A few pictures of my kids, one of them in the swimming pool with our inflatable boat which they love to tip over, and one of them outside a deli that had a great carved bear statue, My oldest is the boy on the right.

 

I love my kids very much but think I am going to be glad when they go back to school tomorrow. Right now they are being teenagers with attitude. Sigh, and I am the not nice one, you see, I am suggesting they finish their homework instead of waiting until the last minute. Sigh. They are such good kids, but there are days and today is one of those days.

Was hearing a teaching today about things we must do daily and point five was 1 Cor 15:31, to die daily to ourselves. I am praying hard right now to do that, instead of becoming frustrated with their rebellion. I know they will get the work done, but sometimes I wish they would see the big picture and realize that it would be less stressful for me if they did it earlier. But then again, they are all on honor roll, so perhaps I should die to this part of my frustration.

If you are interested, here are the other points.

1. Numbers 28 , two lambs to be sacrificed daily morning and night, by the priests. We are the priests of God today, and we are as Romans 12 says, to present our bodies as a living sacrifice wholy acceptable unto Him which is our resonable service.

When the alarm clock goes off, pray and ask God to help me today to live for Him, morning and evening we are to present our bodies to the Lord, and to walk in His paths. (I am good at this until my feet hit the ground, then life intervenes).

2. Psalm 86 to cry out to God daily for our needs and fears. Intercession, to pray not only for others, but also for ourselves and our needs. Acts 5:42, daily in the temple and every house do not cease to teach and preach Jesus Christ. We need to look beyond ourselves and see the big picture.

3. Acts 17:10 The Bereans received the wod with readiness and searched the scriptures. We are to daily search the scriptures. We are to search to find the Master (Jesus) not to fault the pastor. Every person will make a mistake here and there, we are to keep seeking Christ, for the Word of God is the water that washes us.

4. Hebrews 3:13 Exhort one another daily while it is called today. Exhort is the Greek Word Paraclete, which means to come alongside of and comfort. It does not mean get into another  person’s face, that does not do the work of the kingdom, but it is to gently walk alongside a person and begin to redirect steps, mostly by your actions and behaviors that they can observe.

5. 1 Cor 15:31 I die daily, take the lower place, give it up, be humble.

6. Proverbs 8:34 Wisdom, which is a picture of Jesus. Men who heareth me (Wisdom, Jesus) watching daily at My gates, waiting at the doors. Expect today to be the day that Jesus is coming, but plan as though he is going to take 100 years to come. We must be prepared, with our lamps ready, but at the same time be about His work and service.

Well, I am glad I spent a few minutes in the Word to calm myself. I think I have to give this over to Jesus and let him do the work on the kids.

Hope you are having a great Memorial Day, my boys marched in the Memorial Day parade because their sponsor is our local VFW Hall.

It is now sunny and pretty. Think I will just enjoy the sun.

Heather

Friday Bible study:

Pastor Ted spoke about Confusion

2 Cor. 3:6 “…for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

Pastor Ted asked why there was so much confusion about the Bible. He said it doesn’t matter how much information you have about the Bible, how many verses you memorize, etc, unless it is from the Spirit of Life that we receive our revelations from God.

People can take the Word of God and manipulate it to portray their own views, but what really matters is the Rhea word, what God says.

If God is not the author of confusion, why are we so confused?

It is not how much Bible we know, but how much Bible we live.

We went over the book of Job. God pointed out Job to satan as being a righteous man. Pastor Ted asked us if we were prepared by our lives, if God would point us out to satan as a righteous person who could be tested?

In Job 10, Job was going through emotions. We say we know God, but when things go bad, we question God. If we know that what God has for us is good, we need to begin to look beyond our immediate circumstances, what the appearances say about our situation, and look to God when things are tough.

Pastor Ted also pointed out that often when a person is sick they go to the pastor or someone for healing. Their idea of healing is the external circumstance, a healing of the symptom, but the healing that is full deals not only with the symptom but also the cause. Pastor Ted quoted, my people perish for lack of knowledge.

If the healing does not also heal the root cause of the problem, then the symptom could come back. This is not beneficial to the person, and also dims the testimony of God for people will see the symptom return and then say that God didn’t do right.

Satan comes to steal and destroy, to kill our peace, to oppress us through our mind. To steal the Word of God.

If we are caught in the circumstances of our life, we may end up hurting ourselves with our tongue by saying the wrong confession, by not stating God’s Word, but rather what we see through our mind, will, emotions. Satan is ever glad when we speak out our circumstances, for it pulls us off of God’s course for us.

God cannot lie, he knows us, he knew us before we were formed in the womb. The Bible says we are citizens in Heavenly Places. We are ambassadors of God’s kingdom. And Jesus gave us all power and authority over all of the enemy.

Confusion robs us, it causes us to not act on what we have been given from God. If we don’t yield to what God says, we become part of satan’s kingdom.

Regardless of what it looks like, if you know who you are in Christ, you can rest on that. The problem comes, then we speak. What will we speak, satan’s words, or a Rhema word from God. God’s words have power, and we can have all that Christ says we can have, there should be a peace that surpasses all understanding if we are resting in Christ.

We overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and the Word of our testimony (it says in Revelation), if we are not saying God’s word, we are resting in the enemy’s camp.

Familiar Spirits- they know our weaknesses, are familiar with what will pull us down. In order to fight the familiar spirits, we need to simply say God’s word into the situation. We do not need elaborate exorcisms, or deliverance ceremonies, it is a simple thing. One tiny light will dispel the darkness. We are not to focus on the familiar spirits for that gives them power, rather to focus on God and His Word.

We need to pray for the gift of discernment when we face a situation. God’s word says that no weapon formed against us will prosper. It doesn’t say that no weapon will be formed. It says that it will not prosper.

In our walks in life we will meet with challenges,

God is getting us back to his presence.

1 Samuel 1:3 Shiloh, means a place of rest. Eli and his sons were the priests, and had responsibilities to the temple. God destroyed Eli’s sons because they were disobedient to God’s command. Eli died, and his line was lost. Samuel, who obeyed God became the High Priest.

We are a royal priesthood, a holy nation.

Pastor Ted pointed out how much depth there is in the Word of God, that even the names of people speak wisdom to us if we use our concordance and find out.

For example. Shiloh means place of rest

Eli’s two son’s names: Hophni means fist or fight
                                  Phinehas means oracle or mouth of a serpent

During a battle these priests called for the ark of the covenant, but it was not a call God gave, and the end result was the ark was lost to the people for a time.

We must get our words and actions both into line with God’s words.

Other names:

Zacharius – God has remembered
Elizabeth-Oath of God, God is an oath
Mary – bitterness rebellion

The Mary meaning surprised us, but Pastor Ted pointed out that through woman, Genesis 3, God was going to bring redemption to the World.

Adam and Eve rebelled, and they then had to live out the consequences of their rebellion. It was through a woman, Mary, that the bitterness and rebellion would be healed, because of Christ.

We have to remember, whatever our situation

Philippians 4: 6-7 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

This Bible study spoke particularly loudly to me because it has been a time of confusion and conflicting emotions for me. Depression has been a struggle, and I have been doing some pretty self-destructive things with my diet and running from things I shouldn’t be running from. This was truly a word in time for me.

As always, any mistakes are mine and my note taking. not the pastor’s.

Heather

Store Wars, don’t miss this movie!!!

I was laughing so hard at this, figured you would enjoy seeing this.

Heather

http://www.storewars.org/flash/index.html

Friday’s Bible study (a few days late)

The Call of God

This call is established on four levels.

1. Salvation
2. Service (everyone has a calling to serve in some capacity)
3. Initiate the call, to be a vehicle that calls or makes other people aware of their calling.
4. Mentor the call

The call of God has nothing to do with age. Moses was 80 years old, in the backside of the desert. This calling of Moses was prophesied when he was a child, and Moses did not wait until God’s timing, he stepped into it early, killing a guard, and ended up in exile for 40 years, learning what God wanted him to learn, then God made the call.

God placed Jethro in Moses’ life to help mentor Moses. Jethro helped Moses organize better, so that Moses could get about the business God had in mind for him without being side-tracked by petty squabbles.

When God brings forth fruit, the fruit has a seed in it.

Matthew 20:1-16 is the parable of the vineyard workers and their wages. v. 16 “So the last will be first, and the first last. For many are called, but few chosen.“

God made a call and arranged payment with the workers of a denaris, which was a day’s wage of about $38. The laborer had a choice to accept or reject the deal. When God calls us to salvation, he will let us know what the deal is, abundant life (but at times that may be with persecution). The call may come early or late in our lives.

We are so fortunate that God is an 11th hour God. We should not be comparing our lives to others, even if others seem to be doing less to get the same reward. It is not about who started first, comparison and greed. God put the call of salvation out, and it is good whether you receive it at 7 years or 80 years old. God just wants to get you into the field. The reward is the same, no matter the age.

The reward is ETERNAL life. How can you get EXTRA eternal life? In the scope of eternal life, that is kind of ridiculous.

Matthew 20: 17-19 “Now Jesus, going up to Jerusalem, took the twelve disciples aside on the road and said to them, ‘Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and to the scribes; and they will condemn Him to death, and deliver Him to the Gentiles to mock and to scourge and to crucify. And the third day He will rise again.‘”

Right after Jesus gives the call to the workers, he tells about his death and resurrection. He gives the gospel by which the vineyard workers will be saved in the same context.

Pastor Don then made a point of saying that it doesn’t matter if you are 30 years saved or one day saved. If a person who is 30 years saved has to throw that fact into the face of someone who is newly saved, than the person who is 30 years saved has some major issues to resolve. We do not rest on the number of years in the Kingdom. A newly saved person could have remarkable insight, it isn’t about the time “served” but about being in the Kingdom. We should be humble.

How did Jesus make the choice, the choosing. He says, many are called, few are chosen. Why are some people chosen in the 11th hour? Perhaps they were in the wrong field and did not realize it until then, it might have taken time for them to figure out that the path they were taking was fruitless.

ALL got called, but your attitude determines how God chooses. God lets us make the call whether we accept his calling or not. He will not twist our arms. Matt. 20:13-15 “But he answered one of them and said, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius? Take what is yours and go your way. I wish to give to this last man the same as to you. Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things/ Or is your eye evil because I am good?‘”

We have to deal with God directly. He does not have grand kids, we are his children and we make our choice directly with God.

It is our choice whether we go to heaven or hell, complain or agree, do the work God wants us to do or not.

People eliminate themselves from the process.

Jesus will seek you and will draft you and give you what is right.

Romans 8:28 “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

Most people only quote the first half of this verse, leaving out the being called according to His purpose. If you say it out of context it can lead to confusion in people. For when we walk in our own ways, God is not honor bound to make our own choices come out to God, it it is not part of God’s purpose for us.

Some people assume that God engineers all things, good and bad, to produce something.  God does not need to do that. We can learn from the experience of others (in the Bible or in our lives). We don’t need to learn from bad experiences in our own lives. If we are open to learning from God or others, we can skip a lot of bad experiences in our lives.

The law of God is not that everything that happens to you will turn out to the good. If God calls you to a particular path, then everything that happens is God’s responsibility. If God did not call you to do something, then it is not according to His purpose.

Romans 8:26-28 reminds us to pray in the spirit to find out God’s will for us.

Sometimes God has saints intercede for other saints who are to carry out God’s purpose. Sometimes we wake up and feel the urge to pray, but don’t know why or about what. So we pray in the spirit and it could be at the exact time that God needed a prayer to intercede in another person’s life.

Some seem to believe that all need to be martyred, but Hebrews 11 is full of people who received abundant blessings from God and were not martyred. Abraham died in faith, Isaac, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, etc. were not martyred.

Some are martyred, and they made the decision to do so, and for that receive a better resurrection. I asked if that didn’t conflict with the previous Matt. 20 passage that all would receive the same wages, but Pastor Don pointed out that there were crowns.

Jesus wondered at one point if when He came again He would find faith on the earth. In these last days we are to pray. God needs our prayer to do His will on the earth.

Feelings have nothing to do with faith, Faith sets the mood for feelings. And then you bring your feelings to your faith.

God calls us before we were born. He knows we will be a success at what He calls us to do. We just have to do what God calls us to do.

Why fall in love with your feelings which will destroy you?

God will use us in what we have faith to do. In Acts, Philip went to Samaria, and did many miracles.  But Philip sent for John and Peter to baptize the Samarians in the Holy Spirit. Philip did not have the faith to lay hands on them and impart the Holy Spirit. God will do what you have faith for.

The church has not done its job. It does not say to fallen people, you can get back up and ride. You can get back to God. You disobeyed God, but he did not throw you out, just repent and get back to God.

1 Cor 1:24-29 If God can do something with something that is not much, God can get all the glory.

1 Cor 7: 15, 20-24 This is passages about marriage, but it is also passages about service, or any calling. (verses 17-24 are not just about callings from God but also about marriage).

If you have a calling as a kitchen worker, then God calls you to serve as a pastor, that does not mean that the calling as a kitchen worker disappears. It is still there and can be used if needed by God. There is no problem with a pastor serving a stint as a kitchen worker if it advances God’s plan.

We also need to remember that God does not want us to suffer anything He has not called us to suffer. We have to be careful not to ascribe our daily aches and pains and hurts, or poverty, loneliness, etc to be something that God wanted to advance His kingdom. He is not always involved in our suffering and it dishonors God to put Him in the picture of wanting the suffering to expand His glory if that was not His purpose for us.

John 10: 1-3 Jesus said that His sheep hear his voice and respond. In Jerusalem, Pastor Don told us, at night all sheep were corralled into a pen, and many shepherds were there, each taking a turn to guard everyone’s sheep. In the morning, the shepherd would stand at the gate, and call out. The sheep that belonged to that shepherd would come at the sound of his voice.

We must be certain that the call we receive is really from our shepherd.

God has  something for us to do, he has a calling for us. We must make sure we are following our shepherd with His calling for us.

Ephesians 4:4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in the hope of your calling.”

As always, these are my notes from the Bible study, if there are any errors, it is me, not Pastor Don who would be in error.

Heather

Not able to sleep right now, so I thought I would share a bit of what is on my mind tonight.

Most who read this know of my past. If you don’t, there are entries about my past on March 15, 19, 29, 31 and April 2, 7 and 16 of this year.

I was talking with Pastor Don today, and the topic came up about my past and how it sometimes interferes with my sexual relations with my husband. There are a lot of far reaching aspects of this.

Tonight you could almost imagine that there was an angel on one shoulder and satan on the other, and a grand debate. This is what I wanted to share a bit about tonight.

I am such a firm believer of abstinence before marriage, and I pray that my kids will keep that in their lives. I did not do so and I think that there are consequences for not honoring abstinence that you don’t think about in a moment of the flesh. And these consequences, unless healed by Christ, will continue forever.

When a person abstains from sex before marriage, they hold themselves pure for their mate. When two people are pure and are joined in marriage, their relationship is an awesome adventure of discovery and joy. They have no preconceived notions, no memories, and what they build together is an awesome relationship, closeness, and bonding, where two become one. 

Without abstinence the person may start comparing one relationship to another, and things are brought in between the two couples.

In my case, what happened to me was forced on me by my father initially. When he sexually assaulted me, ultimately raping me, he took from me an innocence that feels irreplaceable. I felt violated. I didn’t use those words back then, I just felt gruddy, dirty, and couldn’t somehow get myself clean. In that situation, after he left the room around two or so in the morning, I had to lay in all the crud, not getting up to wash for fear of angering him and risking my life (literally). It was only after he went to work in the morning that I could get up and clean myself, and then my mom would start her questioning. This would inevitably lead to the lectures of why didn’t I push his hand away, etc. Something I couldn’t do because if I had resisted him I would have been dead. I had no illusions about that.

Well when I became a young adult, I figured I was already ruined, so anything any man wanted of me I just gave him to get it out of the way. And then after my first failed marriage, I started seeking help, and did not form a bonding relationship, but still had a hard time saying no if a man was insistent.

What I came away with from my past was a sense that somehow I was substandard. That something must have been wrong with me because of what my father was doing to me. That somehow if I were better, nicer, kinder, smarter, or whatever then my father would not have assaulted me. I felt violated, dirty and shame. And because of those feelings, I did actions that only served as self-validation of the fact that I was dirty and shameful. I made things worse by my reaction to what happened. I wish I had chosen alternative actions, but I didn’t and it is something I have to live with forever.

A love and a trust was lost by those senseless actions of my parents. Something that I keep seeking for, and sought in so many ways that were self-destructive. I think I am still seeking that kind of love and acceptance.

Well there is a part of me that feels that I am completely ruined, and that no way can there ever be a “normal” me. No way can the damage be repaired. (Now Pastor Don would tell me that was the voice of satan, that satan wants me to feel that way so I will be ineffective in God’s kingdom). But a part of me really does feel that the loss of innocence, the violation, and the rape has torn me to shreds. That I never had a chance to form a normal relationship, that somehow it will always color my relationship with my husband, that I am ruined forever.

Then there is the spiritual part of me that knows the scripture, that realizes that God can do anything He wishes, that nothing is impossible for God. I know that Jesus restored so many people, forgave their sins, made them whole, and that he was compassionate with those who suffered. That he forgave the woman caught in adultery, the woman at the well, etc. That I am limiting God when I feel that He cannot somehow heal and make the past wiped out. I know that the Word says I am a new Creation in Christ.

Well I struggle and erroneous thoughts come in, if God could have really healed me, then why didn’t he stop the hurt in the past so that I did not have to deal with these issues. I have to tell you that there is resentment that I have to sort through these things, that somehow people tell me that God will use it for good, that there will be blessings connected with the past, that God will turn the ashes to something of beauty. Well, I kind of wish that I had one of those fairytale childhoods, with two parents who loved me, feeling safe and protected, giving my life to God at an early age, walking in the Lord, etc. But NOOOOO, somehow God decided to permit satan to ruin my life from an early age, and I can’t help but struggle and ask why.

All the arguments that protect God can sometimes be very frustrating. You know the ones that God cried when they hurt me, that God did not plan for this for me, that satan was the one who did this, etc. And in my periodic bouts of anger at God, I often wonder if God was so all-powerful, why did He hate me so to permit what went on.

Then the better part of me comes in and realizes that I am angry at the wrong person, that it isn’t God that I should be angry at, but satan, and what satan did and is doing, and that I should be fighting this, using all the spiritual weapons that God gave me.

Do you ever get tired of fighting though? I sure do. And it angers me that at times a particular way of being touched by my husband will evoke memories, that dieting will cause feelings and memories to surface. That never once in my whole life did I feel safe. And that, because of the two people who I had as parents, I chose wrong. And then of course I am mad at myself for choosing wrong, because there have been others in similar situations that did not make the wrong choices I made.

Oh, bother. I hope one day this stuff gets sorted out. Sorry for venting, but it is a struggle, and just once I wish I had one of those ideal lifestyles that did not have that sort of struggle. But then I also realize that everyone has struggles, and that I am not alone in this.

I am praying that tomorrow is a better day. Please keep me in prayer as I sort through this stuff.

Heather 

 

Today I think I am taking my kids to see Star Wars (must have my head examined) they want to see it this weekend, instead of waiting a few weekends when the theatre is less crowded. But I do know it is important to a teen, sigh.

Today is Bible study, so I am looking forward to that, but my sister-in-law sent me a joke that appealed to my sense of humor, before coffee this morning, so now you will know why coffee is such a crucial element in my morning routine.

Joke:

Q. If a fire hydrant has H20 on the inside, what does it have on the outside?

A. K9P

The coffee is done, you are spared.

Heather

Hiccuping Kittens, http://www.xanga.com/home.aspx?user=HiccupingKittens has issued a challenge of writing an essay about your five points in your life, but you have to link the essay to five songs. Here is what I came up with.

Somewhere over the Rainbow from the Wizard of Oz.

I remember watching this movie when I was a little girl on TV. It usually came on between two important football games either around Thanksgiving or Christmas. It was one of the few children’s movies I could watch on TV when my father was home, and that was because there weren’t any good sports events on TV when the movie aired. I used to be puzzled when Dorothy would click her ruby red slippers together to come home. Due to the abuse I received, as a child, I would think to myself that if I were in OZ, then I would stay there. Who would ever want to leave such a spot. —Years later, when I was going through my hippie phase they brought this movie back to the big screen. I grew up with black and white tv, so in an drug induced state I was in awe when the movie went to color after Dorothy went to OZ. I actually had to go back to see the movie without any drugs in me to make sure that I was really seeing what I saw.

Sounds of Silence by Simon and Garfunkle

As a teen I was introduced to this song as a poem in my English class. I loved it so much that it became the first full album I purchased. It was followed by many others. But this song was one I really bonded to. “But echoed in thoe Sounds of Silence.” It was filled with all the rhetoric of the things that I felt was wrong with society, it accurately portrayed the depression and angst that I was feeling, and at that time I felt so terribly alone. In the 60′s and 70′s not much about incest and abuse were talked about, it was one of those dirty and dark secrets. So I felt alone, isolated, and depressed and suicidal. This song met that mood perfectly, as did a few of the other Simon and Garfunkle songs like I am a Rock and Bridge over Troubled Waters. It is hard to pin down your life in only five songs. But it started a period of time where I wrote poetry. I don’t know where those poems are now, but only one stayed in my mind.

I shared it before, but here is what I can remember. I guess I remember it because it is my first poem.

In a Corner

In a Corner
all alone,
I sit and bemoan
All the evils in society
I see so clearly inside of me.

(Chorus) But it is hopless and of no avail,
for any atttempt at solution will fail.

Race riots, robberies, killings elections
Lead me to many strange reflections
Of societies crumbling,
And governments tumbling.

(Chorus)

 

 

The soundtrack for the movie Billy Jack

I fanticized so much about being in a school like this movie portrayed. A place where maybe healing could occur and where I would be loved somehow. I kept thinking about one of the main characters, a girl who came to the school pregnant, and was beaten by her father, so she ran away to this Indian school for protection. The school protected her, and helped to reach through her self-imposed isolation. She liked an Indian at the school and offered to sleep with him. He told her that she was an anybody, she would sleep with anybody, but he wanted her to know that he loved her without any demands, that he loved her because she was somebody, and he would not sleep with her. Of course he got killed by the hicks of the town. Funny how the world can steal the few moments of joy that this person had.  I could relate to that part of the movie because at that time I was an anybody.

The movie had everything, a hero, close minded people, and love. Lots of love portrayed in the movie. I can’t tell you how many times I watched that movie. It spoke so clearly to my heart. It is funny but I think I kept struggling through all my life, looking for love, that kind of agape love the movie portrayed at that school. And finally after 40 years I found it in the one place I had rejected when I was 8, in God.

God is alive, Magic is afoot by BuffySt. Marie.

Well this song is the hymn of my pagan days. We loved that song when I was a member of the neopagan group I used to belong to. (I am not including names now for the group still exists). We would play this song over and over. Any of her songs, Joni Mitchell, and Joan Baez could fit in this. It was so back to the earth, thou art God, and do your own thing. Karma, alternative religions, etc. Really like in Romans were we worshipped the creation rather than the creator.

The Potter’s Hand. Shout to the Lord, Breath, or any praise and worship songs. Now my desire is to draw closer to the Lord, and these songs are bittersweet to me. I want so much to have that close relationship with God, but even though my head knows that this is what I have due to my salvation and the promises of the Bible, I often feel that I am still looking for that agape love in my heart. There is still a lot of healing that has to occur before I can fully grasp the love promised in these songs.

Hope you enjoyed this essay, challenging as it was to pin it down to a few songs.

Heather

Last night at Bible study, someone asked a question. They heard a teaching on TV where the person speaking said that we are not the Bride of Christ, but the Body of Christ and that anyone teaching that we are the Bride of Christ was in Biblical error.

Pastor Don told us, in answer that we have to understand God in context of space and time. Who is God speaking to in space and time.

Revelation 19:11 – on: Christ is making his move on the White Horse, there is judgments, and he is making war against the enemy, and the Day of the Lord is set in motion.

Revelation 19:20 beast and false prophet sent to lake of fire. There is no mention of the Bride of Jesus in Chapter 19

Chapter 20 there is the millennial reign, the book of life is opened, death and hades put in lake of fire.

God is closing the book on the history of man. There is now a transition of relationship. Those who did not accept Christ have been cast in the lake of fire, and those who are left are now spiritual beings.

The balance has changed from a dominance of physical over spiritual to spiritual over physical.

The Eternal is permanent.

The Bible is the history of men on Earth. It does not tell us what happened before creation, and what happens after Revelation.

Pastor Don said that as a kid he used to try and imagine what life would be like. In Heaven it will not be boring, for it will be beyond anything we can ever imagine.

Pastor Don said that he and his friend used to spend time contemplating the vastness of God, something that is so awesome and beyond the scope of our thinking. That God is the eternal now. Now in every aspect of creation.

Time was invented for man.

Ch. 21 of Revelation, a new heaven and a new earth. New Jerusalem, like a bride adorned for her husband.

Ch 21:9 “Come, I will show you that bride…the Lamb’s wife..”

Another place in the Bible, the New Jerusalem is described as made of translucent stones, living stones. And we are living stones.

Then God will tabernacle with his people, and we are the people, that surrounds the holy of holies, God.

The key element of living stones is that they are translucent, and transparent, and we can look through them to the other side. We are trying to live our lives on this earth like living stones. We should be transparent and translucent in our lives so when people look at us they see God.

As living stones now, we are being shaped and formed by our circumstances. By the people around us, by the church, by our family and friends.

Then Pastor Don talked about how Christ would treat his church, and brought up the Ephesians 5:22 passages, about husbands and wives. He said that not only does this describe the physical marriage, but also the behavior of the body of Christ (which is being formed to be the bride of Christ).

Some men in the church think that this passage means that they can dominate all women, but it clearly says “own”: your own wives, not someone else’s wife.

And they are to love them the way Christ loved the church, which means being willing to lay their lives down for the wife like Christ laid down his life for the Church.

The Bible study went into some aspects of marriage, like talking with your spouse, because the husband is the head of the wife, that does not mean that he doesn’t listen to her, they are two made one, just like Christ and his Bride will be made one. The husband also needs to remember that Christ is the head over him, and that he is to be obedient to Christ as well.

Pastor Don talked about how important it is to talk with your spouse, for when you date, you do not really know the spouse, it is only after time of being together and talking that you begin to know your spouse.

Wives must respect their husband, often obedience and giving to them is easy, but respect is harder. If you respect your husband, even if you think he is not worthy of respect, your husband will grow to be the person whom you can respect.

Because Christ is the head of the church, it signifies that it is part of the Body. Pastor Don made a point of saying he does not consider himself the head of the church, he would like to be like a neck, where the neck muscles adjust to which way the head (Christ) is turning.

So in essence we are the body of Christ, being formed into the Bride of Christ. It is like the betrothal of a marriage, in the Hebrew tradition it could be done when a child was a baby, and then the people grew into the role until it was time to be married. We are still babies, growing into the Body, and soon to become the bride.

Then someone asked why it seemed that lately their life was shambles, that they are doing their best to get their act together, and one thing after another seemed to go wrong. But they are staying true to the Word of God.

Pastor Don said that we need to have a value system according to Christ’s values. Christ will provide for us what we need, but often what we perceive we need is not what Christ (with a far reaching perspective) knows that we need. Sometimes when we are close to a breakthrough, the adversary puts all the guns out and tries to throw us off course. If we keep our focus on Jesus, then we will not be tripped up by satan.

He asked us, have you ever noticed that something that seems like a tragedy, can be a stepping stone for one person, and for the other it is a disaster.

It depends on your focus. He talked about how at one point he and his wife were so poor they lived in a trailer on cinderblocks, and had to scrape together money to get fuel for the kerosene heater. They did not have a car, so they had to bring it to the trailer on a sled, through about a mile of snow, for they did not have a plow to plow the driveway. Then their pipes broke.

Pastor Don pointed out that he had been rich and he had been poor. Obviously rich is better, but he said that he and his wife were happy when they were poor. It is not finances that lead to happiness. If they did, then there would not be so many suicides and destructive behavior being done by people who were rich.

If you are in the Mind of Christ, you can take your disaster and do something bigger and better. If you are not in the mind of Christ, the disaster could be just a disaster.

Every bad thing that happens is not sent by God, but God will use what satan meant for bad to bless us, to help us learn what God wants us to learn. He will turn the ashes into roses.

He told us to remember, “Your attitude determines your outcome.”

 

Some of this is again new concepts for me, so I have tried to take accurate notes, but if there is an error, it is not Pastor Don, it is my mistake in understanding.

Hope you have an awesome day.

Heather

This weekend was an anniversary for Pastor Don and his ministry. In honor of that, his brother Pastor Jerry Moore flew in from California to help celebrate. He is an awesome pastor as well.

What was funny was that before he started preaching he told us a few tales of how he and his brother got in trouble as kids. One that had us rolling was that, despite repeated warnings not to jump on the bed, they would go into their parent’s room, jump from the dresser onto the bed, and as they got more daring, they started jumping from a higher dresser. The bed broke and the boys repaired it as best they could, not confessing to their parents about the mishap. The parents found out about the broken bed the hard way. Since their parents spanked, Pastor Jerry cushioned his bottom with a towel, and took his swats howling very loud. Pastor Don copied his older brother, only did more so, he put not only a thin towel, but several of them so that the deception was noticed. Of course Pastor Don’s father (also a pastor) found out, and pastor Don ratted on his brother and they received their punishment without padding.

Another incident involved Pastor Don and his younger brother baking cookies, and the older brother Pastor Jerry and friends were mocking this act, until the cookies were done, whereupon Pastor Jerry took one, Pastor Don chased him, and then the other cookies were attacked by Pastor Jerry’s friends. So Pastor Don and his younger brother had to guard the cookies, eating with one hand and holding a hammer to guard the cookies with another.

To repay this past theft of cookies, Pastor Jerry brought cookies to share with Pastor Don and the congregation after services.

Pastor Jerry also spoke on Sunday.

He talked about how, when Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, satan left him until an opportune time. Satan is waiting to pounce at the least sign of weakness in you. Satan cannot be everywhere, he is finite, so sometimes he will leave us alone for awhile. Then when our guard is down, he will pounce. So we are not to sleep but to be ready.

Because this was an anniversary, Pastor Jerry asked a question, Are we a church of God, a valid ministry. Who validates us.

We don’t turn to the world for approval. So by world standards we seem strange. Worldy criteria doesn’t work. We don’t need validation from them because our goals are different from the world’s.

We set our values along the Word of God, accept them, and strive to reach the goal that is worth attaining. And just like Christ asked His disciples, who do men say that I am, we have to ask ourselves, who do men say that we are.

Our highest calling is to desire to know and do the will of God. We wouldn’t have a will if God did not place it in us. We need to be God called. Most of people in history are MAN called.

Sometimes God uses people to call his people. For example Samuel came to anoint David. Samuel ws sent by God.

Samuel heard a voice calling when he was a child in the temple. He did not know it was God calling Him. It took Eli to instruct Samuel to say Here I am.

Sometimes we confuse the office with the gift from God. We have to know that the gift is from God, and sometimes the office does not negate the gift. The example he gave was that a person may have a gift of healing or prophesy. That person could be a pastor, but they could just as well be a janitor, a bagger in a supermarket, a teacher. They could be a healer in overalls.

Even though they are not in a church official position, they may be in a position where they would be best able to serve God. God may place you in a position where you can use the gift where he wants you to use it. For example a person may not come to church but they do go grocery shopping, etc.

We have to discern if a desire for a particular ministry is a call from God or a call from the flesh. The best way to know this is to ask God, your pastor, your elders.

Peter asked Jesus to tell him to get out of the boat and walk on the water. He did ok until he took his eyes off of Jesus. We can operate in a calling or gift and we will do well as long as our eyes are focused on Jesus.

We also have to be aware of God’s timing. God has a plan for us and a set time frame. We do not do well if we jump the gun and go ahead of God’s timing. We will not be nearly as effective as if we waited until God was ready to use us.

Moses stepped out of time when he tried to speak for the people of Israel. Instead he ended up killing a guard, and had to escape to the wilderness. It was in the wilderness that God shaped Moses to be a shepherd, and when he returned to Egypt he was ready to step into the role that God had planned for him.

We may have to sit a little longer than we want, but it is better to wait until God has fully prepared you. If you have questions, go to your pastor or the elders of the church and share what God has told you. Let them help you to seek the will of God in the situation.

We are all called to spread the good news, and the Holy Spirit will be beside you as you do this. We have to be praying, your pastor has to be praying, the church has to be praying.

Seek God’s will, do things in order. Seek God about what He wants you to do, He has to be the head, Pray for it, ask for it, and be submissive to the will of God.

Pastor Jerry told us about 8 years ago Pastor Don preached a sermon called Get out of da boat. In order to accomplish God’s work you have to get out of da boat. In our daily lives we have to get out of da boat, take the first step, you may fall, but God will come alongside of you. Have you grown in the past year, if you have then you know that you got out of da boat.

Then he told us to stay out of da boat, keep walking on, never go back, and don’t let the devil bring you back to da boat. When Jesus comes he needs to find you out of the boat.

Keep in the will of God so that you do not squash the gifts of the spirit. And we have to remember that our lives are part of the next chapter (unwritten as of yet) of the book of Acts.

It was great to see Pastor Jerry, and to hear him sing and share with us. We are so blessed to have such remarkable pastors coming through our church.

Heather

I had a wonderful gift given to me this morning. We had gone to mass last night due to the kids’ religious education classes, so today was to be a day of rest. When I woke up, Jim put a cup of coffee in my hand and told me to go of to Living Word Chapel for services. He offered, so I took him up on it. I got there a few minutes late, but it was a service definitely meant for me. I got filled with three hours of blessing, I was so grateful to Jim. And the other bit of good news is that because the 7th grade ccd classes are so small, they may combine 7th and 8th next year and give both grades confirmation. I am praying that happens, because that is something Jim really wants the kids to have, and it would free up a lot of time that I could then spend at Living Word Chapel. Pray hard.

I will share what I wrote from the sermon, but it is not as thorough as what notes I can take at a Bible study.

This is Pentecost Sunday, when the Holy Spirit came down on the apostles and those in the upper room.

First Pastor Don was talking about how satan can beat a person down. He said that when the devil beats us in a certain arena of our life, he keeps working on that area. When we begin to make changes in the area where we used to succumb, then the devil keeps trying to beat us down in that area, he only has a few tricks and keeps repeating them over and over.

God in the heavenlies has set us free, and he have to begin to realize that we are free. Sometimes we wonder how come an adictive personalit doesn’t have a challenge when they decide to give up an addiction. When you are a slave, and decide to give up an addiction, to get free you need supernatural help. You are in a spiritual battle. Sometimes satan will leave you alone at first, until you let your guard down, and then in a moment of weakness he will come in to attack you at that point. So it is important to keep your spiritual armour on.

If you recall, Pastor Don said, when satan tempted Christ in the wilderness, he left him alone until a more oppurtune time. Satan didn’t give up and wanted to catch Jesus at a moment of weakness. satan did not succeed in that with Jesus, but often we let our guard down.

Changes don’t have to be hard, they have to be a faith decision in the heavenlies. And it doesn’t need tons of faith either. When satan comes to remind you that you are a slave, you have to remind him who you are in Christ. Your body is your body, and it must obey what you tell it to do.

Then we went to Acts (for Pentecost) Acts 1:4 The promise of the Father when he first set the feast of pentecost was to set people free. And that is why at Pentecost the Father sent the Holy Spirit, to be a helper, comforter, encourager, and to set us free.

There is a baptism of the Holy Spirit, for in John 3, Jesus told Nicodemus that he needed to be baptised with water and the Spirt. The Spirit of GOd births you. When Jesus came, all mysteries are revealed. So do not let people tell you that they have a handle on mysteries, or that things are not clearly spelled out in the Word of God.

Water is the Word of God, Spirit is the Spirit of God.

Acts 1:5, when people are baptised today, they receive the Spirit of God, but even though they have the Holy Spirit within, doesn’t mean that they are acting with the full power that having the Holy Spirit gives them. Some Christians are wandering around in their spiritual lives on a starvation diet.

Acts 1:7-8 Jesus is speaking to people who are already born again (they recognize the savior in their lives), they have the Holy Spirit which came upon them, and now they are receiving the Holy Spirit power.

We were asked to say the following, “I do have the Holy Spirit, I’m born again, I do have sufficient power. I do not have to beg or plead, just ask in the name of Jesus. We ask and we will receive the Holy Spirit with power from God.

We need to be living above the level of existence of our unsaved friends. That does not mean necessarily having more money, or tangible things, but it means the fruit of the spirit. That the quality of life, is large, and when a person sees you, they see the love of God expressed through you.

*****

I heard a new praise song to me called “Use Me”. It was awesome and during the praise song the thoughts came to me, as the lyrics said, “If you can use anything Lord, you can use me.” It caused me to realize that I often sell God short. If I feel unworthy or unable to do what God wants me to do, than I would have no problem realzing that it is God who does the good thing through me. Then if God could use a donkey, then he most certainly can use me.

It was an awsome revelation. Then Pastor Don’s brother Jerry Moore spoke. He was visiting from California. I will share that later, but am being kicked off computer by my husband. sigh.

Have a great day.

Heather