tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-89911605746235453652024-02-20T06:55:52.475-08:00A Fabric Lover's Devotional GuideCandrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.comBlogger146125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-10321622736099530382016-04-23T06:20:00.001-07:002016-04-23T06:20:54.101-07:00<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
John was clothed with camel's hair and
wore a leather belt around his waist, and his diet was locusts and
wild honey. Mark 1:6</div>
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Since I was a child, I thought of John
the Baptist as a pretty strange fellow. The description of him always
included the fact that he lived off bugs and what he could find in
nature, like honey, and that his dress was not exactly fashionable.
He was an oddball, even for those times. But it was this lifestyle of
selflessness that made him a better spokesman for God. The prophets
were not all strange in their times, but many were. Ezekiel and
Haggai were know for doing some very strange things during their
tenures. Holy, meaning set apart for spiritual purposes, would be a
fair description of the man who pointed the way directly to Jesus.</div>
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Jesus talked about John's wardrobe in
another passage. Did you expect him to dress in fine linen?</div>
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Let's consider that his ministry was
one of calling people to repentance and forgiveness. That has been
the call of God since Adam and Eve hid in the garden. And believe it
or not, even his wardrobe proclaimed that message.</div>
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But first let's consider those terms,
repentance and forgiveness.</div>
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To repent is to turn around. Do a 180.
Go back to where you came from. John, like God in the garden calling
Adam to come out of hiding, called the people back to a right
relationship with Jesus.</div>
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What did John wear? The same thing that
Adam and Eve wore. Many agree that he actually wore the skin of the
animal and not a woven garment, and that would be in keeping with the
pictures every Sunday School child brings home. If it was woven, it
was itchy and scratchy, more like a burlap sack. It would not have
been made from the soft undercoat, for that was for the rich man. If
it was woven, it would represent the constant irritation of sin in
our lives. It promises some warmth to the body, but irritates the
soul. But I rather think that John was covered as Adam and Eve were
covered, with the skin of another animal.
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Forgiveness of sins...the other message
of John.</div>
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Something had to die. Sin has to be
covered, according to scripture. In this case, a camel skin was the
covering. It would only take one animal to cover John and would make
the cloak for sleeping under the stars. But it had to be dead for
John to use it. And that is how God covered the shame for the first
sinners. When God finally got them to quit running away, He covered
them at the price of another life. And ultimately with the life of
His Son.</div>
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Even the leather belt was made from the
hide of another animal. It was needed to hold things in place and to
keep it with him even in the desert heat of the day. There was no
linen, no softness, no comfort in his covering. It was being clothed
in the death of another, just as God prescribed in Genesis. It was a
foretelling of the ministry that this Jesus he was pointing to would
have to provide to cover our sins from the eyes of a Holy God.</div>
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John proclaimed Christ crucified in his
wardrobe. Humble, uncomfortable, and prophetic. The wardrobe gained
him the attention he needed for a time to fulfill the role God had
for him on this earth. I wonder how beautiful the robes are he is
wearing now.</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-22899261812563152132016-04-22T06:10:00.002-07:002016-04-22T06:10:52.287-07:00Wisdom of a Master Workman Proverbs 8:31<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Then I was beside Him, as a master
workman; and I was daily His delight, Rejoicing always before Him,
Rejoicing in the world, His earth, and having my delight in the sons
of men. Proverbs 8:31</div>
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As I write, thousands of people are
gathered in Paducah, Kentucky, for one of the premiere quilt shows in
the country. This show is so important to the quilt world that the
national quilt museum is located in the city. In it are the winning
quilts of that all-important show. The winner is paid $10,000 for
their quilt, and the masterpiece is then displayed forever to the
world. This year's winner will have the satisfaction of knowing that
her masterpiece will be admired for generations to come. Quilting
fads may come and go, but these quilts will show the standard of
excellence in design and workmanship that come with crafting and
award-winning showstopper.</div>
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And thus is Wisdom. The verse in
Proverbs speaks of God's wisdom in His creative process of making the
earth and all that is in it, the people and all that was pleasing to
the eye and the soul.</div>
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When I think of just the human body, it
is a marvel. I am married to a nurse. After 25 years in Medical
Intensive Care and 7 in Interventional Radiology, he can regale you
with stories of diseases and body parts gone amiss, most of which you
never thought about. Who knows about enzymes, germs with names as
long as your arms, and syndromes where the chain-effects of cell
breakdown can cause illness or death. Whoever designed 2 germ cells
to produce millions of different body parts from one fertilized cell
had to know what He was doing or the whole thing dies.</div>
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And that person can live in the rest of
world! He can use plants that are especially designed to nourish the
body. Most of them are a delight to the palette if they are good for
us, and rejected due to their nastiness if they are poisonous. That
is wisdom. The air we breathe, the miracle of water, the covering of
skin, the design of reproduction...it all has to be just perfect for
life to exist. And it is perfect, thought out perfectly in detail.
The need for light and darkness, sleep and rest, exercise and
song...it is all a miracle. The beauty of mountains, the pleasure of
beaches, the colors of a sunset sky...why do we respond to these
things? We are not machines, but feeling, emotional, self-conscious
humans.</div>
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How can a person like me stand in front
of a quilt of utter beauty and design and weep? What does that? (Yes,
I did...I cried, the display of this woman's work was so amazingly
perfect). Wisdom.
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Wisdom delights in beauty. It
appreciates the world in its amazingness. It stands next to the
creator and designer and praises His work. It stands in awe of the
shared creativity that He chose to instill in man. Even if I don't
like something like a song the first time I hear it, I can learn to
appreciate it most of the time unless it is evil. I can see bits of
wisdom in non-perfect things.</div>
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The chapter goes on in Proverbs stating
that the wise love life, and the wicked, death. Wisdom sees the
things of the earth in these two realities. We are builders or
tearers-down. We care for our bodies or we abuse them with
destructive things like drugs. We plant flowers and mow grass, or we
throw bricks through windows. We share food and contribute to
fund-raisers, or we take to the streets and kill our neighbors. You
can tell if a city or a country is wise by what you find there. You
can tell a Dutch town in Iowa – it is neat as a pin. It is expected
to stay that way. There is a pride in beauty and order and respect
for one's environment. Then there are the places we see on tv where
people burn their own neighborhoods to the ground without though of
whose lives and livelihoods they are destroying. Wisdom seeks the
good of the neighbor, the good of the community, the betterment of
the people and development of security and pleasure in the giving to
the world around it.</div>
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Love wisdom. Stand alongside God and
tell Him daily what I good job He did. He gave me medicine for my
infection yesterday. I praised Him for that. The cloud formation from
a passing storm – amazing in its color of steel blue – I
worshiped. The celebration of the people around me – birthdays,
weddings, graduations, and other events that spark in us a joy that
comes from completion of a task, the following of God's design for
structure and order and peace. It is good to praise Him. There is so
much the sons of men have been destroying that it can take us down to
the pit. But today we can use wisdom to praise Him even for that, as
He has planned even the end of this world and designed an even more
glorious place for His own. How wise of Him was that?</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-63626491369742037782015-06-24T07:34:00.002-07:002015-06-24T07:34:55.372-07:00White for the harvest John 4<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes
and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest. John 4:35</div>
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What does this have to say about cloth,
you may be asking.
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Well, it was the situation they were
in. They were looking at a town in Samaria. It was the site of people
dressed in white coming from the town to see this Jesus that the
woman at the well had told them about. This woman who avoided people
was running through town telling people that the Messiah had come and
talked to her, of all people. People dressed in white, as that is how
they dressed. People who were going to be washed white themselves.
They listened to Jesus and begged him to stay for days. Unlike those
in the towns where Jesus came from, who sent him away. Like
Jerusalem, which he cried over more than once.</div>
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So we might be dressed in white,
wanting to be clean on the outside, but knowing we are not white on
the inside. The woman at the well was not described as far as her
apparel. Was she dressed in white? Was she differently dressed
because she was an inner-outsider? Everyone knew who she was. After 6
men, I'm sure she was the talk of the town. Had she played the harlot
and gotten thrown out of these households? Was she ugly and would
take whoever would take her in? Did men reject her time and time
again? She didn't seem to have a problem finding another fellow to
take her in. It sounded like she was in an affair unmarried at this
point, which would have pointed to her being the cause of her own
immorality. Jesus didn't sugar-coat her sin. He didn't avoid talking
about it. And that avoidance of talking about her sin lead her to
talk justifiably about herself. She worshiped as a daughter of Jacob,
and she knew that Jesus, a Jew, would reject her for worshiping away
from Jerusalem, so she let him judge her on that account. At least it
wouldn't hurt as much as being judged for being an adulteress. But
this avoidance led Jesus to the opportunity to deal with the heart
issue, not just the outward evidence of the sin within.</div>
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Jesus was good at seeing the inner
person and taking the issue there. And when the heart is dealt with,
freedom ensues. So much freedom that a person who would come to the
well at times to avoid people would run down the streets telling
people that someone pointed out her sin and must be the Messiah! Now
that is transformation! That is salvation, and redemption!</div>
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How about you and me? Do we go around
telling people how Jesus pointed out our sin and saved us? If you
can't do that, I ask you to look at your salvation. If you haven't
let Jesus deal with your sin, I would ask you if He has given you the
living water. If you can't even admit you are a sinner, or were
living in a lifestyle of sin before you were saved (yes, you still
sin, but it is not your common way any longer), then I ask you to
talk to God about that. Those who will not confess their sins will
not be saved. Not a long litany of sins. This isn't the confessional
in a Catholic church. Good grief, if I was only saved from the sins I
could confess outright, I'd be so piled in them I couldn't move. I
sin in ways I don't even realize. It is the confess that I am a
sinner...a person with inclination to sin, who practices sin, and has
no life in me. I am dead in my sin, Paul says in Romans 4,5, and 6.
Jesus gives life. Dead seeds stay dead until water permeates them.
Water brings life. Jesus offers the living water, and applies it to
the seed as needed to make it not only alive, but grow. This life
changes everything, including our response to life. We are not
ashamed any more. We rejoice that Jesus chose to speak to us, the
outcast. And then others dressed in white can overflow the hillsides
coming to Him. They can experience Him and be purged of their sins as
well.</div>
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So look up and see the results of a
sinner being saved. It is a curious thing, and a site to behold.</div>
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The harvest fields were white, and here
Jesus draws the comparison. They were ready to be harvested, brought
into the kingdom. Are you dressed in white? Are you ready to be
harvested? If you haven't been, I ask you to come to Jesus, talk to
Him through reading His Words to you, and see that He is who I, a
harvested soul, say He is. </div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-36861758026948779122015-06-23T06:57:00.000-07:002015-06-23T06:57:17.749-07:00Pallet talk John 5<div align="JUSTIFY" style="line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; orphans: 1;">
<a href="http://biblehub.com/greek/2895.htm"><span style="color: #0092f2;"><span style="text-decoration: none;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2895.
krabattos -- a camp bed</span></span></span></span></a><span style="color: #001320;"> </span><br /><span style="color: #001320;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>...</b></span></span></span><span style="color: #001320;"> </span><span style="color: #001320;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">2895
-- a small bed used by the poor; "" () a rude </span></span></span><span style="color: #001320;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>pallet</b></span></span></span><span style="color: #001320;"> </span><span style="color: #001320;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">made
of thick padded quilt</span></span></span><br /><span style="color: #001320;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">or
mat" (M. Vincent); "a Macedonian word (Lat ) for a
bed, </span></span></span><span style="color: #001320;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>pallet</b></span></span></span><span style="color: #001320;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">,
or </span></span></span><span style="color: #001320;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><b>...</b></span></span></span><span style="color: #001320;"> </span><br /><span style="color: #ff6600;"><span style="font-family: Trebuchet, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2895.html</span></span></span></div>
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Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.”
Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began
to walk. John 5:8
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This is a well-known story of Jesus healing the man at the pool of
Bethesda. For 38 years the man hanged out at the pool hoping to be
healed. That's a LONG time. He wasn't able to get into the pool by
himself. I imagine he had people take him there and they probably
stayed a few days, but then were off to make their livings and take
care of their other burdens of life. Him life, however, consisted of
laying there, begging for food and help. How did he go to the
bathroom? How did he do anything? They must have had a nursing staff
or the place would have been a complete stenchy mess. Maybe it was.
But Jesus sees a guy laying on a padded quilt of some sort and asks
him if he wants to be healed. Dumb question, right? Maybe not. Maybe
we get to the rut of life and are afraid to climb out. We can't
imagine life any other way. But Jesus gives him only 3 instructions.
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1) Get up. Well, he thinks, if I could do that I wouldn't be laying
here. He had to have the faith to stand up, believing that the
strength would be there if he would just do it. His legs would have
no strength. His back would have no support. His feet and ankles
hadn't born weight for at least 38 years. Was Jesus out of his
mind?</div>
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2) Take up your pallet. That meant bending over and bearing weight.
That meant balance, arms strength, and a strong back.</div>
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3) Walk. With weight, with balance, with strength. Do something he
hadn't done for years.</div>
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All 3 of these things would require faith. Faith that Jesus knew what
He was asking. Faith that he wasn't going to struggle to rise up,
look the fool when he fell down, or stagger like a drunk under the
weight of his burden. Realistically, he would at best look a fool. He
could really hurt himself. But the alternative was to lie there for
the rest of his life. He didn't even know this was Jesus! He knew
nothing but that he wanted to believe this man that offered him the
thing he had wanted all his life. Healing.</div>
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We may not have physical infermities. We may be held down by the
sickness of soul, the weakness of lack of faith, and knowledge of our
limitations. Jesus comes to us and asks if we want to get over it. He
tells us to get up. To accept his healing and strength and to stand.
Prepare for the next thing. Take up our pallet. Get off our backsides
and move on. We aren't going back down except to rest. We are moving
on. And walk. Get going. Get on with life. Take the pallet and take
it home and put it away. We don't need to lay out in public showing
our weakness any more, but walk in the strength, power, balance, and
under the direction of the Lord. When we do, Jesus comes and tells us
who He is! And when people tell us we aren't supposed to be doing
this, we tell them that Jesus told us to! We tell them that Jesus
said to walk in his strength and power every day of our lives. That
we are to follow His directions and not man-made rules that limit
God's power. We have a new life.
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There was a wonderful testimony of a Muslim convert to Christianity.
He spent his years trying to figure out how to properly worship
Allah. When he converted, he had the same concerns. How do you
properly worship God? And God's answer was to walk in freedom. There
were not chains of ritual and format, hours of the day to bow in
worship or certain Sabbath rules to keep. Jesus sends the Spirit so
that we can worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. That is every day in
every way, with the worship coming from the heart and obedience in
heart and not format. He was liberated and rejoicing that his worship
was so much more than before! May we get up, no longer depend on the
sickbed, and walk in the Spirit as He has commanded so that He may
reveal Himself to us in new and glorious ways.</div>
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Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-15056612069527141512015-06-19T07:54:00.002-07:002015-06-19T07:54:45.731-07:00Repairer of the Seams Ezekiel 27<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ezekiel 27:26-27</div>
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Your rowers have brought you into great
waters; the east wind has broken you in the heart of the seas. Your
wealth, your wares, your merchandise, your sailors and your pilots,
your repairer of seams, your dealers in merchandise and all your men
of war who are in you, with all your company that is in your midst,
will fall into the heart of the sea.</div>
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There is the reference to the repairer
of seams in the NASB version. Other versions refer to shiprights and
builders. But we will go with the repairer of seams. Also mentioned
in 27: 9, the old men and the wise were repairing the seams in the
boat or the sails, knowing that if the weak spots were not repaired,
the whole thing was going down. And we all know that the same thing
can happen with cloth.
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There are 3 types of seam failures. I
just finished repairing 2 antique quilts for a lady. They showed each
types of failure. One form is where the stitching thread breaks. This
is actually the easiest to repair. The thing holding the 2 pieces of
cloth together breaks, but the fabric itself is not damaged. The line
is usually obvious where the repair can be made. We just need another
thread that will hold things together. These failures usually come
because of stress on the seam when the quality of the thread is bad.
Like our lives, we can have stresses that pull on the fabric of our
lives. That which is not of God is weak and the strain makes us snap.
The seam slowly begins opening up, and without repair, will continue
to enlarge a hole in our lives. Sometimes other seams may have to be
opened up to lay flat the one that needs to be repaired, and then the
opened seam can be sewn shut and if done well, no one will ever see
that there was ever a problem. God is like that. He can take the
place of the old, brittle beliefs and notions of our lives and
replace them with His strength when the things of the world cannot
hold up. He can handle it. He might have to do some unsewing to fix
the problem, but He can repair all of our holes.</div>
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Then there is the shallow seam. The
thread was sewn too closely to the edge of the fabric and the stress
placed on it causes the edge of the seam to unravel. This is a much
more serious problem. That thread which is to hold things together
is right and true, but misplaced. That quarter or 5/8 inch seam was
not sewn correctly and leaves a weak spot which eventually can be
breached. Sewing on the original line again will accomplish
nothing.The solution here can be more tricky. If the seam was
supposed to be deep, taking the regular seam around the weakness can
solve the problem. But if the seam was narrow to start with, placing
the original seam can be just as hazardous as it has just become a
narrow seam like the one that unraveled. Whole pieces may have to be
picked out and replaced, and then requilted. This process is far more
time consuming, and unless you have kept pieces of the original
fabric, it will be hard to make the piece look right. The patches may
be obvious, but at least the quilt is still useful. We can be like
this. We are inconsistent. We run life out of alignment and a little
too close to the edge. And we fray and unravel. If this is an
occasional problem, the repairs are sometimes easy and sometimes
obvious, but we can be fixed and used. If the seam was consistently
shallow, there is nothing that can be done to strengthen the seams.
Some fabric may be able to be salvaged and used in another quilt, but
this piece is only good for sitting around. Any stress will pull it
apart. Repairs are futile.</div>
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And then there is the worst failure.
That of rot. These quilts were from close to the turn of the century,
and there is a characteristic of most quilts from that era. The black
fabric disintegrates. It rots away. There are parts of it there, or
there are shapes that show that there was fabric there once, but it
is gone now. The batting is exposed, the fabrics around it make it
obvious that something was supposed to be there, was once there, and
has not held up over time. If there was little of the offending
fabric in the overall quilt, new patches can be appliqued into place.
Sometimes old fabric can be salvaged from another quilt or fabric
collection, but more often than not we don't have that available.
Reproductions or close matches can be put into the holes. But if
enough of the quilt was made with fabrics that were inherently
flawed, like the chemicals used to dye fabric black back then, the
quilt will become worthless and unrepairable. It might be set aside
sadly, folded as a memory, but it will not be able to be used for its
intended purpose. But if there were only a few pieces used, the holes
can be filled with time and different fabric and a lot of patience.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
These quilts were examples of that.
One's edges had been used and abused to the point that I had to cut a
whole row of blocks off and rebind it. The center of the quilt, away
from the edges, was in quite good shape. The other seams and patches
that had worn down were patched. Seams were repaired. Useable fabric
from the cut off portion was salvaged from the cut off edge and used
to replace rotted or abused spots in the quilt. With the new binding,
that quilt became useable again. The second one had more of a
disintegration problem. There was need for far more patching, more
applique over rotting pieces. The edges had to be rebound as well,
but the quality and age of the fabric showed that it was not original
to the quilt. There were far more narrow seams where the patches
frayed. It was a work that I wanted to save, but the more I patched,
the more I realized just how fragile this work was. It was returned
to the owner with a note that this piece had to be handled with care
not not hung up or used. It was just for show and memories. There
were seams that couldn't be patched, but were not serious enough to
deal with or were so tenuous that working on them would probably
cause more harm. I really began wondering if it was worth my time and
her money to have taken this second piece on. And that is how it is
with some broken lives. We question God for investing in them when it
seems He will get no real reward for all of His trouble.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But that is our God. He looks fondly on
we old quilts and though the world puts no earthly value into us
(when you look for value of quilts of that era, they are worth little
to nothing on today's market), He sees us as precious, as worth it.
He paid for us with the blood of His Son, washed us up, patched our
fragile, worn and torn seams and patches, and either uses us or puts
us on display as examples of His extreme mercy. And for that, we well
up in extreme gratefulness. We will be damaged by this life, but God
is our good repairer of the seams, wise in His dealing with us,
knowing where we need reseamed, patched, places covered over, or
parts cut off to stop the bleeding. He then knows where to put us to
display His glory. It may be on the bed, on the wall, or in a case or
closet, but we are His precious treasure. And we need to love each
other, repairs and all, as fellow possessions of the King. We need
not judge each other's frailties...we have enough of our own. Some of
our repairs don't show up to those who see us, but we know that we
are just as likely to come to need for repair because of what we were
originally made of, who sewed us together in the first place, and how
closely we were quilted. The workmanship we received was not of our
own doing. Pride is foolish as we did not make ourselves. But our
Master Repairer mends us all when the use and abuse of life takes its
toll.</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-41843717941646469392015-06-02T19:14:00.001-07:002015-06-02T19:14:07.341-07:00Rewarded with Purple Clothes Daniel 5<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Daniel 5:7 The king called aloud to
bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners. The king
spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon: Any man who can read this
inscription and explain its interpretation to me shall be clothed
with purple and have a necklace of gold around his neck, and have
authority as third ruler in the kingdom.”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The handwriting on the wall. This is
the story of where that phrase came from.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Belshazzar's feast is interuptted by
this hand...he had taken the cups from the temple of the Lord and
decided to use them in his drunken partying. And God did not take
that lightly. There is the hand and the writing that he could not
read. He knew it was important and needed to be read, but he had no
way of knowing what it was. So he issued this reward for its
interpretation. Purple, royal clothes. Third in line for power.
Unfortunately for him, that person might be second that very evening,
for he did not live through the night. But his wife remembered the
story of Daniel interpreting for his father the king, so Daniel was
blessed with the opportunity to have another shot at revealing his
God to these heathen kings. God was ready to speak, but even the
kings knew that someone else more in touch with God had to intercede
for them as they did not know this God.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This was not the first time God had his
people bear bad news to kings. Joseph had to tell of famine, and
Daniel had to tell Belshazzar that God would require his live as he
was not worthy to be king because he had seen God's dealings with his
father, Nebuchadnezzer. He had gone from powerful to eating grass as
an animal, and allowed to return to power, humbled before the God of
Daniel. But Belshazzar ignored God's dealings and profaned the temple
and the instruments that were holy unto the Lord.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So in a way, he gave away the kingly
clothes almost prophetically, for he would not longer be wearing
them. Someone more worthy would have them. And that person would be
Daniel. Daniel did not seek the glory or privilege, just to speak for
God when asked by the king to do so. This is what is now called
“speaking truth to power.” You tell powerful people what they
don't want to hear. It's the hardest thing for a person to do. He
knew that if he told this king what God said it could mean his head,
or another trip to the lion's den. But he did not fear to tell
Belshazzar the words of God. And God protected him again. Those who
stand for the Lord don't always walk away unscathed. Many have spoken
truth to power and were killed, imprisoned, or thrown down wells like
Jeremiah. But for now God used the instrument of Daniel to make His
point to the nation. Often we think we deserve the rewards that come
with standing on the Lord's side...but when called to speak for the
Lord, we need not worry about the rewards or consequences of that
speech. We will be rewarded. The consequences cannot be eternal ones,
but just temporary. We, like Abraham, should sometimes refuse the
world's rewards so they don't believe that they have provided for us,
but God alone.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sometimes we are rewarded, sometimes we
pay dearly, for our stand for the Lord. Like Peter, we ask Jesus when
he tells us what we have to pay, what will happen to the other guy.
(John 20) And He lovingly tells us to mind our own business. Follow
Him. Let Him decide if you will wear royal robes or graveclothes. It
doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things. We are just to obey, to
speak, to reveal the mind of God to those who call upon us to read
His writing to them. We can't be afraid to tell them the truth...that
they are sinners if we need to...and warn them or comfort them or
whatever we are called to speak. Just make sure it is God's Word in
God's time. And if your favorite color isn't purple, that's ok. The
robes in heaven aren't, for God will not be sharing His kingdom with
anyone, for no one will inform Him of anything He doesn't already
know. He won't be seeking wise men, but be surrounded by all those
made wise by Him.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's our place...at His feet. And a
joyous place that will be.</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-2338953834281380582015-05-26T09:05:00.001-07:002015-05-26T09:05:30.392-07:00Drunken Nakedness Habakkuk 2<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Woe to you who make your neighbors
drink, Who mix in your venom even to make them drink so as to look on
their nakedness. You will be filled with disgrace rather than honor.
Now you yourself drink and exposed your own nakedness. The cup in the
Lord's right hand will come around to you, and utter disgrace will
come upon your glory. Habakkuk 2:15-16</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Sounds like the bar scene, doesn't it?
How many guys urge gals to have another drink, and then slip them a
mickey? It happened to a gal I knew in college, and probably to
someone you know who went off with someone they did not know and
drank with them. It is a sad story for many gals, but all too common.
Even a cell phone company is using this scenario as a commercial, the
gal waking up in bed to the sounds of an electric toothbrush,
grabbing the contract in the bed next to her, and finding out she had
signed it. You could tell she barely remembered the night before due
to a drink or two.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But it is the ones who use these drinks
to take advantage of others that Habakkuk was speaking to. There is
nothing new under the sun, people. Wicked folks were using strong
drink to take sexual advantage of others since the beginning of time.
There are prurient interests in seeing people naked all over. Even the
prime-time tv shows are showing more and more skin, pushing the
limits of soft-core porn. Colleges are publishing magazines with it.
Newsstands carry Cosmo and other things more revealing for wandering
eyes.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So those who entice people to shed the
covering get one of two responses. The editors of Playboy get
accollades and are called artists, while those who post encounters on
Facebook get blasted. But both those who take advantage, whether by
paying someone to strip down or by force or deception, both will be
exposed for what they are sooner or later. Both are lechers, and God
will make them drink of the cup that they force on others. They will
be put to shame.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Never has that been more sadly true
than in the media right now. A Christian family, good, God-fearing
people, had a son use women long ago. But the cup has come around to
this son. He has been exposed and disgraced. Unfortunately, it has
taken the testimony of the whole family down with him. That is how it
works. Sadly, the scripture, “Be sure your sin will find you out,”
has come to pass. I do not condemn them. Every family has their
skeletons in the closet to some degree. We have influence, but not
control, over members of our family. We have our own. Drunkenness,
abuse, adultery, divorce, debt, suicide, mental illness,
illegitimacy...they hang on limbs of our family tree. And I'll bet
they hang on most of yours. If not, be eternally grateful! Some of
God's closest relationships here on earth were with people who
exhibited many of those traits. Noah drank himself naked, David took
someone's wife, abused her, and committed adultery. Elijah was
suicidal after being chased by Jezebel. Lot committed incest...you get
the point. It doesn't mean that there were not consequences.
Certainly just reading these things makes your opinions of them
diminish...tarnish coats the knights in shining armor. It in no way
excuses their behavior. IN NO WAY! But God has the ultimate
perspective. He knows we are but dust, and in case you don't know it,
there is no good use for dust. We throw it out. It is dirty and
destructive and can ultimately lead to damage to the surfaces or
crevices to which it attaches itself. The very computer you are
reading can be brought to an abrupt end by dust in the works. But the
question is, are we grieving with this family or relishing the
scandal? Are we glad that this son renounced these things years ago and
that they were dealt with, or are we feeling pious that no such thing
has happened in our home? Are we getting all comfortable with the
idea that they didn't bring this to light so they deserve this
horror? What if everything that has gone wrong in your family was
exposed to the world? How embarrassed would you be if the times you
screwed up were put on public display? Every call from the principal?
Every scream? Every thought? Every relative? The good news is that repentant people are forgiven even these vices. Jesus took the penalty. But it cost Him plenty.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There will be consequences. There were
in Habakkuk's day, and there still are in ours. But God doesn't leave
us there. For those who cling to the Lord, He will be their strength
and salvation. He will secure their footings once again. Those who
continue to sin and not repent, those will be thoroughly destroyed.
So we have a choice. Will we be humbled and repent or will we
continue to be blind-drunk, placing ourselves in the hands of those
who would only use and abuse us? Will we use and abuse others,
tricking them into doing things they would not do if they were in
control of themselves? Are there sins we need to repent of and renounce before we are humbled publicly?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The cup God hands you, that of
destruction and humbling, or of rejoicing, will depend on it.</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-45593118069906026322015-05-21T06:53:00.001-07:002015-05-21T06:53:06.210-07:00Bonds of love Hosea 11:4I led them with cords of a man, with bonds of love, And I became to them as one who lifts the yoke from their jaws; And I bent down and fed them. Hosea 11:4 NASB<br />
I led them with cords of human kindness, with ties of love; I lifted the yoke from their neck and bent down to feed them. Hosea 11:4 NIV<br />
<br />
There are words in each of these translations that I like, so I give you both versions to chew upon.<br />
<br />
How we hate to be bound, restrained, in any way. I think of a horse when I read this passage. I am not sure that that is how it is meant to be read. I don't know what cords we are really talking about here, but the idea is the same. We are tethered to a greater force, to a leader who has a place for us to go. We aren't going alone in our own direction. We are being led and the leader is taking us there. He is going with us. I picture a man walking a horse, standing next to his neck. Up close and personal. There is a relationship here. A unity like horse and rider. A connection. We are looking at lifting the yoke off. The work is done. We are being taken to the stable to be fed and combed and petted and put to rest for the night. Our duties of the day have been fulfilled, and the tender owner praises his beast for its daily work. This is a leading to rest. How often in scripture God tells us to rest! He wants to be tender with us, refreshing us, feeding us, leading us to green pasture. More often He refers to us as sheep. The shepherd would have to bend down to hand-feed the sheep something other than pasture grass. In any case, he has us on a rope, but it is for our good and benefit. We usually don't go the way the master desires unless we are pulled along or given the restraining boundaries of a lead rope.<br />
<br />
Yep, that's us. Even as Christians we tug hard against the ropes of God's mercy. We want to wander around. We may not know where we are going, but we are going there anyway. We resist the call to come in for the night and get our needs met and have the stresses of the day melt into a gentle grooming and a bite to eat. To take the yoke off and quit striving so hard. To let the Master make the decisions of when it is time to work and when it is time to quit. To let Him decide if pasture grass is enough for the day, or if we need an oat bag or a handful of treats (chocolate or a nice mocha latte) to calm our nerves or give relief to our weary muscles. Yet we tug against the ropes like a stubborn donkey, digging in our heals and telling God we want to go another direction. We don't realize that the direction He is pulling us in is for our good. But we have other ideas. We just know we are tied, refusing to see that we are tied with bonds of love. We just know that they are bonds, and we want to be free.<br />
<br />
There have been several articles I have read lately that have talked about the slave, the bond-servant, the under-rower that we are called to be in Christ. This is a slave with no rights of his own. He is owned, given a task or tasks, and serves the master who owns him. That is our position in Christ before God. We were purchased and They are our owners. They are our bosses. They have defined the limits of our lives. But we recoil against such a thought. We don't want to be owned. We are Americans and are slaves to no one! But this is the kind of ownership that God has for us...one of tender relationship. He gives us a job in accord with, or exceeding, our abilities. He equips the called and gives them large important tasks to do. He calls us to be workers in His field, plowing, planting, and watering, and weeding, all the while marveling while the crop grows around us. Then the harvest comes, and we rejoice in the fruit of our labors. Parties are held, and feasts are eaten as we rejoice that all that work paid off! That work may be in raising children, leading a Sunday school class or working Vacation Bible School. It may be in working for the Lord in a factory, a quilt shop, or an insurance company. We are led into schools, coffee shops, and playgrounds to meet other sheep whose shepherds have abandoned them to the wolves around them. We may not know why God led us to where He has us (Lord knows that Iowa is the LAST place I thought I would live!), but we can trust His heart that He has led us there for our good and mostly for His glory. He is a caring master. He does not beat us and abuse us, but breaks us like a bucking bronco so that we can be of value to Him and to ourselves and others. How we hate that, but oh, the delight of having purpose in life! Oh, the tender relationship between animals and their caretakers.<br />
<br />
This chapter is actually one of hope and mourning. God tells Israel how He wants to provide them with the shelter that they need, and how He doesn't want to be angry with them. He lures them in with thoughts of shelter, safety against their enemies, food, and home. He mourns that they resist Him so. His heart aches for them to come to Him so He can be good to them. Instead they wander in the deserts, food themselves for the beasts who do nothing but attack and destroy. He beckons, speaking softly with food held out in His hand, to draw them in and win their trust. The food of the Word can be feasted upon, satisfying our deepest needs and giving us the nourishment and knowledge of the nature of this shepherd. We should have known Him all along, but in our youthful rebellion and desire to run free, we ran away and lived wild. He sees us out there, lassos us, and gently pulls us home, knowing that if we continue in our wildness we will eventually come to destruction. He calls us to be broken, to be tamed, and to come under His protection and rest from our foraging and hiding from every specter that throws a shadow on our paths. We can trust, we can rest, we can be fed until we are satisfied for the first time in our lives for some of us! We can fellowship with others like us, protected from the enemies that prowl the land around us.<br />
<br />
These are the bonds of love. So why do we fight the one who longs to love us. Rest.Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-50490433682323940892015-05-14T09:36:00.001-07:002015-05-14T09:36:20.980-07:00Divine Design Ezekiel 43<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
If they are ashamed of all that they
have done, make known to them the design of the house, its structure,
its exits, its entrances, all its designs, all is statutes, and all
its laws. And write it in their sight, so that they may observe its
whole design and all its statutes and do them. Ezekiel 43:11</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Divine design.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There has been talk in the world of
Christian women about God's design for us. There is a book with this
subtitle. God has placed an order for how the world is supposed to
work, and unfortunately for most of us, we refuse to read the
directions and build appropriately.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There are a few types of fabric work
that throw out the rule book when it comes to making things. There are
artists who brag about breaking the rules. But many of these works
end up looking like a mishmash of stuff. There is no pattern, no
crispness, no order. Often these are “art pieces” that hang on a
wall and may draw us to wonder, but serve no other real purpose. They
are mere curiosities. Personally, when there is an amazing structure
to a piece, it draws me in. Compared to a more free-form work, there
is an admiration for the designer, vs. perceiving a sense of laziness
or rebellion in the other artist. I was going to type the word
creator, but the thought of creation conjures up a plan and
construct. Purposefulness. Artist in this day and age almost has
come to mean one who does their own thing in resistance to the “norm”
and this rebellious spirit is rejoiced over. Instead of creating a
higher beauty, it dissolves into meaningless lack of form and
definition. It can be unsettling, confusing, and ugly.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When it comes to God, He had a plan. He
knew how he wanted His house to look. He had the plans, picked out
the curtains (literally), and had the rooms planned and furnished.
There was no second-guessing about it.He had had one house built, but
their sin led to the destruction of their temple and their nation.
God wanted to reestablish His presence among His people, but only
when they were ready. When was that? When they repented. When they
acknowledged their sin before Him and were begging for the place to
return that they could take their sacrifices to and be forgiven. God
had no intention of letting non-repentant sinners know what He had on
His mind. They could not build something that God could accept, let
alone live in, in their state. And they would have rejected the
design, anyway. They wouldn't have sacrificed their materials to have
it made. Their hands were dirty, and you cannot build something pure
when the materials and workman are contaminated.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And in that time, they had to come and
offer sacrifices for their sin before they could enter and hear the
Word of the Lord.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So confession was their secret code.
When confession, true, heart-felt spilling out of their sins before
God, took place, the blueprints could be handed over. It is the
prayer of Psalm 51 that cleanses our hearts before God. Blessed are
the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven, Jesus
reminds us. The truth and beauty of God's plan are handed over and
seen for the amazing grace that they contain. Not only are the plans
for how to worship God appropriately given, but also the mind of God
is handed to them in His laws and statutes. As we can see in modern
culture, handing people God's Word without a repentant spirit guiding
them leads only to mocking God's ways. Why marriage? Why abstinence?
Why honor your parents, take a day off each week, or not steal or
otherwise take things from your neighbor? Why not look at what your
neighbor has and covet it, or take his wife while he's out of town?
We ask a lot of whys in this day and age, questioning if God has any
say over life in America or the rest of the world. We call it
culture. God calls it Righteousness, the way we ought to live
regardless of all other factors. He laid out good and evil, right and
wrong, truth and error. He set boundaries for our good, whether we
call it good or not. Isn't it good to have sex? Yes, within
boundaries. Isn't it good to have stuff? Yes, within boundaries.
Isn't it good to worship a higher power? Yes, if it is THE Higher
Power and no other one.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When it comes down to it, we get bent
out of shape when sports teams, politicians, or the person who cuts
in line ahead of us don't follow the rules. The rules are the rules!
They can't get away with that! We were robbed! They cheated! But when
it comes to God's rules, we question their validity, let alone their
benefit. And it has reached the place where sin and disorder has
gotten so out of hand that we get rid of the law because we can't
rein in the lawless. So unless the mind is repentant and submissive,
making more rules only leads to more lawlessness, and the situation
become more intolerable.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Do you long to know God's design? Do
you long to have a heart that doesn't want to resist His Word when it
makes you uncomfortable and your mind tells you to question Him? Do
you want to know how to build the temple of your heart, furnished
with the throne for Him to sit on? Be ashamed of your sin. That is
how the Prophet Ezekiel was told to identify the righteous and a
rebuilding can begin. And then the pattern can be laid out, the
fabric cut to measure, and the construction can begin. I think you
will like the end result. In fact, I guarantee it (even more than
Men's Warehouse).</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-79011014103047041072015-04-20T09:15:00.002-07:002015-04-20T09:15:29.908-07:00Ezekiel 18:4-9 Clothing the naked <div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The soul who sins will die. “But if a
man is righteous and practices justice and righteousness, and does
not eat at the mountain shrines or lift up his eyes to the idols of
the house of Israel, or defile his neighbor's wife or approach a
woman during her menstrual period- if a man does not oppress anyone,
but restores to the debtor his pledge, does not commit robbery but
gives his bread to the hungry and covers the naked with clothing, if
he does not lend money on interest or take increase, if he keeps his
hand from iniquity and executes true justice and My ordinances so as
to deal faithfully- he is righteousness and shall surely live,”
declares the Lord God. Ezekiel 18:4b-9</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This is one long sentence, but it is
one thought, so I will not take our clothing verse out of its
context.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It is hard to define righteousness, but
here Ezekiel defines it for us in light of our care for the needy
hand-in-hand with religious purity. The verses before this talk of
God no longer cursing the sons for the sins of the fathers. This
would be in context of whole tribes and nations being doomed, as well
as Jewish children suffering the fate of their idol-worshiping
parents. Over and over we look at the lives of the kings. Some
followed God, but their children did not, and vice versa. But the
point is, where the hearts of the people go in regard to Whom they
will worship, so went the culture. Here we see that those who refused
to “look up” to idols followed God in other ways as well, from
sexual purity to taking care of the needs of those around them.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In this day and age, we speak of
looking up to people...movie stars, politicians, religious leaders
(both true and false teachers), teachers, community leaders, and
philanthropists. Some of these are good to look up to, and some are
not. But the truth remains that those we look up to sway our
thoughts, and therefore, our behavior. Those who look up to those who
promote non-Christian thought are dragging away a generation or two
because they are not comparing those thoughts with the thoughts of
God. We do well not to look up to anyone but God because people will
let us down. Even the most godly among us will say and do things that
will make us scratch our heads in wonder. But God is in His Holy
temple...let all the earth keep silent before Him.</div>
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So when we look only to the Lord as our
source and sustainer, we will act graciously to those around us.
There will be no taking advantage of women, no coveting things and
wives of people close to us. We will not look to take advantage of
another's misfortune, but see to it that they are restored when they
need to borrow for a while. We will not look to take, but to give and
see people have their daily needs met. And that includes seeing that
they are clothed. They don't need to be humiliated before their
fellow man. They don't need to be cold. They are to be fed, and given
justice. If their employer doesn't pay them, they should be defended
and cared for until right prevails. If they need a personal loan,
don't make it a benefit to yourself...give the loan and accept
repayment without charging them. This proves that you did it to meet
their need and not to benefit for yourself, taking advantage of the
situation. God says He hates that. It makes it all the harder for the
poor man to get out of his poverty. It makes him shamed, indebted to
his fellow man...a slave of sorts...to those who should be helping
out of a sense of brotherhood and love, not greed and disdain.
</div>
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He keeps himself from iniquity. That is
grossly unfair behavior toward another. He is fair in his dealings
with a brother and with God. God states over and over how much He
hates iniquity. That is usually the one trait of God that most of us
have in common with Him. We hate unfairness in its many forms. And we
despise those who would take advantage of someone else for their own
greedy gain. Unfortunately we confuse proper profit for hard work and
ownership for unjust gain. People will march against a company
because they make a profit, often assuming that the people that work
for them are being treated badly. We need to know who is being greedy
sometimes...and it isn't always the employer. But God knows the
heart. Jesus talked of an employer who paid people what they needed
to live even though their brother worked longer hours. Those who
worked declared it unfair. But Jesus called the generous act good. So
we need to do our job and not keep accounts on someone else's life.
Others will have more or less than I, but that is not my concern. Am
I dealing justly with those around me? Am I meeting the needs of
those who do not have the things they need for life and comfort of
heart and soul? Am I giving without concern of what I will receive
back in return, even if it is nothing of advantage to me? God sees
and says that if I am that sort of person...a godly person, for this
is how God gives to us (what can I EVER pay back to God?) that I will
live. Live for His glory. Live for the joy of being a friend of God
and man. And that's a great life.</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-39279971933803953322015-02-06T07:11:00.000-08:002015-02-06T07:11:17.863-08:00Not Rending Their Garments Jeremiah 36<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Yet the king and all his servants who
heard all these words were not afraid, nor did they rend their
garments. Jeremiah 36:24</div>
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This passage is a sad commentary on
people and the scriptures and prophets. Here is the set up to this
incident.</div>
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God came to Jeremiah and told him to
warn the people of Israel of the destruction He had planned for them.
His hope was that if people heard, they would turn from their evil
ways, have their iniquities and sins forgiven. (vs 3) So Jeremiah has
Baruch come and write his dictation. Jeremiah isn't allowed in the
house of God, so he sends Baruch. He reads the scroll and the people
panic. They say, “We need to tell the king about this!” Another
fellow takes it to the king's court and they agree that God means
business and the king needs to hear this! So they take it into the
king.</div>
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Now mind you that up to this point
people are fearing the word of the Lord. They are not looking at this
as mere words written by Jeremiah...they know God is trying to warn
them that they are on a destructive path. Now if you just read the
verse above, you would think that they just ignored the scroll and
God's word. Nope. If only. As the scroll was being read, the king
used it as firewood. He cut it off as it was being read and through
it in the fire! No fear, no repentance, no honor of God. A few
servants begged him to stop doing that. Word got back to Jeremiah of
what had happened and God had him rewrite the message and add curses
to the king's lineage.</div>
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Politicians and priests...there seems
to be a battle between the two sects for time immemorial. The priests
tell what God wants or thinks, and the politicians push them aside
for their own personal power and gain. The history of Europe is
riddled with politicians giving religious posts to those who would
endorse their ill-behavior or at least look the other way. And
prophets? Well, they tend to catch it from both sides. Poor Jeremiah
was not looked at as the mouth-piece of God appealing to His people
to turn from evil and avoid terrors to come, but as a political enemy
out to harm his country. And not much has changed. Sad to say, the
prayer breakfast yesterday was full of people proclaiming God's word,
and met with one very powerful “king” who said we need to
question whether God talks to Christians at all! We are to doubt that
God's Word to the world is the only word for the world. Aren't all
religions a way to God? Isn't there more than one way? Isn't it
arrogant to think God only talks to us?</div>
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Well, he might as well have been taking
the knife to every Christian speech there and throwing it into the
fire. Men of God were ignored for political expediency, and I am
afraid that this marks the same end for us as for Israel. You see,
the king of then and the politician of now aren't the only ones to
blame. They are the figureheads. I used to look at scripture and get
a little upset with God for condemning a whole nation for the actions
of a few. But God wrote those words through Jeremiah to the PEOPLE of
Israel, not the king alone. The whole country had defied God through
their actions and behaviors. They may have called themselves Jews,
but they were not living it. They may have offered sacrifices and
done the whole Passover deal, but their hearts were elsewhere. The
actions of the king reflected the hearts of the people. A few were
repentant and fearful, but none rend their garments. Fear was there,
but the acts of repentance were not. Had they gone out in the streets
with rent garments appealing to the masses to repent, maybe the
results would have been different. But they took the issue to the
king, to the politicians, and it got them nowhere.</div>
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We have this same mentality today. We
look to political parties and powerful people to change the spiritual
problems in our country. God appeals to us to appeal to our brethren,
and we get them panicked instead of repentant. God doesn't just want
us to fear His judgment. He wants us to fear HIM. He wants our
attention, our love, our adoration. He blesses those who draw near to
Him with peace and comfort. He withholds judgment if the people
respond to His Word. He is gracious enough to send us prophets, even
today, who hold up God's Word, often proclaiming to us this things
that the church universal refuses to deal with for fear of driving
people out of the church. We fear man, and not God. We fear offending
man instead of offending God. Beware of who you are seeking God's
wisdom from, but when you find one who rightfully divides His Word,
take heed. Learn all you can, study for yourself, and don't poo-poo
those who appeal to our spiritual side and look at even political
issues as matters of God's concern. Our future could ride on your
response.</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-27557628822289064202015-02-05T06:55:00.000-08:002015-02-05T06:55:06.538-08:00Sheep's clothing Matthew 7:15<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Beware of the false prophets, who come
to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. Matthew
7:15</div>
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This saying is not a new one, but few
people today heed this warning. There are MANY people, religions,
televangelists, and others who look so good and innocent on the
outside, but their motives are anything but innocent. Innocents get
taken, eaten alive by this brood of vipers, as Jesus called them. The
admission of sin into personal private lives is subtle. It all looks
so innocent. Satan does lure some by appealing to their anger and
rage, making ugly look desirable. Then there is the bait...the thing
that looks like it will satisfy our hunger for fun, for love, for
attention. It looks like the real thing, and the next thing we know,
we are dangling on the hook and being filleted, and have no idea what
just happened! Ravenous wolves will kill and eat, leaving the carcass
for others to feed on in their wake.</div>
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It happens to the best of us. Solomon
in all his wisdom was taken in by his wives. What is one idol set up
for his wife from wherever going to hurt? Or ten? Or a hundred? This
guy knew what God said about worship of any other gods. So they were
for his wives and not himself. What could that hurt? It cost him
God's approval, and the kingdom after him was split apart, eventually
leading to civil war and total destruction. God doesn't allow us to
toy in sin because we do not see the hidden danger. Eve looked at the
fruit and saw that it was good. It was pleasing to the eye. But there
was the hidden danger that God had warned about. She heard what the
consequences would be, but the outward appearance deceived her into
thinking it was safe. And we know the consequences of that decision.</div>
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This passage continues to describe the
fruit that comes is directly related to the tree it comes from. You
don't get grapes from an apple tree. If the tree is sinful, the fruit
will be sinful. We can't expect to get goodness from something evil.
This is not to say that God can't turn your life around after sin. He
is in that business. But the temptation to run with that idea and not
heed warnings to avoid sin, to not eat of it, is a trick of Satan in
our lives as well. This one drink with the people from work won't
hurt anything, we may think. This one desire for the attention of
that guy...what will that hurt. Then our appetites change, the
desires intensify whether met or unmet, and we start down a road that
we never dreamed we would take. I am appalled at some thoughts that
run through my head some days. I am amazed at how naive I have been
about people and their motives. I see the pain of some who were
caught in the net and wonder how they were even swimming in that
ocean when they got snagged. We are a sorry lot.</div>
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In the study Follow Me by David Platt,
we find him contemplating the following verses of Jesus sending
people away who thought they were doing right by God and Jesus says
He never knew. They were practitioners of lawlessness. They put on a
godly show, but they were not followers of the testaments, old or
new. They had no desire to know God's law, but wanted to be leaders,
prophets, miracle workers. Their lives were ravenous for everything
but God. He is talking about false prophets. Many of those guys you
see on Christian tv stations will be standing in this judgment, I
fear. Some are caught and just keep going, and a few repent and are
forgiven. It is a good barometer of a man's commitment to God to see
what he does when caught in sin. Does he mourn over his sin or
justify it? Does he resign or step aside, make himself accountable to
others in authority over him? Or does he leave the ministry with that
woman he's having an affair with? What appetite was he feeding? Was
he danging the bait, or was he caught on the lure? Repentance is
actually a beautiful thing. Getting worn down by sin and sick of the
consequences and crawling back for some consolation is not. Mourning
how your sin has besmirched the name of God and harmed others is
repentance. Whining about how it took away your happiness is not.
Truly coming to God with a broken heart and broken will, that he will
not despise.
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Are you a wolf, or do you at least
smell something funny when that over-sized sheep comes in your
direction? We need to be wary of evil. It lurks in the most
unexpected places. When something doesn't seem right, but we can't
put our finger on it, it is a warning from God. Accept the warning,
put up a guard against Satan's deceiving ways, and expect a battle
for your heart to follow. If we see the storm clouds brewing, take in
the lawn furniture and hunker down instead of going on a hike in an
open field. Follow Jesus back into the fold for the duration and He
will let us out when it is safe to venture out again. Don't think you
can weather it. You are a sheep and you are no match for a tornado.
Or for a wolf.</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-77396017988743656572015-02-03T08:44:00.000-08:002015-02-03T08:44:41.363-08:00Drawing close...getting into the WordI sat down this morning to study and write, and then wondered if I had done the passage already. I have a list started of the scriptures I have written on, but it sorely needed updating. Very sorely!<br />
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I have a list so long and so unorganized that I am going to put it into Excel in Bible chapter order. I don't want to rehash the same verses, although some passages, especially the gospels of Matthew-John, do mention things over and over. God has always given me more to say about those passages. His Word is never exhausted of its glory. We covered Psalm 23 in Wednesday night prayer meeting, and the meat was still there after years and years of study, sermons, and whole Bible studies on that passage. New insight is given to us based on our experiences, our time in life, and other wisdom imparted from godly men and women. I will never look at goodness and mercy trailing behind me the same way again.<br />
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And I never imagined when I started writing this blog that there would be sooooo many verses in scripture about clothing. Some are very positive, some are hauntingly negative, and all give us an entrance into the mind of God.<br />
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So as I spend some time organizing my list and marking my Bible, I would ask that you do your own study of God's Word. I am no Bible scholar. At times I struggle with scripture, look up other people's notes for insight, and I am sure get a few things wrong. Don't ever take my word for God's Word. I am reading through Jesus Calling by Sarah Young for the second time in 3 years. I have to remind myself that she is not Jesus, but it is uncanny how most days I need to hear what Jesus spoke to her years ago. I think we all long to hear the voice of God, and we turn to other sources listening for it. God has met me over and over these past few weeks while I have struggled with purpose and direction. He has used His Word and writings from several other people to do it. But, I plead with you, don't read others without a solid base in the scriptures yourself. If you have to choose, choose picking up your own Bible. Get a version that you can read. I STRUGGLE with the old King James, not to hate it in this day when versions that are highly readable are available. Don't take offense if you love it. I remember as a teen sitting in a bus trying to read Joel and not understanding a single archaic word it said. I was reduced to tears. When Good News for Modern Man version came out, I fell in love. It may not be the best version out there, but it spoke to the teen that I was. Any lack of understanding then came from lack of knowledge of God, not lack of knowledge of 1800s English.<br />
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In any case, you get my point. Read the scriptures. Contemplate what God is presenting to you that day, in your life, in the lives of others, your country, and world events. Some passages are personal, but some are national, or written to believers or unbelievers. Look at context. Compare thoughts and passages with other passages. No verse is an island. An island may keep us out of deep water, but it doesn't connect us to the mainland. We need all of scripture to make any of scripture totally true.<br />
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Enough preaching for one day! It is sad how Biblically illiterate we have become. If you are not getting into God's Word, why not? He wants to talk to you! Start the conversation. If you can't understand Him, ask Him to make Himself understood. He is a personal God who will meet you at the point of your need. Ask and it shall be given isn't about this world's stuff, it's about God giving you more of Himself. His mind, His heart, His wisdom. He is willing to explain Himself to a 3 year old, so He is willing to explain Himself to you! He is more than we can ever know, but He brings Himself to our level. He sent Jesus, who preached and touched children and adults alike. He met people in their pain, their questions, their turning points. He was not harsh, but he was pointed. He doesn't spare feelings when people ask to follow, but He does have compassion on those who don't know just how lost they are. He begs for people to come under His wing, but He does not force it. Draw close and listen, draw warmth from being close on these cold, cold winter days. He will be the protector of those who desire to be near. Now go get your Bible, sit down, and snuggle up.Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-24370762107226982912015-01-30T08:42:00.002-08:002015-01-30T08:42:23.708-08:00Work amounting to nothing...Isaiah 41:24Behold, you are of no account and your work amounts to nothing; He who chooses you is an abomination. Isaiah 41:24<br />
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I was just turned down for a job. The interview went extremely well, I thought. My hopes were raised, though I was scared as everything about actually getting it. It is in my field of study, somewhat. It matched my skill set, somewhat. It got me thinking and dreaming, developing thoughts and activities, studies and programs, to make the performance of the job wonderful. And it is now a memory and those plans just aren't going to happen. Ever, probably. So now what? I keep doing what I am doing. That is good in some ways and not so good in others.<br />
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This verse does not summarize my life right now, though Satan would love to use it against me. I am following the Lord, doing what He calls me to do where He is calling me to do it. I have free time to give. I have a flexibility in my schedule that not many others have. But this is where the rubber meets the road.<br />
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God is speaking here to those who work, who build, who create against His will. They were crafting idols and seeking guidance from them. You are the idol-makers, and He is the idol. They did a bang-up job (play on words for the hammering of the metal they were smelting in the early part of the chapter) making these things. They crafted and worked hard to make these things. But it was all for nothing. Or worse than nothing. It turned God's back on them. He pleads with them to turn, and knowing they wouldn't, He was going to send an army, a leader from another country, to send them into repentance mode. It seemed that that is what it always took...a real beating from God, to turn their heads back in the right direction. Even later on in verse 29, God repeats Himself. You did all this work for nothing. They were as empty as wind, emptiness, and confusion, depending on your translation.<br />
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There are few people on earth who don't want their work to account for something. Anything. People will stand on assembly lines day after day to get a paycheck, but at least they know that the part they play is a necessary one. That screw needs tightened, or the car won't hold together. The burrs need polished off, the paint applied, the tubing connected. It is all for a purpose - to make something that will make someone else happy, get them somewhere, or make their life easier. People paint pictures to arouse emotions. We make hats and blankets and clothes to provide for a need. Those who go crazy or lose hope are like those in the concentration camps who were forced to move wheelbarrows of dirt back and forth across the grounds. There was no purpose in it. It was forced "work" and torturously mean. This work may have kept the body strong, or forced it into weakness from malnutrition, but if the people doing it didn't assign it some purpose in their minds, it drove them to anger, resentment, and hopelessness. God said that if we make our own gods, our own task-list, we will be empty, our works will be futile, and we will have wasted our lives and angered Him.<br />
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So right now I sit and wonder what to do next. This must be that empty-nest syndrome they talk about. No one here to care for (hubby, yes, and I do), but the daily work that had meaning in the days of a full house now seem empty and mundane. And I HAVE TO remind myself that God has numbered my days and given them purpose beyond the doing of life. If I am where He wants me, doing and being what He wants, then my works are not empty. But I have to look at them as God's assignments. My last is in year 3 of college, and many of the assignments she has may not seem to serve the purpose of achieving the goal she has set for her life, but they are still a part of the process of getting there. How sitting here with sewing machines, fabric, and being still and alone will get me closer to being like Christ I have yet to see. I have the time to do Bible studies, pray, listen to sermons and hymns and be still with God. I have to keep my longings here and learn to focus on Him and have that not only be enough, but to be everything. Love, joy, peace, patience, faithfulness. I need to be filled. You cannot drive the car and fill it with gas at the same time. Not that my goal is to stay at the pump and do nothing. It's not to sit in the driveway full. But like my car, it gets sent out when there is something to be accomplished. God is the driver, not me. He will drive me when He wants, as often as He wants, and as far as He wants. I need to just be at His service. So for now I sit in anticipation of His use of me, steering me in the direction He wants me to go. The car does not make that choice. And I have to be ok with that. I am learning to be ok with not being the doer, but the vehicle. I always have been, but it takes us so long to relinquish control for us humans.<br />
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Do you feel like me today? Do you want your works to be more than wind and emptiness? Let all things be done by Him through you. Don't make something else your god, forging it in the fires of hard work, only to find out we were serving the work instead of the great Creator. God just calls us in these verses to look to Him and not fear, to be His and not give ourselves to another. "I am thine, O Lord, and I heard thy voice..." says the old hymn. And I am still listening.Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-74471615760435955732015-01-29T06:22:00.001-08:002015-01-29T06:22:32.381-08:00Answers in white linen Daniel 10<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I lifted my eyes and looked, and
behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was
girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. Daniel 10:5</div>
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Daniel...my youngest daughter was named
after him...Courtney Danielle...and it means God is my Judge. We
think of him being bold and courageous. We see him given power after
meeting the test of his faith and after being jealously lied about.
He was like Joseph...second in command and highly favored. But the
sight of a man in linen brought him to his knees.</div>
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Actually, he had been on his knees
already at this point. He was a man of troubled soul. God revealed to
him many things about the future of his countrymen. He was told of
the future troubles that would overtake the Jews in particular, and
the whole world eventually. These were going to be troubling times,
and Daniel was overwhelmed at the thought. He was a man of prayer. He
asked God questions, pleaded for his people's faith, and mourned over
the sins of his people. He had been mourning and praying, fasting and
weak, sick of soul. The thought of the sufferings to come had
overwhelmed him. Now granted, this was God talking to him about the
future, which means it's all good, right? Obviously not. And we take
that outlook ourselves. Our church is starting the series “Follow
Me” by David Platt. And the question set before us is do we trust
God enough to follow...to accept where He is taking us...knowing that
the end is the cross and sufferings, but ultimately, a joy
irrepressible. The idea of having to go through the bad to get to the
good is hard to swallow. And Daniel was having a hard time dealing
with all of this.</div>
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And God met him at the point of his
need. The fight was on in the heavenlies, and the messenger was
delayed in coming. Daniel suffered alone. He fought on his knees. And
the answer came in bright white clothes and a loud roaring sound.
This dazzling figure was more than he could take. Now not only was he
overwhelmed with grief, he was overwhelmed with fear. Poor guy. But a
gentle touch, words of encouragement and comfort, and a hand up
greeted him. God heard his pleas to understand, to accept the
thoughts of God, and He responded.</div>
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There have been many nights where I
have been burdened greatly for my family, my church, my community,
and my country. I would toss and turn, seeing prophecies fulfilled
and yet questioning where all this would lead. It is a great comfort
and a great humbling process to see God answer my prayers for
understanding of these things. It doesn't all come in a blazing
light. Sometimes it comes in a rainbow, a caught baseball, and change
in tone in someone's voice, or an unexpected video clip. It can come
out of the mouth of the most vile actors or the most saintly
servants. But God reminds us that He is there, that He sees our
concerns, and that He has the answers all planned out. We just have
to remember who is God in this process and that we do not need to see
and understand it all. Why we think we can understand the mind of God
is a mystery and a folly, really. Even when He answers, it tends to
put more questions in our mind. This happens to me just as it
happened to Daniel...”OK, God, now that You have shown me this
much, what about that?” And He just says, “Trust Me. That's all
you get to know for now.” And still the human heart churns to know
all the ways of God. We still remain troubled to an extent, but there
is still the gentle touch and comforting words to help us carry on,
to trust to the extent that a human can trust. I love Daniel. I can
relate to Daniel. His past experience with God drew him close to God,
and his heart for his people longed for them to have that same
relationship. His walk with God was personal and trusting, but he was
still human in his longings for God's mind and heart and ways.</div>
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And sometimes those longings present
themselves in people that fascinate us who shed light on God's will
and ways. David Platt is taking me there right now. He is not dressed
in shiny white robes. In fact, he is dressed downright casually,
sitting with a Bible and an I-Pad and preaching the Words of God
which both comfort and disturb the human mind. But God is answering
some of the questions that I have been asking through him. And it is
always a blessing when God speaks to the point of our need. Let Him
speak to you. Open the Book, listen to wise preaching, and ask God to
talk to the questions you have. The answers may not come all at once,
for we could not handle it if it did. But He will renew your mind,
give the grace to accept all of God's ways as Good, and draw us
closer than we have ever been to His loving side.</div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-42084496790839506472015-01-14T07:10:00.000-08:002015-01-14T07:10:04.442-08:00Habitually Dressed in Purple Luke 16<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Now, there was a rich man, and he
habitually dressed in purple and fine linen, joyously living in
splendor every day. Luke 16:19</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This is not going to be a rant against
the rich. I can't tell you how many people do rant against the rich,
but it is just about everyone. Not because they are upset that that
person is rich, but more because they envy the rich. They wish THEY
were rich, and because they are not, they mumble. These same people
admire tv celebrities and sports figures. It seems that if they know
where the money is coming from an approve of it, it is ok if THOSE
people are rich...so you catch my drift.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And Jesus was not putting down every
rich person. Solomon was rich, Abraham, David, and multiple others
had far more than they needed. It said that the Lord blessed them,
and if the Lord chooses to bless someone, who are we to envy,
slander, or look down on them?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
You only have to look up a few verses
on the page...Now the Pharisees, who were LOVERS OF MONEY, were
listening to all these things are scoffing at Him. vs. 14. This is on
the heals of, “You cannot love God and wealth.” vs 13. These are
the people who flaunt their wealth, who take it at the cost of
others, and want people to admire them for it. Can you say “tv
preachers” and “politicians”? Now I am not talking about the
David Jeremiah's of the world...they work hard, stick to the Word,
and don't live for the noteriety of the job, but to actually spread
the gospel. We all know the fakes when we see them...or do we? These
guys wouldn't still be out there if people weren't supporting their
false ministries. Discernment is a lost art. And it is not that the
true ministers are sinless. But we can usually tell when someone is
on an ego trip. They change. They morph into something they didn't
used to be. The messages soften so as not to offend the givers. They
become people's cheerleaders for people's comforts and successes
instead of their purifiers and true encouragers to fight the fight of
faith. They have come to love the joyous life of wealth, and forget
that the fame and fortune they have come into was supposed to go
toward ministries and not toward their own personal gain.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The biggest clue here was that the
Pharisees could no longer discern good from evil, truth from error.
Here stands Jesus, and they scoff at Him and His teachings. They look
at this itinerate preacher from Nazareth who owns nothing, dresses in
common clothes, and preaches against pride, and they swell with more
pride. They are better than this guy. They know the law, and see how
God has benefitted them! They deserve the respect of the people for
their position! But Jesus tells them that He and God both see their
hearts, and that all the trappings that they are wearing are a cover
for the ugliness that is inside. Maybe that is why they are called
trappings...they trap us into thinking we are better than we really
are. They trap other people's minds into thinking they should treat
these well-dressed people differently just because they are
well-dressed. They even had this problem addressed in the early
church. We tend to think and act differently around people of wealth
and reputation. Somehow we feel like they should be treated with more
respect, with more care of what they think, than the other people in
town. “Don't you know who that is? You can't talk to them like
that!” There is fear that we will not get from people like that.
The point is, they probably aren't there to give to you, but to get
from you...so why do you care? There are wonderful exemptions to this
rule. There are the rich who are the givers...and give freely, not
just to get their name on a building or something. It is almost
hilarious the way people in the town I live in treat and talk about
the people in town with money. The expectations, the attitudes, the
hopes and fears that go along with a relationship with these folks is
a spectacle to watch. Some of them feed these fears, and some just
mind their own business and get on with their lives, being stewards
as God has called them to be.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There is also being Lazarus, having
nothing, and receiving nothing from him who had so much. When the
rich are so busy living the good life that they fail to see the
people at their own gate, that is when God calls them into judgment.
God placed Lazarus before this man's eyes, and he refused to see. The
Pharisees did the same thing. When Jesus healed right in front of
their very noses, instead of rejoicing with the healed person, they
resented Jesus taking their limelight. They couldn't heal these
people, but they could have fed them or given them a place to sleep
at night. They could have hired them to wash these rich robes and
make a living. It is the ignoring of the mission God gave them that
angered God so.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
What kind of heart do you have, rich
woman? Do you see the needs God has placed under your nose, or are
you so busy living the good life that you forget to praise God and
use His gifts for His glory? Let us have a proper attitude toward
money and earthly wealth, knowing that our faith should never be in
it. We must love God, use wealth to honor Him, and keep an eye out
for the ministries He gave it to us to participate in. Reading this
chapter will give you God's counsel on what you have, how you got it,
and how to use it. He is good to tell us His mind, and to give us His
mind, as well.</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-38401278844556766382015-01-13T09:37:00.000-08:002015-01-13T09:37:13.202-08:00Worshiping the Works of Our Hands Jeremiah 1<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
My judgments on them concerning all
their wickedness, whereby they have forsaken Me and have offered
sacrifices to other gods, and worshiped the works of their own hands.
Now, gird up your loins and arise, and speak to them all which I
command you. Do not be dismayed before them, or I will dismay you
before them. Jeremiah 1:16b-17</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Just a few days ago I was posting about
our creativity being a stumbling block at times, and here is another
verse to confirm that tendency in our lives. We like to worship that
which we can see and feel. Why else would people make little idols
and bow down before them? How can a piece of wood or stone hear our
prayers, sense our needs, or act on our behalf? Yet I see these idols
all around me. Symbols of the horoscopes, where people place their
hopes in star patterns in the sky. Buddhas sitting there looking wise
and peaceful and fat and happy, with people praying to them so that
they can themselves be those things. Other ugly gods like the Aztec
or Inca, where people acted violently because they had images of a
violent, blood-thirsty god. If people believe their god to be good,
the image may be beautiful, if angry, then fierce-looking. Their
perception of god dictates their image of him/her/it. They say beauty
is in the eye of the beholder, and it is true. The image of God you
have in your mind helps form your opinion of that which is
acceptable, truthful, and worthy. Most of the little gods I have seen
in museums are not pretty, and some are so rudimentary that it is
hard to believe that people could wrap their lives around them. But
it happens with too much ease. There has to be a lot of guilt in the
human soul to think that he/she has to give sacrifices to cooking
pots or statues or poles. We look for something to take our guilt,
our sin, our pain, our dysfunction and make us feel good about
ourselves. And all the while, there is the true God who defines
Himself as all we need through His many names: the God Who hears, the
God Who sees, the God who heals, the God Almighty...etc. We can't
make an image of Him because He refuses to show all of Himself to us
at once. And He tells us to walk by faith and not by sight. We can
see the works of His hands, and a study of those things, geez, I
think we call that science, all point toward a God Who made all
things work together for good. There is balance, there is rhythm,
there is color, there is unity, and if any one thing was not in that
order, there is no chance that any of it would hold together. And
what we do to manipulate that can only work within that order. As we
try to use the creation around us, be either reflect God's beauty or
seek to create for ourselves something “other.” And there is
discomfort in our souls when we see that. Graffiti is one method.
Some of it can be decorative, but most is destructive. There are laws
of physics that won't allow a house to hang in suspension no matter
how hard we try. Some things appear to “break the rules,” but
when it comes down to it, they have to follow the rules to stand for
any period of time. Houses built on the sand will eventually fall
unless their foundations run deep, therefore having to follow the
rules when no one sees the pylons plunged deep into the rock below.
We know certain things will not hold for the long haul. Like the
Jenga game, eventually things will reach the tipping point and fall.
We can choose to push the limits of God's patience and live tottering
on the edge, living in fear and imbalance, or we can choose to live
in God's will and build firmly and confidently, having an inner peace
and security that comes with having Him as our foundation.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So we are also asked here to gird up
our loins...a phrase repeated over and over throughout scripture. We
are told to speak what God has commanded. There is no need to fear
when truth is spoken. The only reason people get upset when truth is
told is because they believe a lie. We like to think we know what we
are doing, so when someone plants a doubt in our mind, we get upset.
Are they crazy, or am I wrong about something? Did God really say
that? Do these people think they have a corner on the truth market?
God tells us to be confident in His Word and not be dismayed that
others do not listen. If we don't have confidence in His Word, we
will ourselves call into question everything we believe to be true.
There are times when I wonder how what God says can be true, if He
will indeed act on our behalf in any situation. We are commanded to
speak what He says, so I have to pray, open the Bible, and see what
He says and repeat it to myself...convince my own heart that God
means what He says. Of course, the Holy Spirit makes that happen.
Without The Spirit, God's Word is just words. If you don't understand
it...the simple parts of salvation and God's will, after reading the
New Testament and studying it...if it is all just words, then come to
Christ and tell Him that you don't know Him yet. When He gives you
His Spirit, you will know His mind. You will not be dismayed any
more. Beg for wisdom, and cry out for understanding, Proverbs says.
Ask God to show Himself, Jesus Christ, and yourself for who you all
are, and ask Him how to fix that relationship. Then put your nose
back into the Word and await the answer. He says He will come to any
who truly cry out to Him. He will open His Word like a flower in
bloom when you are His, slowly and gently in some cases, and more
like a prison break in others! He meets you where you are. So do not
dismay. And someday soon you will be able to speak to others the Word
He has commanded you.</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-50667288183269689562015-01-12T08:13:00.000-08:002015-01-12T08:13:07.339-08:00Ad"dressing" the future Daniel 12<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And one said to the man dressed in
linen, who was above the waters of the river, “How long will it be
until the end of these wonders? I heard the man dressed in linen, who
was above the waters of the river, as he raised his right and and his
left toward heaven, and swore by Him who lives forever that it would
be for a time, times, and half a time; and as soon as they finish
shattering the power of the holy people, all these events will be
completed. Daniel 12:6-7</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We are human. And we as human, or at
least I as human, ask God often what will be. I know it is an
exercise in futility, for we do not know what today holds, let alone
years in the future. We have the scriptures that tell us many things
about the future, and Daniel even gets visions of some of these
things, but we do not have every piece to the puzzle, and so we have
questions. What is going to happen...He told Adam some things,
Abraham some things, Daniel some, and David some. And all that really
did was to put more questions in our minds. If it is any comfort,
scriptures say that even angels and prophets want to look into the
things of God, to see the results of this play that He has scripted.
They were given the job of telling humans many things, not
themselves knowing any more than what God told them to say.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 0.25in;">
<span style="color: black;">“</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-size: small;">Concerning
this salvation, the prophets, who spoke of the grace that was to come
to you, searched intently and with the greatest care, trying to find
out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them
was pointing when he predicted the sufferings of Christ and the
glories that would follow. It was revealed to them that they were not
serving themselves but you, when they spoke of the things that have
now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you by the
Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these
things” (I Peter 1:10-12).</span></span> </span>
</div>
So Daniel, having been told many things that troubled his mind,
asked when. This was not unusual, and God is patient with us when we
ask questions of which He is not volunteering the answers. Daniel had
just been told about the end of the world, and how was he not
supposed to wonder when such things would take place. I am sure he
thought it would be imminent, within a generation. We tend to think
of things happening in our lifetimes. The man did tell Daniel that he
would not live to see those days, but would rise again to receive his
allotted portion at the end of days. He could live out his days in
peace without looking for these things to be fulfilled.<br />
And that is how God works. He told Abraham, David, and multiple
others of things that would happen far in the future, beyond their
days. We are given reassurances that God holds the future and has the
whole of the time of the world planned out for His people. He
predicted the Exodus, the multiplications of Israel, the destruction
of the temple...every last detail of the coming of Christ, the
appearance of the anti-Christ. We see it all from afar. We see signs
of fulfillment at times, but 99% of the time, we have hindsight
instead of a whole lot of foresight. And we wonder, fret, stew, and
beg for answers, only to realize that when we get the answers, we
still will not understand very much of them. We want to see face to
face, but we get a dim ancient mirror instead.<br />
The man in linen gave Daniel the answer to his question, and what
did Daniel do? Realized he still didn't understand, and asked another
question. From when, to what will be the results. He was confused and
thought that if this much had been revealed to him, surely he should
understand that revelation. And he was told to get on with his life
and that not everything would be told him. He was told that people
would not change...good would be purged, purified, and refined, but
that wicked people would remain wicked. He was given a little more
information when of his first question, but reassured that he would
not be around to experience it.
<br />
<br />
We are glad that Daniel asked these questions, for they tell us
things that we can look at now and see the results of...the
destruction of the temple after the coming of Christ, for one. But
the comforting thing for us is that we know all God wants us to know.
The additional information God gives us may answer our questions to a
point, but those answers will not change anything that God has
planned. We are told to go on our way, live our lives, and prepare to
rest in death and rise to the reward of the godly ones at the end of
it all. Life may be hard, but we will rest from all of its' woes. Be
willing to be purified, though the process may be hard for the holy
people, and await the reward from the Holy God. Ultimately it is not
for us to know any more than God is in control and it is to our
benefit that He is.Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-19970001556994762422015-01-08T09:08:00.000-08:002015-01-08T09:08:08.398-08:00Swallowing the veil Isaiah 25<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
On this mountain He will swallow up the
(face of the) covering which is over all peoples, Even the veil which
is stretched (woven) over all the nations. He will swallow up death
for all time, and the Lord God will wipe tears away from all faces,
and He will remove the reproach of His people from all the earth; for
the Lord has spoken. Isaiah 25:7-8</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I must admit that bad news has
overwhelmed this first week of January. It is easy to get bummed,
even in the face of knowing that God has a plan for all
suffering...and that is to draw us back to Himself. And though it is
the first week of resolutions and desires for new beginnings, I still
love to eat and do too much of it. And here I see that God loves to
eat, too. But what He eats doesn't sound all that appetizing to me.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
God swallows. And in this passage He
swallows 2 things...the covering or veil that is over mankind, the
veil of sin that has separated us from Him since the first bites of
Adam and Eve. It separated them from God before they even knew what
had happened. They suddenly wanted to hide from God. Their original
covering was gone, showing their nakedness. It would be evident to
God that they had done something wrong, and somehow they tried to
cover themselves like God had, and it didn't work. It didn't work so
well that God made them coverings, killing animals for their skins to
represent the life of His Son that would have to be taken later in
history to truly cover the sin that they had brought into the world.
Then God removed them from the perfection He had made and removed His
Spirit from the earth except on special occasions. He appeared to
Cain when he was contemplating what to do about his picture-perfect
brother. He talked to Noah, and to Abraham, and made a few other
appearances, but the veil separated Him from the majority of mankind.
The Spirit now dwells in the earth in His believers, those who have
been forgiven through the blood of Christ and in indwells them as
Jesus promised before He died. All peoples, all nations, are
separated from Him, and the world reflects that. There have been
periods of revival throughout history that have brought man closer
into alignment with who God is and what He requires, but there is
still lack of true communion with God. And God will swallow the veil.
He will chew it up into a mass that take it into Himself where no man
can bring it out again. No more separation!</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And He will swallow death. He will take
that on as well. No more will man need to die to come to Him. It will
never be found again. Chewed up, and swallowed. Not spit out so we
can see the pile of slime...swallowed. It will be consumed, digested.
Turned into something that will empower God to be still mightier than
the power of death. The food we take in serves the purpose of making
us stronger, giving us energy. Imagine the invigorating power of
death being turned into life! Into glory and majesty. The power that
the veil and death had over people will be changed, transformed into
something God will use for good.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The verses before this tell us that God
will prepare a lavish banquet of all the best stuff...the best wine,
meat, and other fruits for the people on this mountain, His people.
He will prepare for them all they can eat, and what they will swallow
will be good...the best. He lets us swallow His prepared goodness
while He swallows up everything that was wrong between Him and us.
THAT, my friends, is a merciful, loving God. The banquet will even be
filled with the songs of His praises, sung by the feasters. We will
sing of how long we have waited for this glorious day...how we have
longed for this fellowship, how the spirit within us as sought him
diligently We will not be disappointed in the wait. What we have
desired will come true. And the joy of it will overwhelm us. We will
have that perfect peace that all human hearts long for, but few are
willing to come to God for in repentance and humility. Most shake
their fists at God and blame Him for the veil, blame Him for the sin
and death, little seeing their own roll in contributing to it in this
world.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I laugh and cry at the fools that blame
“the man” for the trouble in this world, when they are mocking
God and living destructively, and then when the consequences come,
they don't see their role. I got a response to a Facebook post about
those killed for making those vulgar cartoons about Islam. The fellow
blamed me for being ignorant and not seeing how this paper promoted
free speech, but he could not see how being vulgar and unloving
fueled the fires of hatred in already hateful people. Considering his
naked picture, I see he himself is fighting against God's authority
in his life, and simultaneously laugh and cry at his ignorance of
God, proper authority, and use of media. Some day that, too, will be
swallowed. Death is swallowed up in victory, says Paul in
Corinthians. And that victory is Jesus.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And to that I say, “Let's eat!”</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-16464723570681106942015-01-07T07:55:00.001-08:002015-01-07T07:55:55.647-08:00His Train fills the temple Isaiah 6<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In the year of King Uzziah's death I
saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train
of his robe filling the temple. Isaiah 6:1</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Uzziah is an interesting read...a king
who started well by worshiping the Holy God of Israel. He was a good
king, and God prospered him. But getting God's approval can do funny
things to a person. He decided he didn't just want to be king, but
also priest. He decided that he was going to present the holy fire in
the temple and the priests tried to stop him. But you know how
powerful men are. He took the offering in, and God struck him with
leprosy. He ran from the temple in shame and despair, and he became
a ruler only behind the scenes. His son Jotham took over the public
rule of the country. Pride does go before a fall.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When most of us look at this passage,
we rush past those first 6 words and into the exciting part of his
wonderful passage of scripture. But I think those words are there for
our benefit. It not only sets up the time period of this happening in
Isaiah's life, but the context for what was probably on Isaiah's
mind.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Every time there was a new king in
those days, there was the question of which type of king would take
their place. Even though there was usually family succession, the
kingdoms varied greatly. Some kings would follow God, tear down
altars and idols, and God would bless. Others would set up idols and
lead the people into great sin. I can imagine Isaiah sitting there,
pondering the future of his country, much like I do today. Congress
was sworn in yesterday and I wonder what kind of people we have
elected and if God will be able to bless, or if we will be plunged
into more sin, more walking away from the ways of God.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Well, God is great. He answers Isaiah's
question with Himself. Who is on the throne? God. Not Jotham. Not any
man. God. And this was not some puny throne and a robe and crown.
This God was on a throne lofty and exalted...placed high up where all
of heaven could see Him. He is sitting in the temple...now this is a
vision, so if it is the temple of worship on earth or heaven we are
not told, but you can still imagine that it has to be pretty big
because the heavenly hosts are flying about, and the burning coal is
taken from the altar. Was this the altar that Uzziah had tried to
use, with its burning coals? Again, who knows but God. But in this
space, God is clothed with a robe whose train length covered every
inch of the floor of the place. He is clothed in majesty. He is
taking up every space in His Holy Place. There is no room in this
place for the feet of man nor angel. God's robe took all of that
space. The angels flew to do His bidding, including the purifying
work of purging sin. That train was just a part of God's message to
Isaiah. He was ultimately the King of both worlds. He knew the
beginning from the end. He was in control of the means and ends of
His people. When they would worship He would rule in love. When they
would not listen to His counsel, they would be punished so that they
would return a purified people later.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Isaiah I can relate to. His job was to
tell people God's warning, and God tells him that they will not
listen. Some of us have kids who will not hear us. (Hi, kids! Love
you!) Now I must confess that I was one, as well. For some dumb
reason we refuse to hear our authorities that are in the Lord,
thinking we are so much wiser, better, whatever. Then God grows us up
and gives us the same assignment...and we see our own hard hearts.
Repentance and tears, pain and heartbreak ensue. We are not alone in
this. Most parents have their kids question their every move. Some
bosses or supervisors never get the benefit of the doubt or the ear
of those who could learn from their knowledge.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
But there is the train. It is not the
sceptor, the rod of iron. It is the beauty of God, the regalness. It
is the splendor and majesty of a robe that cannot be equaled. If we
tried to wear a robe that big, it would weigh so much that we
wouldn't be able to move. It would weigh us down. We would be stuck
sitting there. But God is not limited at all by his train. It is just
an extension of who He is. It covers the unsacred parts of our being.
There is no floor to His love, no dirt in His presence. There would
be no feet or shoes there...in His presence, all is Holy Ground.
There is no need to question our future, for He is in control, and
nothing is in our power, as much as that unsettles us.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Like Isaiah, we should offer ourselves
as His ministers here on earth, and leave the consequences to Him.
Some will hear, and but most will not. And yet it is ok. We can be in
His Holiness, and hope in Him, regardless. Admire the robe, and let
it fill the temple of your heart.
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-85233703698404241082015-01-06T07:32:00.001-08:002015-01-06T07:32:37.256-08:00Creating delusions Jeremiah 10<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
For the customs of the people are
delusion;Because it is wood cut from the forest, the work of the
hands of a craftsman with a cutting tool. They decorate it with
silver and with gold, they fasten it with nails and with hammers so
that it will not totter...do not fear the, for they can do no harm,
not can they do any good. Jeremiah 10:3-4,5b</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This passage continues our thoughts of
how our creativity, if not directed by the Spirit of God Himself, can
lead us into sin. This is the story of the craftsmen...remember, we
talked about the children of Nehemiah's time moving into the valley
of the craftsmen...those who worked to make idols of worship, leading
millions into the worship of pieces of wood representing false gods.
We tend to think of people “back then” who were superstitious and
bowed to idols. It happened in the Old Testament, in the New, where
Paul was run out of town when the idol makers for Diana thought they
were going to be put out of business, and today, all over the world.
If you don't think people bow before idols, go to Asia. Look at
India. Images of the Buddha, of Shiva, of thousands of gods we in the
west have never heard of, are bowed to daily. The rat god, the snake
god, the gods of war and fertility get offerings of food, money, and
praise. And lest we think Christians are immune, look into some of
the denominations and cathedrals. There are relics and tombs and
“holy places” that draw people not only to wonder at God, but to
worship those pieces. Instead of hearts being lifted in praise to a
Holy God and His Son Jesus, they prostrate themselves before a statue
or image and beg for God's attention. Some places do help our hearts
submit to God, but others...well, I will politely put it that they
are a stumbling block.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="rso"></a>We are so easily
deluded. A delusion is: <span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">A
false personal belief that is not subject to reason or contradictory
evidence and is not explained by a person's usual cultural and
religious concepts …</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">We
are lead away from what we know is true and develop ideas that make
us believe the lie. Satan is the master of delusion. He deluded
Eve...she knew that God was good and had given everything she needed
for happiness and holiness, and yet she began to doubt that. And she
acted on that delusion. It was a piece of wood coated in gold and
silver...the forbidden became beautifully coated in “being like
God,” to look like more than it was. She forgot one important thing
in Satan's coaxing. She already was like God! He had made Adam and
Eve in HIS IMAGE. They were as close to God as they could get as
created beings, and yet the lie became more beautiful in their minds.
Why is it when we have it good that we desire something more? I have
a SABLE, fabric “stash accumulated beyond life expectancy,” but I
also have a wish list for Hancock's of Paducah, Jo Anns, and
Crafter's Choice on my computer. I need not one more thing (ok, I
need a FQ of a certain fabric to keep from having to tear out a
couple of blocks on the quilt I am working on, but you get the
point), but all I have doesn't keep me from wanting more. And that
discontentment poisons the well. I can look at the things I have
managed to achieve and make the idols or look at them as pointless
endeavors. My mind can delude me into thinking that satisfaction can
be found somewhere other than in His Holy Will, outside of His
desires for my life. I can wrestle with these things, or I can shake
the delusion out of my head. Face it, the desire for more fabric or
books or machines pales in the face of the other delusions Satan sets
before us. But Jeremiah reminds us that these things, if seen for
what they are, cannot harm us ultimately. When we look at that idol
and think,”You are wood covered in gold. You are harmless, and your
only value is the gold itself.” that we can walk away unharmed.
When we see the threats of the god it represents and believe that
lack of submission to it will cause us harm, we fall into the trap.
What if I walk away from the demands of this god? Will I starve, be
cursed, or not have children? Will I wander aimlessly and come back
in the next life as a bug or fish, or a rich man? We see threats,
deprivation, and unfulfillment everywhere. If we are looking anywhere
but at God, we wander. When we fail to see the whole of God, all of
His beauty, all of His goodness, even in keeping away certain things
and people from us for our good and the good of those around us, we
believe the lie and are deluded.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">I
will confess to watching “The Bachelor” last night. The guy is
from Iowa, and I wondered how Iowa would be portrayed and what kind
of women they would put in front of him. One by one, gorgeous women
stepped before him, most putting their best foot forward in making a
first impression. Then you see the behind-the-scenes, who is really
sweet and beautiful, and who is a potty-mouth, back-biting piece of
work. The girls start to see each other, and the next weeks, which I
do NOT plan on watching, will be full of this guy dealing with
delusions. What he will see of these gals is not the whole picture.
There are plenty of gold-covered pieces of wood for him to look at.
But unless they show him the tape of these gals when he is not
around, he will be deluded. And we delude each other until we become
real with each other, confess our sins, and come clean.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="color: #545454;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">On
a brighter note, some day we will all be presented to Jesus, and he
will separate the sheep from the goats. He won't be picking one
“perfect” bride, but all of those chosen by God to become His
bride. He will not be like the bachelor who didn't want more girls to
come...too many choices. Jesus wishes all would come to him, but not
all will. He wants the banquet hall full to the brim, but knows that
many are called, but few are chosen. Not everyone will want to share
in the bounty of His love. I just hope that I can look beautiful in
His eyes, that I be pleasing when brought to the mansion to be His.
That is when true beauty will be enjoyed forever.</span></span></div>
<br />
<br /><br />
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-10731159030296230382015-01-05T05:50:00.002-08:002015-01-05T05:50:14.185-08:00Creating a clean heart Psalm 51<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Purify me with hyssop and I shall be
clean; wash me, and I shal be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy
and gladness, Let the bones which You have broken rejoice. Hide your
face from my sins and blot our all my iniquities. Create in me a
clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me. Psalm
51:7-10</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Continuing our creativeness
theme...more on a sad note, but with eternally good results.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We can use our creativeness to do evil.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Our minds like to wander from the
reality of what is and turn to the possibilities of what could or
should be. This is good if we are painting a flower that doesn't
exist, but we wish did. The blueness of a rose (I know they are
breeding them now, but maybe not in the shade you like), the shapes
and sizes of things that are not. Apples are not the sizes of horses,
but you find them bronzed in a park somewhere. Things can be made
bigger, stronger, faster with a little imagination and the right
materials. Yeah, so that apple may not be edible or nutritious, but
the image exists because we want it to. This creativeness leads to
cures for cancer, breeding of pest-proof crops, and other
advancements in human lives. Proper procedures for digging wells for
fresh water, the high-rise building, and lead-free paint were
creative ventures for someone out there.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And then there are the daydreams of the
destructive kind. The sort of thing that we all fall prey to. The
idea of what life would have been like if we had married differently,
if we hadn't told God we would follow certain guidelines for life
like paying our taxes, or being willing to be honest on the job. This
creative thinking leads to adultrous relationships and discontentment
with what we have, fines and jail time for tax evasion, and being
distrusted and fired from our jobs for petty theft or dishonest
dealings. The problem was creative thinking...irrational thinking
that we would be happier doing wrong and not contemplating the
consequences of such actions. Satan puts temptations before us and
tells us we would be happier with someone else, with more money, and
with a different job or position in the business. This type of
creative thinking is not godly, not good, and not glorifying to the
God we claim to serve. David walked into all sorts of pain and misery
for his creativeness...from taking another man's wife creatively,
bringing the soldier home creatively, and killing him off creatively.
And God dealt with him creatively, with a story of a man and a sheep.
David condemned himself without even knowing it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
And right now there is this very pain
and suffering in the lifes of about the last people I would have
imagined. A marriage is under attack and the creative thought that
justifies it can only be imagined by those of us on the outside. But
those thoughts are not new. Every day Satan gives us creative
thoughts. We have rules and he tries to convince us to break them, we
have standards and he wants us to lower them, we have money and he
wants us to waste it instead of invest it, and we have commitments
and he wants us to walk away from them. And the things he uses to
fool us look good, appear compassionate, appeal to the eye, the ear,
the mind. We question the God who would withhold all good things from
us. Creative thinking can cause us to walk away from God in areas we
never dreamed we would.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This is where David saw what he had
done, and asked God to create...to create a clean heart. His heart
was so evil at that point that it could not be fixed, it had to be
replaced. For God to create, He starts with nothing. He speaks it
into existance. David needed a heart transplant, and he asked God to
do the surgery. The spirit needed renewed, but the heart needed
replaced. The vessels were so clogged that for it to be cleaned was
impossible. It was corrupted beyond repair. David asked God to make
him a heart so different from the one that caused him to wander.
Later David was called a man after God's own heart. I have often
thought of that David being the innocent one, the shepherd and
psalmster. I now wonder if it wasn't the David who had God's heart
made after the sinning. This was the new heart God created for him
since his own had lead him astray? In any case, David knew that all
his creativity was nothing, and that God's creative breath was needed
in his life.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Pray for our dear friends, and for all
marriages and relationships that are in peril from our creative
thoughts that wander destructively from the right paths of God. Pray
for all whose thinking begins to question the holiness of God's ways.
The church is filling with people with their own ideas of right and
wrong, good and evil, beauty and ugliness. Pray that God's Word would
bring our hearts back to a proper and acceptable creativeness that
exalts God and doesn't rebel against Him, for the sake of God and
mankind.</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-42268103119735495642015-01-02T08:14:00.001-08:002015-01-02T08:14:15.196-08:00Get 'er done Prov 23<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
For the heavy drinker and the glutton
will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe one with rags.
Proverbs 23:21</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Continuing our talk on
creativeness...and what we can learn from it.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<ol start="2">
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There is value in beauty. This
verses proves that being covered in cloth is not a goal. How you
cover says a lot about you. There are times when being clothed in
rags is acceptable...when you are scooping out hog barns or
painting. The rest of the time, being clothed in rags says you are
poor, or you are lazy or irresponsible. Learning to dress well, to
have a pleasing fabric, cut, or grade of fabric for what you wear or
use is part of being human. We are told not to worry about what we
wear, but we are also told not to look like a bum unless you are
John the Baptist out in the desert. We are told to work hard, and to
dress modestly, but with a bit of decorum. We are reflecting who God
is in our everyday life. And clean tidy, well-fitting and designed
clothes are one way to do that.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Creativeness helps tell the world
who God is. If we all wear the same clothes, in the same color, with
the same cut, I'm sorry, it wreaks of Mao Tse Tung. I think of the
pictures of Communist China. Everyone looked alike. The hair to the
shoes, there was no distinction between people. They were all the
same. Treated the same. Pawns in the chess game. God created people
differently. We should be distinquished from one another. God says
He will judge us all, but that we will be judged on the gifts we
were given. Not everyone has the same gifts...not everyone has the
same job. Not everyone has the same interests or skills. And we
should reflect that on the outside and through what we do.
Everything from letterhead of a business to the color of the walls
and carpets tells us something about the people we are dealing with
every day. If you go and look at the paint chip department at
Menards or Lowes, you will see there are those little variations
between colors, even on one card, let alone the hundreds they have
to pick from. We are all like that. We may be similar, but we are
not the same. And that is a good thing. And God Himself is like the
rainbow...He is every color, coming out through His Son shining
after the rain of our sin. He shows us the beauty that is still
there and that He will make something good happen, redeeming and not
destroying.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There is function in beauty. I
have become a volunteer in many causes. Quilts of Valor is one. We
all make quilts for veterans. Most of them are red, white, and blue,
but not all. And the variations of patterns are innumerable! Many do
buy a kit for a certain pattern and make the quilt the same, but
many others take their own fabrics or ideas and make them. They
serve a function, and that is to honor the men and women who have
served our country and paid for it with years of their lives and
possibly other inner and outer scars. The function is to let them
know that someone, and lots of someones out here in the cheap seats,
appreciated what they gave. Their service is not forgotten. They are
not forgotten. Now if we all made the same quilt, mass produced,
they might feel appreciated, but knowing that these were handmade by
some one individual, they feel more special. This isn't just another
medal for their uniform. It is a piece of the person who gave it.
That function of taking the time for someone is what quilting is all
about. Anyone can buy a blanket. Quilters give their time and heart
and soul with their gift.</div>
</li>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There can be valleys for
craftswoman. Even writers get writer's block. Quilters weary of
their project the longer it takes. I finished a quilt last night for
my nephew. I couldn't wait to see it finished! We are eager to
start, but anxious to finish. UFOs abound. We get tired of seeing
the same fabric, the same blocks, the same seams, the same quilting
motifs. We sense that there is so much more out there to do and we
want to do THAT instead. We get sidetracked by life and can't work
on things when we would like. Even Jesus walked away from healing to
take some time away. As humans, even the things we love get to us
after a while. The museum may hold our interest for a time, but by
the end of the tour we aren't reading the plaques as thoroughly. We
feel the need to do something else, go somewhere else. We have to
get out. Every once in a while something will be so great that we
have to be drug away, but these things are few and far between. We
need to give one another grace for the weary times, but encourage
the finish. Paul says he needs to press on to the goal. We have to
set goals. Deadlines are helpful. We love to create, but the results
are usually slower than we would like. Imagine building the great
cathedrals and never seeing them done! If that is our calling, work
on, knowing that someday the finish will be spectacular in the eyes
of God and man. Do what you are called to do, and find the end. The
results will be useful. A half-done quilt or dress or whatever
cannot serve the purpose for which it is being made. Get 'er done.
Count the cost, and finish.</div>
</li>
</ol>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-72856642296895140262015-01-01T08:20:00.003-08:002015-01-01T08:20:52.170-08:00Valley of Craftsmen Nehemiah 11<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The sons of Benjamin also lived from
Geba onward, at Michmash and Aija, at Bethel and its towns, at
Anathoth, Nob, Ananiah, Hazor, Ramah, Gittiam, Hadid, Aeboim,
Neballat, Lod and Ono, the valley of craftsmen. Nehemiah 11:31-35</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It is a new year at the time I type
this. Every year I ponder the ways of God. I wonder as I wander
through this world what I am supposed to be doing with my life. It
was an easier thing to think on when the kids were home. We
homeschooled. I spent my days keeping them in schoolwork and school
activities, cooking, cleaning, and running people to and fro. And I
was a craftswoman. It seemed to be a natural part of who I was. I
wanted to make things, to experiment with color and texture,
techniques and shortcuts. I wanted to try new patterns and rulers and
was anxious to share these new-found skills with anyone who wanted to
learn.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Well, the last of the kids is in
college and I still wonder if I am wasting my life sewing. Isn't that
a sad thing to say? If it's “all going to burn,” then why do I do
this? The quilt I made in high school is wearing out, and several
others that I have downstairs are used and wearing, along with the
ones made by my mother-in-law. The only ones that do not fade are
those that are never used, tucked away from sun and friction of being
pulled on night after night, day after day.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Then I read verses like these and am
encouraged. There was a place called the valley of the craftsmen.
They were artist colonies, of sorts. They were skilled in carving,
weaving, sewing of curtains and tents, skilled in hewing and
decorating. Even the great cities and buildings of their day were
built, used, and eventually destroyed. But they were, and they served
their purpose for the time that they existed. As a people made in
God's image, we need beauty. There is the rugged beauty of the
outdoors, and there is the gentle beauty of it. From the clefts of
the Rockies and the Grand Canyon to the placid scenes of oceans and
plains of grasses, the world is a beautiful place. Then there are
flowers, grasses, trees with their many-shaped leaves. There are the
curly shells, and the ones that look like angel wings. The colors of
fruits from red and green and yellow apples to the bluest of berries
and purplest of plums, there is a rainbow on the earth as well as in
the sky. And man was created to appreciate all of these things. Man
was created creative, like the God who made him. And if not given the
gift ourselves, we can appreciate the gifts of others. I may not be
able to paint a picture (and believe me, I CAN'T!), but I can stare
for hours at the paintings of others, some bringing me to tears, some
to laughter, and some to shear puzzlement. Creativeness touches us in
our emotions. This is what makes us human. Put a canvas painting on
the floor and a cat will sleep on it, a dog will pee on it, and a
person will pick it up off the floor, study it, and hang it on a
wall. It is who we are.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
So I guess God has placed me in the
valley of the craftswoman. I am surrounded by artists in the fabric
world. I know personally people who design fabric and bring it to
life in various quilts and other fibercraft. I work for a shopowner
who selects the fabric bolts that she think would suit her clientele.
I belong to a guild that teaches new techniques and encourages
charity in handmade goods. Fibercraft is encouraged and used for the
benefit of mankind, be it veterans, homeless children, struggling
families, or various patients needing help paying their bills. Even
though every single item will someday become a rag, for the time that
it is needed, it is a useful, helpful, thoughtful gesture of love
that will complete its task for the days it which it is needed.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
God has gifted us with the desire to be
like Him, and creativity is one of those ways. What does being a
craftswoman teach me?</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<ol>
<li><div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Some things go together, and some
do not.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There are colors and shades that
simply work together, and others do not. There is blending or
clashing. It is not the piece of fabric's fault if it doesn't “go
with” the item next to it. It is what it is. But there is a way to
make things work together: cut them smaller and put all sorts of
things together...the more variety, the easier it is work with all
types, styles, and colors of fabric. The thing that makes scrap
quilt work is there is not coordination to the point that one piece
stands out. We are all so different from one another in:interests,
tastes, intelligence, creativeness, areas of expertise, and jobs.
But all of that makes us work together to make the church of Christ
a beautiful thing.
</div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Shall we continue this tomorrow? What
do I learn by being a creative woman so made by God?</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8991160574623545365.post-61701603734610489222014-12-31T06:44:00.000-08:002014-12-31T06:44:10.414-08:00Sackcloth on Kings Jonah 3<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
When the word reached the king of
Nineveh, he arose from his throne, laid aside his robe from him,
covered himself with sackcloth and sat on the ashes. Jonah 3:6
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Continuing thoughts from yesterday's
blog. Here is Jonah running around Nineveh and preaching the
destruction that was to come. People believed him and repented,
putting on sackcloth. So today I was going to focus on the king.
Well, then I typed the verse. Did something odd strike you? It hit
me. The repentance of Nineveh did not start with the king; it started
with the man on the street. It started when people heard the word of
God, believed it, applied it to their own hearts and lives, and began
fasting and praying for forgiveness, and THEN the movement caught on
at the castle! Well, that changed a few things in my mind. Yes, the
king gave orders, but those orders only applied to those who hadn't
already taken action or believed the message, and for the animals.
Everything and everybody was affected by the command, but it was the
result of the grass-roots effort of the common man.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We are waiters. Not servant-type
waiters, but we wait for someone else, preferably someone with power
and authority, to start making things right. We wait for a movement
to sweep the country and then join in. It happened with
abortion/pro-life movements. It is happening with supporting police
right now in the midst of the contrived race relations controversies.
We wait for someone else to show us what to do or how we should
respond. This is why there are sociology classes. This is why there
are slogans and sayings out there that are repeated over and over and
over and over...if you hear it enough, you start to believe it. What
is wrong with this sin or that? Marriage for gays? Why not? Divorce
on demand? Better than being miserable! We see it, hear it, and let
our hearts be turned by it, often totally against what God has set
forth as TRUTH in His Word. But when we then hear God's Word, it
pierces through the foggy lies than lay deep in our subconscious and
we begin to repent. And when we repent, and others repent, there is
the slow snowball effect, and it gains ground. We begin to question
the lies we have been told, we see the damage that the lies have
caused (like post-abortion syndrome and thousands of kids living in
poverty because their parents don't live together), and soon there is
a shift, a repentance (turning around), and God relents to send
destruction. The problem is then that the next generation sees God's
mercy and believes it to be God's weakness, and they turn back to
their sin. Then God does send the judgment that He mercifully held
back. Nineveh did not continue to walk in repentance. The love of God
did not take root there after the repentance, and destruction did
come many years later. But that generation who listened to Jonah was
saved.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
How long do we wait for someone to do
something to change the direction of the moral slide of our country?
There is the Tea Party working in politics, there are a few lone
voices crying in the wilderness of the religious right, and there are
tv preachers, True Women movements, etc. People are going back to the
Bible, back to the Constitution, back to the origins to see what we
are made of, what the goals were, what the standards were to be...and
finding God. What does God think? When we know the answer to that
question, we repent, and when enough people hear and repent,
eventually the word gets out to the leadership, the power-brokers of
the world. They may or may not respond to the grass-roots, but when
they do, things happen, usually to the extreme, like here. Did having
the animals not eat or drink change God's mind? No. But it did show
that they were taking God seriously. They as people had already
denounced their culture of violence, brutality, and hatred. The
government stepped in and joined them. God took notice that from the
greatest to the least, everyone took Him seriously. And He had
mercy...great, undeserved mercy.</div>
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So when we are tempted to wait for
someone else to repent, someone else to start something to move the
country, the family, the church even, toward God's Word, we only need
to act ourselves. If God's Word does not come back void, He will
bring others to the same place of self-change, and that is when
revival breaks out. It takes longer for those at the top to get the
Word that God means business, but that is ok. If it took that long
back then, why should the people in power today be any different. We
are called to repent ourselves, to believe God, whether the rest of
the world does or not.</div>
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Stand, my brothers and sisters, for the
Word. Let it change you, and let God let you join in the movement to
repentance and revival throughout the land. Happy 2015.</div>
Candrahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05126643652287593594noreply@blogger.com0