No, 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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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....I'm back.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Thursday, July 31, 2008
still 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.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
on vacation...
We've been on vacation this week - I'll be back on the blog site Monday, July 28th.
Debbie
Debbie
Friday, July 18, 2008
The problem with tradition....
"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."
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, but that’s not all.
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.
My favorite quote is one from Dr. Steve McVey of GraceWalk Ministries. He says, "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." 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.
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.
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.
So Peter said, "Knowing all this truth should be enough to motivate us to holy lives." 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. Tradition won't do it, but truth ALWAYS will.
I Peter 1:17-19 (NKJV)
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, but that’s not all.
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.
My favorite quote is one from Dr. Steve McVey of GraceWalk Ministries. He says, "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." 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.
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.
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.
So Peter said, "Knowing all this truth should be enough to motivate us to holy lives." 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. Tradition won't do it, but truth ALWAYS will.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
You've Been Redeemed, So Your Life Can Honor God....
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)
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.
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).
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!!
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.
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).
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!!
Don't just act holy....BE holy!
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....
"because it is written, ”Be holy, for I am holy.” I Peter 1:16 (NKJV)
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.
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...We can be holy because we are holy.
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.
“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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Basically what Peter is saying in verses 13-15, is that we can think right and live right because we are right!!
"because it is written, ”Be holy, for I am holy.” I Peter 1:16 (NKJV)
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.
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...We can be holy because we are holy.
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.
“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)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Basically what Peter is saying in verses 13-15, is that we can think right and live right because we are right!!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Timeless truth....
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.
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)
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.
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.
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)
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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)