My dear, dear professor.

So I will admit that I think my professor, who is an athiest, is pretty funny. But the more I think about what he says and the way he thinks I realize that there are still athieistic views and beliefs in my heart. So when God shows me this, my laughing stops right then and there. As I am sure you can imagine... :-)

My Professor was talking about Martin Luther and praising him (I know! I so surprised that he would speak favorably of Martin Luther)for encouraging everyone to read the Bible themselves. I was thinking, "Are you serious? You like the fact that he did that?" But as I listened further I realized what the Professor was actually saying. I no longer felt sorry for the Professor, I felt sorry for Martin Luther. If he had heard my Professor he would have rolled over in his grave. The longer I thought on this subject the more I realized that Martin Luther might roll over in his grave at the way I read the Bible too. Eeek, not exactly a pleasant thought.

My Professor went on to say that religion is what each person wants it to be, and that Martin Luther wanted all people to read the Bible for themselves and interpret it as they saw fit. First off, this is entirely consistent with an athiests view of God... or the lack of God. If God isn't a person, "His" Words don't have any meaning and therefore can be interpreted in any way by anyone. But on the other hand since God is a person is it not ridiculous to think that He would write down words but have no exact meaning. Of course it is! Neither you nor I would ever speak like that. We only speak words to convey to another what we are thinking.

I only mention this because I myself have been tempted to take (and have taken) the athiestic approach to the Scriptures as the Professor was encouraging. Ah, renewing of the mind and repentance are just a constant need with me. Anyway, does anyone ever talk and not have a point or a meaning to what they are saying? The truth is that we MEANT something by the words we spoke, and it is the persons job, to whom we are speaking, to interpret us correctly. (I also have to say that this analogy breaks down where people do, in that we cannot so beautifully, and brilliantly write our ideas, nor preserve them as God does. Neither are our words so worthy of diligent study as to the intent.) But I have to say that in my own heart I have approached the Scriptures as my Professor, as an athiest. I have gone to it with my own ideas of what I want it to hear God say. I have not always approached it "God, what do YOU mean by this. These are your words, what is Your meaning?" Why not? Because if God is God and I do understand His meaning then I will have to do it, right? Yes, there is rebellion. Most often I don't "understand" passages that I don't really want to understand. Lastly there is a scripture that testifies against me and against my Professor. For this I know Martin Luther must praise God. :-) 2 Peter 1:20 "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation." In other words, "God is a real being. His Word has a specific meaning."

But I can't understand it? Well there are a lot of us who struggle with the word of God, but it isn't because it isn't clear in it's meaning, nor is it true that there are things about our life and godliness that God doesn't address or let us know His opinion on (boy, I have heard that a lot.). There are several reasons we "don't understand" the Scripture. It could be that we, as I mentioned before the sin of rebellion in our heart, and that makes it impossible for us to accept what He is saying. Another big reason I have found that I misinterpret Scripture is because of apathy, in that I don't take it in context. I just pull out verses here and there, hoping that it will line up with the way I am thinking. This is why it is imperitive that we study thoroughly the whole Word of God and continue to study it. Another reason that we might not understand some Scripture could be that the Lord does not want to show us His meaning at this time. If the whole Bible were revealed to me at once, I am convinced I would explode. So God is merciful in His revelation of His meaning. But also it is good for me to remember that it is God who reveals His Word to me and has promised that the Holy Spirit will guide us in all truth (John 16:13).

So all that long post to say this:

His Words do have meaning, and He means for me to know it His meaning.

Dueteronomy 5:24 "And ye said, Behold, the LORD our God hath shewed us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God doth talk with man, and he liveth." *Beautiful Chapter about the glory of God and the power of His person, and words.

"Take My Life"

Take my life and let it be consecrated, Lord, for Thee;
Take my moments and my days, let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my hands and let them move at the impulse of Thy love,
Take my feet and let them be swift and beautiful for Thee;

Take my voice and let me sing always, only, for my King,
Take my lips and let them be filled with messages from Thee;
Take my silver and my gold, not a mite would I withhold,
Take my intellect and use every power as You choose.

Here am I, all of me
Take my life it's all for thee.

Take my will and make it Thine, it shall be no longer mine
Take my heart it is Thine own, it shall be Thy royal throne
Take my love my Lord I pour at Your feet it's treasure store
Take myself and I shall be, only, all for Thee.

-Chris Tomlin's "Take my life (Here am I)"

Isn't this a great song? I will tell you what, it is such a delight to surrender all to such a God as our God! His mercy and grace are great!

May you surrender all your time, body, words, possessions, mind, will, loves and whole self to the Great God and our Savior Jesus Christ! God bless you guys!

Patience and Suffering again :-)

God is so good! Wouldn't you know it but the pastor preached on James 5:7-11. As I read through the passage, my heart was just yelling "no. no. not that!". :-) But God did most definitely mean what He said in that passage and after repentance, there was so much peace. Ahh. Really these are the worst and best of times! :-)

" Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain. Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh. Grudge not one against another, brethren, lest ye be condemned: behold, the judge standeth before the door. Take, my brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of patience. Behold, we count them happy which endure. Ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy." -James 5:7-11

When we were reading through the passage as a congregation I couldn't even read it, it was so convicting. I had just been praying this morning that the Lord would come. Not that that is a bad prayer, and not that I shouldn't look forward to His coming, but rather that my heart wasn't right in my reasons for asking. :-) I just wanted the trouble to be over, but Jesus said, (another verse the Pastor reminded me of) "These things have I spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation' but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world." (Matthew 16:33) In this world I have had tribulation, but I endure it cheerfully because Christ has already endured the most pain and trouble possible and He was victorious through it! I don't have to count on my own ability to endure but through His strength and grace He will cause me to endure to the end. That indeed is a relief!

How precious a gift to know the Lord and to be known by Him! What a gift His word is to us! In Him, through the Words He has spoken and what He has done we have peace. Not only peace with God but also peace through trouble.

Through this passage God rebuked me of my impatience with hard times, my slack in strengthening my heart in His Word, my grudging others who I think have caused the trouble, and my forgetfulness of the Lord's faithfulness. I absolutely love these verses! Praise God for seeing my sin and addressing it. It is such a loving, merciful and PATIENT thing for Him to do. Wow, He is very pitiful and tender in mercy! :-)

Psalm 27:14 Wait on the LORD; be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait I say, on the LORD.

Patience through Suffering

Question: How does faith work patience?

Answer: Faith argues the soul into patience. Faith is like that town clerk in Ephesus who allayed the contention of the multitude and argued them soberly into peace (Acts 19:35, 36). So when impatience begins to clamour and make a hubbub in the soul, faith appeases the tumult and argues the soul into holy patience. Faith says, ‘Why art thou disquieted, O my soul?’ (Psa. 42:5). ‘Are you afflicted? Is it not your Father who has done it? He is carving and polishing you and making you fit for glory. He smites that he may save. What is your trial? Is it sickness? God shakes the tree of your body so that some fruit may fall, even the “the peaceable fruit of righteousness” (Heb. 12:11). Are you driven from your home? God has prepared a city for you (Heb. 11:16). Do you suffer reproach for Christ’s sake? “The spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you” (1 Pet. 4:14).’ Thus faith argues and disputes the soul into patience.

*Question and answer written by Thomas Watson. Heard this on a radio program called Wretched radio: www.wretchedradio.com. Super encouraging! For those of you who don't listen to Wretched, check it out (*ahem, Courtney and Justin, cough, cough). :-)

Patience through suffering is good, but H-A-R-D, and it only comes, I am finding, by the grace and mercy of Almighty God. There are so many different kinds of suffering and at this moment I think I am going through all of the kinds. :-) BUT I just wanted to say: 1. Ouch! 2. Although I really want it to stop pretty soon, I also know that God has been GREATLY merciful in sending it, and that in some ways it has been such a blessing I don't want it to stop (cannot believe I just wrote that, but it is true... ahhh!).

Great is THY FAITHFULNESS, O God, my Father!

Psalm 19

"The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their measuring line goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of them and there is nothing hidden from its heat. The law of the LORD is perfect reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also then honey and drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them is your servant warned; and in keeping of them there is great reward. Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins let them not have dominion over me! Then shall I be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer." -Psalm 19

This one is one of my favorite chapters in Psalm. There is nothing like a Microbiology class and the beautiful Law and Word of God to make a person absolutely delighted with this chapter.

God is magnificent and worthy of all!

Joy: a little word that is also very... big.

Psalm 71:23 "My lips shall shout for joy when I sing praise to You."

"Joyful, joyful, we adore Thee, God of glory, Lord of love;
Hearts unfold like flowers before Thee, opening to the sun above.
Melt the clouds of sin and sadness; drive the dark of doubt away;
Giver of immortal gladness, fill us with the light of day!

All Thy works with joy surround Thee, earth and heaven reflect Thy rays,
Stars and angels sing around Thee, center of unbroken praise.
Field and forest, vale and mountain, flowery meadow, flashing sea,
Singing bird and flowing fountain call us to rejoice in Thee.

Thou art giving and forgiving, ever blessing, ever blessed,
Wellspring of the joy of living, ocean depth of happy rest!
Thou our Father, Christ our Brother, all who live in love are Thine;
Teach us how to love each other, lift us to the joy divine.

Mortals, join the happy chorus, which the morning stars began;
Father love is reigning o’er us, brother love binds man to man.
Ever singing, march we onward, victors in the midst of strife,
Joyful music leads us Sunward in the triumph song of life."

It is such a beautiful day and a great day to be alive and well in Christ! I just wanted to share this hymn with you all because it is such a reminder to be joyful in the Lord our God. While I was practicing piano today, I was frustrated with the songs that my teacher asked me to play, because they are always so HAPPY! I like the slow songs because they are easier to make pretty and easier to play. Also, it is easier to play a sad song when you are happy than it is to play a happy song when you don't feel that chipper. :-) Anyway, I was frustrated and whining about this to someone and they just laughed and said "It's good for you!". You know what? They are right!

I am studying the book of John and one thing God showed me through this book is where (oh where!) joy comes from. I used to think I could handle obedience just not the joyful part. But those two go hand in hand. In other words you can't have one without the other. So How LORD?! HOW?!

In John 13 I found Christs answer to this question:
"... when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end... Jesus knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God,rose from supper."

Knowing that the victory over sin has been won, knowing that it is God who has called me and will make me holy, and knowing that in the end I am going to Him, gives me the joy that is essential (cannot be separate from) for obedience. I have every reason to be joyful and every reason to obey such a good God who works out, by His grace and mercy, in me both to will and to do (with a joyful heart) of His good pleasure. Indeed Christ's burden is EASY and LIGHT!

Joyful, Joyful, I adore Thee God of Glory, Lord of LOVE! Wellspring of the JOY of living, Ocean Depth of happy rest!

Evangelism

Ummm, FUN. So the single most exciting thing I have done in this world is share the Gospel of Jesus. Seriously it is as scary as I imagine sky diving would be, it is more terrifying than the Superman (a great big roller coaster)at Six Flags, and more exciting than I hope snowboarding will be. Jesus Christ is an incredibly touchy subject. In fact it is downright dangerous in most parts of the world. Here in America we are pretty protected from physical harm and most verbal, but somehow that doesn't seem to make it much easier.




I used to dread sharing the gospel and when my friends would encourage me to do it I would just copy whatever they said, or I would take the other approach and softly (ever so softly) share something that resembled the gospel but still palatable to most people (i.e the gospel minus real sin, real Jesus, real repentance and real faith). However the more I "shared the gospel" the more the Lord convicted my heart that I wasn't sharing the gospel nor did I personally understand the Gospel. Sad huh?




Well it is true. Now since the Lord changed my heart, I absolutely love to share the gospel. Now that doesn't mean that I am not scared. I have gotten so nervous before that I stuttered like it was a serious birth defect. I have shaken so hard that I couldn't write out a simple e-mail address. I still get scared. But there is nothing that is more wonderful than sharing the real state of man before a holy God, and the real grace that has been made available to us through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a delight to share the change that God has made in my life. It is amazing how He has changed my desires, my loves, my motivations, my thoughts. What is more I know Him personally and He is CONTINUING to cleanse me from all my filth and sin! He is (according to Titus 2) "purifying unto Himself" a peculiar woman (I am sure you agree :-)), who is "zealous of good works." Yay!




Now there are several things that scare me initially from sharing. But the main reason I am scared is because I fear they will reject me and what I have to say. I fear they don't care and will not be changed. Sadly this is often the case. But one thing that God has taught me through two years now of sharing the gospel is this: Sharing the gospel isn't about the people that you are sharing with. Of course we should have compassion and love (without this the Scriptures say that we don't know God), and that is one reason to share, but it isn't the main reason. The main reason to share and the reason that will make every gospel sharing opportunity a joy whether the people hear you or scorn you is this: We should share the Truth of the Gospel out of obedience to Christ, and we should do it because it is our honor to be able to speak of what He has done for us.

The Lamb of God is indeed worthy of His reward, and He will receive that reward for all He has suffered. Through "preaching the gospel" God has allowed me to be a part (though the foolish part) of the redemption story of others. That is good and precious news!

There is another part to this that is kinda icky, sounds harsh and is overall distasteful to most of us. It is this: God is not only glorified by those with we share that repent but He is also glorified in those with whom we share that don't repent. *violent reaction here* :-)

I was struck with this fact when I was meditating on:

Isaiah 6:3 "...Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth [is] full of his glory."

I really struggled with the last part of this verse because I thought, "God we Christians hardly bring You glory, except in that which You do in us, let alone those in this world who reject You completely. So how can the earth be FULL of Your glory?". But as I thought about the verse, "the earth IS full of His glory", I knew that of course that had to be true. Everything had to glorify God in one way or another, at one time or another. Even when a person rejects the Lord, He is still glorified.

Jesus prayed "Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, [saying], I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again." -John 12:28

God's name is glorified whether people like it or not. Of course God is glorified in the obedience of His children. In fact God is glorified in the fact that any of us can even be called His children. But God is glorified in the disobedience of sinners too. He is glorified either way, because the world doesn't run God, nor does it benevolently give Him things He desires (like glory). The world is under God's control. He was not surprised or perplexed by sin.

Isaiah 42:8 says, "I am the LORD: that is my name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images."

So through this I have learned not to be concerned with the reaction of people when I share the gospel, because God is glorified either way they respond to the Truth of His Word. This took a huge weight off of my shoulders and helped me to see how BIG (and that is unfortunately the best word I can think of now) God really is. His glory does not depend on me or on the people with whom I am sharing. Wow!

So I hope you get a chance to share the Gospel this week, and I hope that you don't worry about the response you get. I hope you will not worry about whether you can make that person glorify God as He should be glorified. After all His Word says:

"That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." Philippians 2:10-11

One day, all men will glorify Him whether they are His children or no, because He is worthy.




I hope you can enjoy just obeying the Lord in sharing the Truth, and enjoy the fact that you have a story of redemption to share. Hope everyone has a great week!