Sunday, December 17, 2023

Lessons Learned


I've been gluten free for over a year. I'm do not have celiacs, so gluten won't kill me. However, with my Hosimoto's gluten is like a poison. Now I'm an intelligent woman and I get this! 

Unfortunately, Saturday I decided to throw caution to the wind. I ate bread! Well, it took about an hour for the inflammation to start accumulating and then just an overall feeling of yuck took over. So, why did I do it, because I could. I felt sad at all I've given up and still not seeing the results I want in my body; however, my choices weren't constructive at all.

It was a perfect example of how sin creeps into our lives. We start out thinking, "Oh, I'll just do this (insert sin) a little, and the next thing we know it has taken over. 

You see I knew not to eat the bread. I knew what it would do. But I started thinking, "Everybody else eats bread and they don't gain weight. Even though I knew it wouldn't be beneficial. 

I'm so glad that God's grace is new each and every day. Thankfully, that grace is in abundance and greater than all our sin!

 


Saturday, November 11, 2023

What to leave behind

 Allistair Beggs said, "If you are in Christ, the promise of Abraham is yours."

 So what is the promise of Abraham?

"I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and him who dishonors you I will curse, and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed." Genesis 12:1-3
Friend, I've been thinking a lot about what to leave behind. First, I want to leave a trail of Jesus's grace. I want others to see a life that didn't have a "worldly" standard of success, but was set apart from Day 1. 

Next, I want to leave a love of reading. As I read everything I asked my students to read I pray they absorb a love of words. I want words to speak to the heart of those I've loved. 

God told Abraham he would be a blessing. May that be so in my life!

Sunday, October 29, 2023

A Day of Rest

 Several things have been going through my mind for the last few weeks - rest, grace, and the Sabbath. I haven't made a connection until today.

On Saturday, I saw a teacher blog post that had a PLU slide. It said, "How to survive your season of suffering." As if our job is a picture of suffering. How sad is that? That a presenter had to tell young teachers to remember to eat, drink water, and rest. Needless to say, this got me thinking.

Teaching today is a 24/7 job. Literally! I work roughly nine hours a day in the brick and mortar building. I come home, cook, wash dishes, and usually do another hour or two of work. Sunday, I usually spend three or four hours working. Matt calls it "Teachers subsidizing education." He isn't far from the truth, besides my unpaid time, I supplement my curriculum at my expense.

So as these thoughts pressed in I thought about rest. At church our guest speaker spoke on "Sabbath Rest." At this point Dan just stares at me and I said, "Ok God, I'm listening."

Did you know rest is mentioned between 390 and 520 times in the Bible depending on your translation?

  The Hebrew word "sabat" means "to rest or stop or cease from work." The fourth commandment tells us, "To "remember" the Sabbath day and "keep it holy." One day out of every seven, they were to rest from their labors and give the same day of rest to their servants and animals. This was not just a physical rest, but a cessation of laboring." (gotquestions.org)

 Hebrews 4:9-11 says, “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience”

Like most people my age I grew up practicing a form of "rest," which for us was on Sunday. We didn't cook, clean, shop, or do laundry on Sunday. We went to church and relaxed. 

Now friend, I completely understand that there is no rest without Jesus. However, as I pondered these things I thought of all I have on my to do list, and then I pondered one day of no work, thinking about work, or reading about work. Could I even do it? Is it even possible to disconnect from work, something that is a huge part of who I am? Would it give me a new outlook on life and work? Would it make me a better teacher in the long run?

The Westminster Larger Catechism says, "...we are to prepare our hearts, and with such foresight, diligence, and moderation, to dispose and seasonably dispatch our worldly business, that we may be the more free and fit for the duties of that day.

Friend, I probably don't have an answer to this, but I do know that teaching in this time is the hardest profession around. And if we don't take time to prepare our hearts we will not be successful.

Monday, October 2, 2023

Arm yourself

 "Therefore, since Christ suffered in His body, arm yourselves with the same resolve, because anyone who has suffered in his body is done with sin." 1 Peter 4:1


Let's look at this verse a minute and I want you to look at the phrase "arm yourself with the same resolve." For some reason this really hit me hard.

Perhaps it is because I can't get over the unkindness and I don't care attitude I see in our world. Perhaps I'm just old, but as I read I thought well what was Jesus's resolve?

Christ's resolve was to do the Father's will, to humble himself in perfect obedience, and to die on a cross for our sins. 

He counted others more significant than Himself! He withstood the mocking, shame, and suffering for us. His goal was to please the Father. Do we share that resolve?

In Philippians 2:5, Paul challenged believers to present the Gospel from a united front by aligning their attitudes with Christ’s.

Is my attitude like Christ? Oh, friend, we all fall so short but like Paul, that doesn't mean we should stop pressing on.


Wednesday, August 23, 2023

I Speak Jesus

 It is get the morning praise music rolling in the morning. Right now I'm starting with "I Speak Jesus" and usually hit replay. Yesterday, the Spirit was so strong I cried as the sun rose literally during my ride.

Now if you know me you know I'm not a "work up emotion in order to worship" girl. But friends, the words! I'm old. I've done this teaching thing a long time. I've had accolades through the years. However, right now I want to speak Jesus!

"Your name is power
Your name is healing

Your name is life

Break every stronghold
Shine through the shadows
Burn like a fire"

There's just something about it. Philippians 2:10 says, "...so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth."

Matthew 10:27 says, "“What I tell you in the darkness, speak in the light; and what you hear whispered in your ear, proclaim upon the housetops."

Oh friend, what if we all "Considered" this Jesus and spoke Jesus where ever we went?

Monday, August 21, 2023

Hebrews 10:24

 

Yesterday, the preacher started preaching in Hebrews. This verse seemed to jump off the page. Did you know the word "consider" in this context is only used twice in the book of Hebrews, here and in chapter three, verse one? 

I had to stop and think, do I get up every morning and ask God to show me what I need to do for others?

John Piper said, "When you get up in the morning, Consider — think about, ponder, deliberate, meditate, mull over — other people, with this conscious goal: what can I do today so that they will be stirred up to love and to good deed?"

Piper went on to say, this should be the aim of our lives.

Friend, I used to think only certain people were gifted to be an encourager, but after reading Hebrews I think we all are called. It isn't a selective gift given to a few, it is a call on us all!

Lord, help me consider those you put in my path and spur them on!


Tuesday, August 8, 2023

Psalm 61:5

 For you have heard my vows, Oh God. You have given me an inheritance reserved for those who fear your name.

Psalm 61:5

Many people take offense when you say anything about fearing God. They will quickly say this is "old time" thinking, because God is love.

The writers at gotquestions.com answer this best, "For the unbeliever, the fear of God is the fear of the judgment of God and eternal death, which is eternal separation from God (Luke 12:5Hebrews 10:31). For the believer, the fear of God is something much different. The believer’s fear is reverence of God. Hebrews 12:28-29 is a good description of this: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ’God is a consuming fire.’” This reverence and awe are exactly what the fear of God means for Christians. This is the motivating factor for us to surrender to the Creator of the Universe."

Reverence and awe of God. I don't find that a point in many sermons today. The psalmist tells us that God heard that vow we made to serve Him, and in return there is an inheritance for those who fear (have awe and reverence) your name.

The writers at gotquestions.com go on to say, "Fearing God means having a reverence for Him that greatly impacts the way we live. The fear of God is respecting Him, obeying Him, submitting to His discipline, and worshiping Him in awe."

This may be the key to this verse, when you made that vow to follow God, did it change the way you live? Do you weight your actions on the basis of are they pleasing to God.

You see my friend, He heard and hears you. Does He see a awe and reverence in what you do? Do you weigh everything in light of His word? I've heard people say, "Well, I've got fire insurance." Yikes! I don't think that is being a Christ follower.

Alistair Begg said it so eloquently, "Gathering with the 'Jesus crowd,' being able to say all the 'Jesus words,' singing all the 'Jesus songs' is no ticket of admission into heaven."

He hears us, carries such deep meaning. I pray I'm walking worthy of His name.