasp what that means we have to understand what the law is and why we are condemned by it until we are released from it through a relationship with Jesus.<br /><strong><em></em></strong><br /><strong><em>“Condemnation”</em></strong> is the legal declaration of a guilty verdict and the accompanying requirement of the penalty due. In order for condemnation by law to exist, you have to be bound by the law you break. <strong><em><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span style="color:#33ff33;">In other words, you can't be punished by law for breaking a law if you are not under that law!<br /></span><br /></span></em></strong>Suppose you lived in a remote area of the world where almost no one owned an automobile. In this country there would be no laws to regulate traffic, because there would be no traffic. So if you were fortunate enough to have a car, you could drive around the countryside at whatever speed you wanted and never break a law.<br /><br />But what if you returned to the United States one day and since you were quite accustomed to driving at whatever speed you chose, you flew by a policeman in town at about 80 miles per hour? You would have a problem because you would now be a law-breaker. Was it the act of driving 80 miles per hour alone that condemned you? No, because you had been doing that in the other country with no condemnation because there was no law against it. But in the United States there are laws against such driving and when an action breaks a law, you are condemned by it.<br /><br /><span style="color:#33ff33;"><strong><em>“</em></strong></span><strong><em><span style="color:#33ff33;">19. Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. 20. Therefore by the deeds of the law no flesh will be justified in His sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.” Romans 3:19-20 (NKJV)<br /></span><span style="color:#ff0000;"><br /></em></strong></span>Every person who has not experienced the salvation of God is already condemned by their sin nature. That would have been enough to condemn us, but we are still judged by the law. One of the reasons the law was given was so that no one could ever say they didn’t know what was unacceptable in God’s sight. The law proves all law-breakers guilty and since we are under it from birth, there is no defense against the condemnation (guilty verdict) handed down by God for breaking it.<br /><br />But trying to attain to salvation by keeping the law is not an option because doing everything required by God’s law is impossible. Just breaking one equates to breaking them all, so every person is condemned and cursed by their inability to keep the law. The law makes us aware of our sin, but keeping the law cannot save us from sin’s penalty. <strong><em>God's law is the way by which His condemnation is imparted.<br /></em></strong><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#33ff33;">"For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed</span><span style="color:#ff0000;"> <span style="color:#ffffff;">(counted against us) </span></span><span style="color:#33ff33;">when there is no law." Romans 5:13 (NKJV)</span></em></strong><br /><br />Condemnation (a guilty verdict) is not imparted when there is no rule of law. As long as you lived in that imaginary country where there were no traffic laws, you were not a law-breaker when you drove 80 miles per hour.<br /><br />It is so important that our salvation made sure that we are not under the rule and the accompanying condemnation (guilty verdict) of the law because it is the law by which we are condemned. If we are not under it, then we can't be condemned by it!<br /><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span style="color:#33ff33;">“Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law…” Galatians 3:13a (NKJV)</span><br /><br /></span></em></strong>There is that word “redeemed” again. And it goes back to the concept of paying a ransom to set a prisoner free. Christ’s death and our acceptance of His death for our salvation, set us free from the condemnation (guilty verdict) of the law. The law condemned us because we were hopelessly destined to break it, but Christ took us out from under the law so that the condemnation for breaking it would not be imputed to us. Freedom from the law is important to us because we had no hope of keeping the law, therefore we were condemned by it!!<br /><br />I have been called a <strong><em>"Grace Nazi"</em></strong> because I am so obsessed with making sure the truth about our freedom in Christ is declared. I can't stand to hear a song, a lesson, or any type of declaration that denies our freedom in Christ in even the slightest way. When I hear a teacher or preacher try to put Christians back under the law, I wonder if they realize they are attempting to put them back under condemnation because if we are under the law then we are subject to its condemnation!<br /><br />One of the greatest blessings of the grace of God is that we are free from the law. There was an old hymn we used to sing when I was a child and it's so true.<br /><br /><strong><em>Free from the law, oh happy condition,</em></strong><br /><strong><em>Jesus has bled and there is remission,</em></strong><br /><strong><em>Cursed by the law and bruised by the fall,</em></strong><br /><strong><em>Christ has redeemed us once for all.</em></strong>Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-28310402384800100672008-07-04T08:30:00.002-05:002008-07-04T08:35:10.511-05:00The cost of freedom...,.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSgOfSialORu61LOceW3AOVisg-E48AX_UWVLF-UzpQWfpghGIrnRTCWddV6pTUXp7oFFOAQCkg4vbxWosDNwokI_wMz99rO3uwxnH9bBr0Sek9updy4TY9xt23mdVHEygX4kvyQwynCE/s1600-h/100_0850.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5219151801965237602" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSgOfSialORu61LOceW3AOVisg-E48AX_UWVLF-UzpQWfpghGIrnRTCWddV6pTUXp7oFFOAQCkg4vbxWosDNwokI_wMz99rO3uwxnH9bBr0Sek9updy4TY9xt23mdVHEygX4kvyQwynCE/s320/100_0850.jpg" border="0" /></a><br /><div>I took this picture at the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor Hawaii. I have never experienced anything like the emotion I felt standing on that sacred spot where so many gave their lives for my freedom. Without even knowing them I was drawn to express my thankfulness for their great sacrifice during a time when our country came dangerously close to losing the lifestyles and liberty that we love so much.<br /><br />But on this day of celebrating our nation’s independence I’m also reminded of another great sacrifice that purchased an ever greater freedom for me. Jesus Christ gave His own life willingly so that I can be free from the penalty, power, and one day even the presence of sin. I am free to have a relationship with God. I am free to live in victory and abundance. I am free from the threat of hell.<br /><br />As part of the gift of salvation, God has given us ultimate freedom. He has set us forever free from anything that would bind us. And no one, no activity, no habit, in fact nothing, can ever force us back into captivity once God has set us free.<br /><br />The only price that God would accept as payment in full was the blood of Jesus. But when that price was paid, it was used as a “ransom” to set me free.<br /><br />“just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”<br />Matthew 20:28 (NKJV)<br /><br />The word “ransom” used in that verse actually means “to loose.” It was a term used to describe the payment made to secure the freedom of slaves or those taken prisoner by the enemy in a war. Another word for the way Christ purchased our freedom is “redemption.”<br /><br />When Christ gave His life and His blood as a ransom for us, He redeemed us and secured our freedom from the condemnation of the Law, from the control of sin in our lives, and from the captivity of the enemy.<br /><br />And if the Son has set you free, you are free indeed and free forever. (John 8:36 pp) We can never again be taken captive. We are secure in His freedom.<br /></div>Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-13248630252296299842008-07-02T23:13:00.009-05:002008-07-02T23:48:49.278-05:00One more Clay story.....<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2JiHUTPW6at5i3HCkFocJ55QTlbVDwG9ulkGuiglZPyJAHTCn5SUYlGe4pv6bpYBJiwcHzxWUOI7oNtbfEmTQflMA26e9A4FF_iNnDUg1i017-CkJL9s04QeukYLGvCcv4pr0EaV5A4/s1600-h/Clay+4+yo.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218645130030862610" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" height="360" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-2JiHUTPW6at5i3HCkFocJ55QTlbVDwG9ulkGuiglZPyJAHTCn5SUYlGe4pv6bpYBJiwcHzxWUOI7oNtbfEmTQflMA26e9A4FF_iNnDUg1i017-CkJL9s04QeukYLGvCcv4pr0EaV5A4/s320/Clay+4+yo.jpg" width="285" border="0" /></a><br /><div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddqMrhraE8GQ5QkdxizSqvxgPxwi1dbI3jgUMXQ8p_fnFyl5XSX2PFCnUYVr17AdAou9wBJbX_DqP_ulJ-gfI5YysQZDyU6Pb7jbep_qmdXOuvvpu9QzeGDlatTeFLNuAJ5ZhbLmGv7c/s1600-h/Clay+and+Candi+1.jpg"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5218643042833504898" style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 247px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 365px" height="202" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjddqMrhraE8GQ5QkdxizSqvxgPxwi1dbI3jgUMXQ8p_fnFyl5XSX2PFCnUYVr17AdAou9wBJbX_DqP_ulJ-gfI5YysQZDyU6Pb7jbep_qmdXOuvvpu9QzeGDlatTeFLNuAJ5ZhbLmGv7c/s320/Clay+and+Candi+1.jpg" width="166" border="0" /></a> </div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div></div><br /><div align="center"></div><br /><div align="center">Clay at 4 years old </div><br /><div align="center">and at his wedding...<br /><br /></div><br /><div>When I posted the last blog in honor of Clay's birthday, I was trying to decide between two stories about his childhood that God used to teach me important lessons about my relationship with Him as my Heavenly Father. I chose the story about him refusing to pick up his toys. Through that God taught me about how He doesn't "force" us to do His will. Instead, He chooses to transform us from the inside out, giving us the desire to obey Him. The other story about Clay reminds me of an equally important lesson about God's love and care for me.<br /><br />When Clay was small, he got bored in school very easily. He would then get into trouble. We came to dread the inevitable phone calls from his teacher. We were so frustrated with our unsuccessful attempts to change his behavior by punishing him. Finally, his teacher came up with a system that seemed to work. She would send home a daily notice of his behavior. If he got more “happy faces” than “sad faces” in one week, then he got a prize. If he got all “happy faces” in a week, he got a really good prize. He was so naturally competetive that he wanted to "win" and did very well with this process.<br /><br />One night during the time we were in the midst of this process, he was riding the exercise bike in our home, <strong><em>without our permission</em></strong>. We heard a terrible scream. He had caught his toe in the pedals and it was mashed flat. When I heard his scream my first reaction was to respond to him. I cried right along with him and tended to his injury. I gave him some medicine to relieve the pain.<br /><br />When I heard his cry, it never occurred to me to check his record of “happy/sad faces” first to see if he deserved to be helped. I never even considered the fact that I had told him not to ride that bike and that he was only in pain because he had disobeyed me. He was my child and he was in trouble. It was the deepest desire of my heart to help him and to see to it that he was never hurt in that way again.<br /><br />Now, since we know that God is a perfect Father, do you really think He would do any less for you? We sometimes get the idea that God won't help us if we get ourselves into trouble. Or that God will somehow check our record of good and bad actions to determine whether or not we deserve His help. But God loves us perfectly and unconditionally. Even our best behavior doesn't merit His favor. We don't deserve anything He does for us. But everything He does for us is based on His love, not our good or bad behavior. When we hurt, He responds with perfect love and always with the appropriate action that is best for us.</div><br /><div></div><br /><div>I'm glad we made it through Clay's childhood because God did a great work in his life. He is one of the finest young men I know.</div>Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-71087162802475041232008-06-30T23:30:00.004-05:002008-07-01T12:01:18.804-05:00From the inside out....Tomorrow is my son Clay's birthday. From the moment he was born 27 years ago, he tried to take charge. It seemed that we were always in a battle for control. Fortunately, that fierce determination has served to grow him into a fine young man and I am so proud of my son. I always say that he is the best son any mom could ever have. NOW he is.....But there were days during his younger years that I wanted to quit!!<br /><br />We once battled over whether or not he was going to pick up his toys. He was determined that he was not and I was just as determined that he was!! Finally, I put my hands on his hand and pulled him over to the toy. I curled his fat little fingers around the toy, forcing him to grab it. I then dragged him over to the toy box where I "uncurled" his fingers and made him drop the toy in the box. I triumphantly said, "See I told you that you were going to pick up your toys." The problem was that I didn't feel very triumphant. In fact, I felt pretty defeated because I may have won that battle, but I didn't feel like I was doing so well in the war. I got what I wanted, but Clay's heart really hadn't changed when it came to being submissive to my authority.<br /><br />After so many similar rounds, I found myself wishing that I could just crawl inside that boy and motivate him from the inside out. If I could have just changed his heart so that he would become submissive to my authority, things would have gone so much better for him. Both our lives would have been much less stressful.<br /><br />Years later, God began to show me that He had that idea long before I did! He could have forced His children to obey Him because He is much stronger than us. He could have dragged us kicking and screaming into His will and forced us into submission. But instead He chose to come and live inside us and motivate us from the inside out. He wants to soften our hearts toward Him, to transform the way we think, and to lovingly draw us to submission to Him by teaching us that His will is always best for us. He places His Holy Spirit inside us to do all those things.<br /><br />God has never attempted to change anyone by changing their actions. Instead He changed us on the inside and when we are truly changed on the inside, it will show in our outward actions. We can never "do" enough righteous things to "become righteous." But when we come to realize that God has made us righteous, we will be motivated and empowered to do righteous things.<br /><br />We named our son Clay because our goal for him was that he would be moldable and submissive to God, just as clay is to the potter. Since Clay received Christ for salvation many years ago, God has been faithful to work in Clay's life. On his birthday I'll be praying that God will continue His work of shaping throughout Clay's life and that he will be the husband, father, and man that God has planned. Happy Birthday Clay-boy.Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-8413130586174913312008-06-27T23:17:00.002-05:002008-06-27T23:43:35.059-05:00Taking a plunge just for fun....We drove over to Georgia this weekend to work on our house and try to make it more "sale-able". We scraped wallpaper for HOURS, painted, cleaned up the yard, cleaned the basement, and worked HARD for two days. At the end of the day today we were exhausted and HOT. My grandkids had spent all day in the pool while their parents helped us. My daughter Amy and I went out to watch them swim late this afternoon and commented on how inviting the water looked.<br /><br />Amy looked at me and said, "I just want to jump in there right now, but I didn't bring a swimsuit." As we looked at each other it was almost like something came over us and we just couldn't help it. We both jumped up, ran toward the pool, and jumped in fully clothed!!!! The kids screamed and laughed and we thought it was hilarious. The water felt great and we had so much fun till Tim came into the pool area and informed us that my suitcase was on the bottom layer of all the stuff he had just loaded in the car. He also informed me that he had no intention of unloading the car to get to my clothes and he then informed me that he was not going to wait on me to "dry out" before we left because he had a wedding the next morning. So I was looking at a two hour drive in wet clothes. And I didn't even care.<br /><br />There I was; a 53 year old woman, fully clothed in a swimming pool and the most important thing on my mind was that when I left to go back to Alabama in wet clothes my grandkids would remember it and laugh for days! I would do just about anything to make those kids smile. It does my heart good to see them giggle. I just love knowing that I have made them happy.<br /><br />I can't even imagine how God must feel when He sees us rejoice over something wonderful He does in our lives. It's hard to grasp the fact that my love for my children and grandchildren, <em>even as overwhelming as it seems to be in my life</em>, does not even compare with the love that God has for me. He enjoys me even more than I enjoy my kids! I just know that it pleases Him when I laugh and it thrills Him when I smile. He must love knowing that He has made me happy and given me joy beyond measure.Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-79162764955649300382008-06-25T22:17:00.004-05:002009-05-21T09:25:36.606-05:00What did Jesus write in the sand?Sunday night Tim (my husband and also my pastor) was preaching about the woman caught in adultery in the New Testament from John 8:1-8. It's the account in which Jesus kneels and writes something in the sand. I remembered that a few years ago when I was studying that passage for a lesson I was writing, I wondered why the passage never reveals anything about what or why He wrote in the sand that day.<br /><br />From studying a book about Jewish observances, I learned that there were several ceremonial practices that were celebrated as part of the annual Feast of Tabernacles. One of those traditions was The Celebration of Water Pouring. The priests would have been divided into three groups, with each group having a definite assignment. The third group of priests were assigned to go to the pool known as Siloam and drew out what was known as <strong><em>"mayim hayim,"</em></strong> (living water) which was to be poured it into a golden vase. At the appropriate time during the feast, as the worshippers sang a song about the joy of drawing water from the well of salvation, the High Priest would pour the <strong><em>"mayim hayim"</em></strong> (living water) from the golden vase onto the altar.<br /><br />God gave specific instructions in Leviticus for the observance of this Feast and each of the components of the Old Testament feasts had significant meaning pointing to its fulfillment in the Messiah. The annual celebration of these feasts began with the institution of the Old Testament temple practices in the days of Moses. But if we fast forward from the Old Testament celebrations of The Feast of Tabernacles and look at a New Testament observance of the same feast we can find an actual incident in which Jesus fulfilled the prophecy of the <strong><em>"mayim hayim"</em></strong> in declaring Himself to be the real Living Water.<br /><br />In the second chapter of John, we learn that Jesus was in town during the Jewish annual observance of the Feast of Tabernacles. (John 7:2) The worshippers would have just sung, "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation." The Hebrew word for salvation is "Yeshua," or Jesus. Remember that they called the water collected from the pool of Siloam "living water." So for years they had essentially been singing about drawing living water from Jesus, without even realizing it. But here's what happened on the final day of The Feast of Tabernacles celebration in the year in which John recorded the incident about the woman caught in adultery.<br /><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#33ff33;">"37. On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. 38. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." 39. But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified." John 7:37-39 (NKJV)<br /></span></em></strong><br />Jesus (Yeshua, Salvation) had the attention of everyone in the crowd when He declared that the true living water would come from Him. He was inviting them to drink of Him, taking in water that would satisfy all thirsts. They could truly do as they had just sung. They could <strong><em>"draw water from the wells of salvation."</em></strong> And when a person drank from Him, they would also become a well from which living water would flow. And just in case we didn't understand what Jesus was implying, John explained His meaning to us. The Holy Spirit was still a future promise at this point because Jesus had not yet been crucified, resurrected, and ascended to Heaven. But in the near future of the people hearing this message, the Holy Spirit would come to live within them and enable them to be vessels filled to overflowing with the living water of the Messiah.<br /><br />In all the Biblical holy days, about which God gave specific instructions for observing, He painted a picture of salvation for all generations. Even in the Old Testament instructions for these celebrations, it is obvious that God's plan has always been to provide salvation through His Messiah, Jesus; that people would one day be able to draw living water from the well of salvation (Yeshua/Jesus). How could anyone miss the symbolism of His beautiful artwork in the pictures painted by the Feasts, especially this one? Yet some did, and some still do.<br /><br />In John 8:1-8, a story that happened shortly following the celebration at which Jesus declared Himself to be Living Water is recorded. Early in the morning, after the Feast of Tabernacles seventh day celebration during which Jesus made His declaration about being the true Living Water, Jesus came back into the temple. A crowd gathered and he began to teach them. His lesson was interrupted by a group of scribes and Pharisees who brought him the woman who had been caught in adultery. They quoted the Law to Him, stating that she should be stoned for her sin. They hoped to force Jesus to openly speak and act in opposition to God's law.<br /><br />But Jesus did something that may have seemed strange to the crowd and to the scribes and Pharisees. He knelt to the ground and began to write a message in the dust with His finger. He then rose and told the accusers that whichever one of them had no sin should be the first one to cast a stone at the woman. He then stooped to the ground again and resumed writing in the dust.<br /><br />The Bible records that the scribes and Pharisees were convicted by their own conscience and that they all left, one by one. Jesus remained there, alone with the woman, and told her that there was no one left to condemn her. And then He spoke some of the most beautiful words ever spoken.<br /><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span style="color:#33ff33;">"11. And Jesus said to her, "Neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more." John 8:11b (NKJV)</span><br /><br /></span></em></strong>Obviously, the message from Jesus to the crowd that day was that He had come to bring salvation and not condemnation. That had always been God's message through Him, especially in the symbolism of the Feast of Tabernacles. But even though they had just spent seven days in celebration, as God's promise and plan unfolded before them in the pictures painted by their observance of The Feast of Tabernacles, they had missed the point again.<br /><br />What did Jesus write on the ground that day? The passage in John 8 doesn't tell us. But we might be able to draw some clues from Jeremiah 17:13. In this entire passage, the prophet Jeremiah recorded a <strong><em>prophecy</em></strong> about the judgment of the Jewish nation. But in this verse, the prophet Jeremiah is very specific.<br /><br /><strong><em><span style="color:#ff0000;"><span style="color:#33ff33;">"13. O Lord, the hope of Israel, All who forsake You shall be ashamed. Those who depart from Me shall be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters." Jeremiah 17:13 (NKJV)</span><br /></span></em></strong><br />Can you imagine the sadness that must have filled the heart of Jesus as He <strong>fulfilled the prophecy of the prophet Jeremiah and wrote in the dust that day</strong>? They had once again forsaken the message of the Feasts. They had just seen the promised Fountain of Living Waters standing before them, yet they were more interested in seeing that the law was kept to the letter. Surely it was the names of those who had forsaken the living water that Jesus wrote in the dust that day.<br /><br />What a message that carries for us today. God offers us the most incredible gift of salvation. Once we receive it, we stand before Him holy and righteous, under no condemnation. We stand free from bondage to any law and filled with His Holy Spirit, by which we are empowered to be vessels through which Christ works. We must be aware of the danger of becoming so focused on keeping the law and operating according to traditions that we miss so great a salvation!!Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6997149349523824872.post-34205900979248210202008-06-23T20:27:00.003-05:002011-07-22T00:02:06.428-05:00When God passes by....<span style="color:#33ff33;"><strong><em>Just a note...Toward the end of last week, I prepared several blog entries because I knew I had a busy weekend ahead. But I got busy and forgot to actually post them, so today I posted entries for three days. Be sure to read the entries for June 21st and 22nd, before reading today's entry.</em></strong><br /></span><br />In Exodus 33, there is a beautiful story of Moses praying for God’s mercy on behalf of the children of Israel who have rebelled and failed God miserably. God spared the Israelites from the destruction they deserved in response to Moses/ prayer and the intimate relationship that they share.<br /><br />After this encounter with God, Moses had one more request. He said, “Now, show me Your glory.” And God responded in a way that’s hard for us to understand. He explained to Moses that if He had allowed Moses to see His face, Moses would die. But instead He placed Moses in the cleft of a rock – a rock near Himself – and covered Moses there with His own protecting hand. As His glory passed by, in an act of tremendous love, God whispered His name to Moses, a name so holy the Israelites couldn’t even voice it aloud. And then He allowed Moses to look and see His back.<br /><br />Think of what this means to us. There are so many times I want to “see” God working in situations of my life. But that is not always possible because the manifested glory of God at work is more than our earthly bodies could stand. It would literally scare us to death if we saw the warfare raging. So even though we can’t see Him working, we know by faith that He is. And while He works, He places us in a safe place near Him; a place where nothing can destroy us because He protects us there with His own hand. And while He works, he keeps speaking His name to us; names like Jehovah Rophe, “I am your Healer”; or Jehovah Shalom, “I am your Peace”, or Jehovah Jireh, “I am your Provider.”<br /><br />And then the most amazing thing of all happens. When His work is done we can come out of our “hiding” place and see where He has been!!! We may not always get to see His work in progress, but we always get to see the results. We can look back and see God’s fingerprints all over what He has accomplished.Debbie Childershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17924717446339100699noreply@blogger.com0