Shame? or Confidence!

You know, sometimes it's not what the Bible says, but what it does NOT say.

28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 1 John 2 ESV

Jesus is coming back again. And how can we have confidence and not shrink back in shame when he comes? I would think the answer might be live perfectly, be sinless, or be holy like God. But that's not what the word says. What does it say? The key to having confidence and not shrinking from him in shame at his coming is abiding in him. That's it! Abide in him!


If you are interested in what it means to abide in him, here are some thoughts in answer to that very question:

But back to abiding in him...I think the picture of the vine and the branches helps us to see what this means. The branch cannot bear fruit without being connected to the vine, it can't even live without that connection. So Jesus is the source of our spiritual life. And this means we need to be nourished by him with his word, but also talk to him, cry out to him, and spend time with his people, to be encouraged in the truth and love one another. Abiding in him speaks much more of relationship than just doing all the right things.

The Cost of Freedom

I was reading The Sign of the Beaver with the kids. As the main character was walking through the forest, he came across a fox gnawing off its leg to escape an iron snare. The author commented:

"He was struck by the bravery that could inflict such pain on itself to gain freedom." p. 65

 At first my thoughts went to the brave people of the American Revolution who were willing to die for their freedom. Later I thought of the Pilgrims and others who left known comforts for religious freedom.

But then my thoughts went in a different direction...

As Christians, how much pain are we willing to inflict on ourselves or allow ourselves to experience to gain freedom from our sin?

God Is Light!

"God is light, and in him is no darkness at all"

I've been reflecting on these words from 1 John 1:5. No darkness AT ALL. I thought about how many times I had good intentions of doing the right thing and yet still failed! In me, there is darkness, but in God there is no darkness at all. I have the choice to do evil or not, but God is not even CAPABLE of doing evil! Just this difference alone could explain why we have so much trouble understanding God or his actions sometimes!

Beloved?

Beloved. This word jumped out at me in Ephesians 1:6:

In love 5 he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6 to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7 In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses...

This is the only place in the whole book of Ephesians where Beloved is used to refer to Jesus. And right after this Paul states that "we have redemption through his blood". I found it interesting that right after Paul calls him Beloved, because he is loved by his Father, he refers to his death, his sacrifice, his suffering for us that God, our Father, sent him to accomplish. God loved/loves Jesus perfectly, but he still sent him to die for us! And Jesus willingly laid down his life for us! Wow!!!

2017 Was an Eventful Year!!!

So much happened in 2017. I am going to share some highlights by month.

MAY
Our good friend Madison Stratton came out to visit us for 11 days! We weren't sure how that would go. I've never had a friend come and stay in my house that long, but we had a great visit! Highlights included, but not limited to:
-Bridge
-Basketball
-Sharing good food and laughs together
-A day trip to Springfield for Cherry Pie Day

JULY
Geoff and I celebrated our anniversary by taking a trip to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore
-We enjoyed the Amtrak ride out there - I especially remember being enchanted by the lights of Pittsburgh in the wee dark early morning (about 4am).
-I had never been in the House or Senate chambers in the Capital building  before. We also had interesting conversations with people while waiting in line.
-Pad Thai with fried soft shell crab (my highlight, not Geoff's)
-Great breakfasts and conversations with people at the B&Bs  where we stayed
-Delicious fried pickles and crab dip on a "P" pretzel at Pickles Pub before the Cubs game
-Friendly Baltimore fans at the game
-THE CUBS WON!!!

God gave us a baby in July and provided people and circumstances to help me be at peace with being pregnant. "The Lord has done this and it is marvelous in our eyes."

AUGUST
We lost the baby
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.  Job 1:21


Rebekah, Katherine and I were able to fly to Texas to visit Madison.
Some highlights:
-Rebekah's first flight!
-Galveston
-Experiencing just a little of the effects of Harvey
-BJs Irish root beer and pizookies
-Codenames
-Sandra Bullock movies
-Good food like stuffed avocado and queso with Texas-shaped chips
-Just hanging out and meeting Mabs' friends

OCTOBER
Apple Butter Day is always a highlight of the year. A couple things that made it interesting this year:
1. A tornado warning that brought the celebration inside with the Russells and Devin
2. Musical chairs with live music

NOVEMBER
We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. So thankful for my husband and for my kids who knew that even though we took a trip to celebrate, that we would still appreciate an open house to celebrate with others. I love you all!!! The kids even kicked us out of the house the day of so that we would not have to deal with the pre-party stress. They did a great job!

DECEMBER
I was so thankful to be able to go down to Macomb just to visit Geoff's 99 year old Grandma White and his 101 year old Great Aunt Juanita. We don't know how much longer we will have to be able to visit them. Which brings me to my last thoughts.


REMEMBERING THE DEAD:
This past year we went to Elaine's, Gerald's cousin's wife, funeral in July.

Gerald's brother Stanley died in August and Geoff was able to go to Texas for the funeral with his Dad and Aunt Christine.

Geoff and I were able to go to Ohio in December with Mary Jane and Gerald when her brother Bill died. It was sad, but a great time with family.


We don't really have any exiting plans for 2018, but I look forward to what God has in store for us! He is faithful!

(And BTW, this was a super long post! If you made it to the end, you deserve a gold star!)

Can We Hide from God?

This is a summary of what I shared with my high school bible class today, after we read through Psalm 139 and looked at what it said about God. If you have time, stop and read it yourself (below) and mentally list or write out what this Psalm says about God before you read the rest!

So we started out talking about how God is our Creator (Acts 17, Genesis 1). And then talked about sin and how it entered the world (Genesis 3, Romans 3). Why look at Psalm 139? How does that fit?

Well, we see in Psalm 139 that God is everywhere, from the heavens to Sheol (v. 8), from east to west (v. 9), inside our bodies (v. 13), and even in our heads! (v. 2). We cannot hide in the darkness (v.12), there is no secret place where he cannot go (v. 15), and he even knows our words before we say them (and knows more about why we said them than we do! - v. 4). He knows everything about what we think, say, and do!

This is both a comfort and a terrifying thought. Comforting when we need his help and terrifying when we have done wrong; sinned; broken one of his commands. What is a typical response we can have to our sin? Have you ever done something wrong and then tried to hide it? Or maybe you tried to hide yourself, or run away. That's what Adam and Eve did in the garden. After they broke God's command, here is what happpened:

Genesis 3:8 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.

It's interesting because that word for presence is literally "face" - very intimate! And it is the same Hebrew word that David uses in Psalm 139:7:
Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?

Once again, presence is literally translated "face". And David recognizes that he can not flee from God's face. I wonder if he was thinking about Adam and Eve when he wrote that line?

So, how did hiding work out for Adam and Eve? It didn't help them one bit! They still had to suffer the consequences of their actions. What about you? Did hiding things from your parents or others ever work out well for you? I know it didn't work well for me!

The truth of God's word says:
Numbers 32:23  "...be sure your sin will find you out."

We cannot hide from God and he knows everything about us, all of our sin, and that is such a good thing! It is his grace and mercy. Because, unless we come to him and admit our sin and ask him to forgive us, we cannot be forgiven. And if we do not admit our sinfulness to him in this life, we will experience his judgment in the next. But God's word promises us that:
9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  (1 John 1)

So, if you have a sin that you are hiding from God, now is the time to confess it to him and restore or start a right relationship with him. And all of us sin every day. So we need to be confessing our sins daily and praying this prayer from Psalm 139:

23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!
    Try me and know my thoughts!
24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,
    and lead me in the way everlasting!

To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. 139 O Lord, you have searched me and known me! 2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up;     you discern my thoughts from afar. 3 You search out my path and my lying down     and are acquainted with all my ways. 4 Even before a word is on my tongue,     behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. 5 You hem me in, behind and before,     and lay your hand upon me. 6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;     it is high; I cannot attain it. 7 Where shall I go from your Spirit?     Or where shall I flee from your presence? 8 If I ascend to heaven, you are there!     If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there! 9 If I take the wings of the morning     and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 10 even there your hand shall lead me,     and your right hand shall hold me. 11 If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,     and the light about me be night,” 12 even the darkness is not dark to you;     the night is bright as the day,     for darkness is as light with you. 13 For you formed my inward parts;     you knitted me together in my mother's womb. 14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.[a] Wonderful are your works;     my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from you, when I was being made in secret,     intricately woven in the depths of the earth. 16 Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them,     the days that were formed for me,     when as yet there was none of them. 17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!     How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I would count them, they are more than the sand.     I awake, and I am still with you. 19 Oh that you would slay the wicked, O God!     O men of blood, depart from me! 20 They speak against you with malicious intent;     your enemies take your name in vain.[b] 21 Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord?     And do I not loathe those who rise up against you? 22 I hate them with complete hatred;     I count them my enemies. 23 Search me, O God, and know my heart!     Try me and know my thoughts![c] 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me,     and lead me in the way everlasting!

By Faith

I was so encouraged while singing "By Faith" this morning (lyrics to follow). The first verse states, "By faith we see the hand of God in the light of creation's grand design,". At prayer meeting last week, we read Ps 19, "The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork." (verse 1)

The verse of the song goes on, "in the lives of those who prove His faithfulness, who walk by faith and not by sight." I thought about my friend sitting in front of me. She experienced a house fire and has had issue after issue after issue getting the insurance companies and workers and contractors to just do what they are supposed to do. And through it all, she has continued to trust God and be a witness for Him, along with loving her husband, kids, and parents.

Verse 2 talks about our fathers "roaming the earth, with the power of His promise in their hearts..." They did not rule the earth with power, they roamed the earth, but always had the powerful promises of God Almighty!

I praised God that "the prophets saw a day when the longed-for Messiah would appear, with the power to break the chains of sin and death..."  This was accentuated for me because we have been studying Luke this year and seeing Jesus drive out demons and heal all the sick again and again and again. There was no demon or group of demons too strong to drive out, nor any sickness or condition beyond His power!

And now we, as the church, are "called to go in the power of the Spirit to the lost, to deliver captives and to preach good news in every corner of the earth." Jesus stood up and read this in the synagogue:
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    because he has anointed me
    to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
    and recovering of sight to the blind,
    to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
19 to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.”
Now we too can "proclaim good news to the poor". Because of Christ, captives can be set free, "the power of the gospel shall prevail"!

“By faith we see the hand of God
In the light of creation’s grand design
In the lives of those who prove His faithfulness
Who walk by faith and not by sight

By faith our fathers roamed the earth
With the power of His promise in their hearts
Of a holy city built by God’s own hand
A place where peace and justice reign

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith the prophets saw a day
When the longed-for Messiah would appear
With the power to break the chains of sin and death
And rise triumphant from the grave

By faith the church was called to go
In the power of the Spirit to the lost
To deliver captives and to preach good news
In every corner of the earth

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight

By faith this mountain shall be moved
And the power of the gospel shall prevail
For we know in Christ all things are possible
For all who call upon His name

We will stand as children of the promise
We will fix our eyes on Him our soul’s reward
Till the race is finished and the work is done
We’ll walk by faith and not by sight ”

— WORDS AND MUSIC BY KEITH & KRISTYN GETTY & STUART TOWNEND