Deborah - prophetess, wife, judge (appointed by God)
Israel has followed a pattern:
Disobedience, Discipline, Desperation,Deliverance
Judgement begins with believers
Discipline, chastisement and pruning are all meant to turn us to God
There is a lack of male leadership
God used Deborah to cultivate that leadership
There is no indication that she set herself up to lead
She describes herself as a "mother"
She is a nurturer
She encouraged men to be men
She affirmed and lifted up male leadership
She takes the helper/ responsive role
Barak is the one listed in the Hebrews list, not Deborah!
Deborah encouraged men with God's word and promise
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Stacy Smith on Emotions
Mind + Will = Overcomes Emotions
A woman will throw away truth for an emotion.
Emotions turn you into a dangerous woman, an instrument of cruelty.
I am the first victim of my heart.
I can choose to change my mind.
Be intentional with the will.
Scripture overcomes emotions.
The Word tempers and calms emotions.
Identify the thought, give it to Christ.
Speak, think, and pray the Word!
Find, memorize, and meditate on scripture that specifically speaks to my fears.
Fears and broken relationships cause wrong emotions.
Accept your design.
Accept your unpredictable emotions.
Don't give in to them.
Anticipate the cycles of life.
Sleep and nutrition are huge factors in emotions.
Develop godly, discipling relationships rather than just friends.
Make failures right.
A woman will throw away truth for an emotion.
Emotions turn you into a dangerous woman, an instrument of cruelty.
I am the first victim of my heart.
I can choose to change my mind.
Be intentional with the will.
Scripture overcomes emotions.
The Word tempers and calms emotions.
Identify the thought, give it to Christ.
Speak, think, and pray the Word!
Find, memorize, and meditate on scripture that specifically speaks to my fears.
Fears and broken relationships cause wrong emotions.
Accept your design.
Accept your unpredictable emotions.
Don't give in to them.
Anticipate the cycles of life.
Sleep and nutrition are huge factors in emotions.
Develop godly, discipling relationships rather than just friends.
Make failures right.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Joni
Short notes but one of the most powerful talks at True Woman, by Joni Erickson Tada:
A host of angels and demons are watching me to see if I will follow God...
to see what work I will allow God to do in me...
to see my faithfulness or failure...
Do I make God look good?
A host of angels and demons are watching me to see if I will follow God...
to see what work I will allow God to do in me...
to see my faithfulness or failure...
Do I make God look good?
Monday, October 25, 2010
Mary Kassian on Proverbs 7:6-27
Wild Thing!
Wildness warps true womanhood
in big ways, like infidelity,
but also in many little ways.
Dress as a prostitute
Wiley of hearty - crafty, manipulative, nag, badger
Loud - clamors to get way, brash, sassy
Wayward - rebellious
Never home - self-indulgent, priorities are wrong,
going out at the expense of what she should be doing.
Lies in wait - predator, waiting for the next thing
Warps focus
Warps roles - she seizes him and he follows her
She comes out to meet him - lonely,
only God can fill that deepest desire, not man (her husband traveling is no excuse)
Opulance in the bedroom - shopoholic
Entitlement - self-gratification,
wanted fun, wanted to be loved, immediate gratification
She talked circles around him
No boundaries
There is a powerful pull on women to go wild
She was religious
In church that morning, having a fling that night
Wildness seems attractive, harmless, promising
Women have great influence
There must be an intentional turning from wild to wise
Wildness warps true womanhood
in big ways, like infidelity,
but also in many little ways.
Dress as a prostitute
Wiley of hearty - crafty, manipulative, nag, badger
Loud - clamors to get way, brash, sassy
Wayward - rebellious
Never home - self-indulgent, priorities are wrong,
going out at the expense of what she should be doing.
Lies in wait - predator, waiting for the next thing
Warps focus
Warps roles - she seizes him and he follows her
She comes out to meet him - lonely,
only God can fill that deepest desire, not man (her husband traveling is no excuse)
Opulance in the bedroom - shopoholic
Entitlement - self-gratification,
wanted fun, wanted to be loved, immediate gratification
She talked circles around him
No boundaries
There is a powerful pull on women to go wild
She was religious
In church that morning, having a fling that night
Wildness seems attractive, harmless, promising
Women have great influence
There must be an intentional turning from wild to wise
Saturday, October 23, 2010
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Marry Kassian on Creation
Man and Woman - more like God than anything else
Gender displays God
We are an object lesson, it is not about us.
Gender, sex, manhood, and womanhood tell a story about who God is.
About who He is and about what He does.
Gender tells the love story of the gospel.
Male
1. Adam was 1st born, therefore holds responsibility.
(Christ is 1st born of God)
2. Adam was created outside the garden, then put into it.
Man leaves his parents and becomes head of his own family, with a new position of responsibility.
(Christ left heaven to pursue his bride, the church)
3. Man is commissioned to work, to provide.
4. Man is commissioned to protect. He has a stronger body and is built to fight.
5. Man received spiritual instruction, and is to provide spiritual oversight.
6. Man learned to exercise authority (named the animals).
Woman's authority is different and not interchangable>
God made man need woman, and made him aware of that need.
He pierced the side of man (Christ was pierced) for woman.
Woman
1. Female was created from male.
Remember where you came from! We have an obligation to respect.
2. Female was made for male. She exists because he exists.
3. Female was created to help male. For what?
To fit as a like-opposite. To help along-side.
Not about exaulting man and serving him, but to help him image God and tell the gospel story.
To help him in the purpose to glorify God.
4. Female deferred to male.
He leads, he names, she responds.
God does not violate our personality!
5. Female was the perfect counterpart
man - ish - strength, virility, worker
woman - isha - soft, responder, relator, receiver
6. Female created in the garden.
Created in a place of safety. Always under protection, kept safe, , loved and cherished.
Sensitive and vulnerable.
God has a spectacular design for my womanhood.
God wants me to say yes to His design.
God will do an amazing work of restoration.
Jesus has the power to restore what has been damaged.
Gender displays God
We are an object lesson, it is not about us.
Gender, sex, manhood, and womanhood tell a story about who God is.
About who He is and about what He does.
Gender tells the love story of the gospel.
Male
1. Adam was 1st born, therefore holds responsibility.
(Christ is 1st born of God)
2. Adam was created outside the garden, then put into it.
Man leaves his parents and becomes head of his own family, with a new position of responsibility.
(Christ left heaven to pursue his bride, the church)
3. Man is commissioned to work, to provide.
4. Man is commissioned to protect. He has a stronger body and is built to fight.
5. Man received spiritual instruction, and is to provide spiritual oversight.
6. Man learned to exercise authority (named the animals).
Woman's authority is different and not interchangable>
God made man need woman, and made him aware of that need.
He pierced the side of man (Christ was pierced) for woman.
Woman
1. Female was created from male.
Remember where you came from! We have an obligation to respect.
2. Female was made for male. She exists because he exists.
3. Female was created to help male. For what?
To fit as a like-opposite. To help along-side.
Not about exaulting man and serving him, but to help him image God and tell the gospel story.
To help him in the purpose to glorify God.
4. Female deferred to male.
He leads, he names, she responds.
God does not violate our personality!
5. Female was the perfect counterpart
man - ish - strength, virility, worker
woman - isha - soft, responder, relator, receiver
6. Female created in the garden.
Created in a place of safety. Always under protection, kept safe, , loved and cherished.
Sensitive and vulnerable.
God has a spectacular design for my womanhood.
God wants me to say yes to His design.
God will do an amazing work of restoration.
Jesus has the power to restore what has been damaged.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Karen Lorritts on Col 3:15-17
Prov 28:26 - don't trust yourself, God will deliver (ugh... that one hits home)
Trust in the:
1. Peace of Christ
2. Power of the Holy Spirit
3. Prescense of God
1. Let God call the shots
Word of Christ dwells in heart
Cultivate thankfulness
"God is not playing games with our lives. We are not pawns in a chess game."
2. Surrender the power to control
Produce fruit
3. Ps 37:3-5
Waiting is hard, don't run
Cultivate faithfulness
Delight in Him
Commit your ways to God
Trust in Him and He will do it.
My heart breaks, but God is good.
Trust in the:
1. Peace of Christ
2. Power of the Holy Spirit
3. Prescense of God
1. Let God call the shots
Word of Christ dwells in heart
Cultivate thankfulness
"God is not playing games with our lives. We are not pawns in a chess game."
2. Surrender the power to control
Produce fruit
3. Ps 37:3-5
Waiting is hard, don't run
Cultivate faithfulness
Delight in Him
Commit your ways to God
Trust in Him and He will do it.
My heart breaks, but God is good.
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Janet Parshall on Mary
And still more random thoughts from True Woman 2010, Indy:
Think about the questions Mary doesn't ask!
She is submissive, humble, obedient.
No argument, no complaint, no hesitation.
She calls herself the Lord's handmaiden - the lowest of servents, who sits watches for a hand signal from her mistress.
Zechariah says, "But God?!" and is silenced.
Do I let circumstances define me, or God?
Mary rushes to tell Elisabeth.
Mary does not ask, "What are the consequences?"
She says, "This is truth."
God has the right to interupt my life.
"Struggle is a word for delayed obedience." Elizabeth Elliot
Think about the questions Mary doesn't ask!
She is submissive, humble, obedient.
No argument, no complaint, no hesitation.
She calls herself the Lord's handmaiden - the lowest of servents, who sits watches for a hand signal from her mistress.
Zechariah says, "But God?!" and is silenced.
Do I let circumstances define me, or God?
Mary rushes to tell Elisabeth.
Mary does not ask, "What are the consequences?"
She says, "This is truth."
God has the right to interupt my life.
"Struggle is a word for delayed obedience." Elizabeth Elliot
Friday, October 15, 2010
Nancy DeMoss on Titus 2
More random thoughts from True Woman 2010, Indy:
Older women should:
What?
Teach sound doctrine - not relevance, not law, not whatever is new
be tethered to the Word
control their tongue
self-control
Character comes before calling
Life comes before ministry
Older women should:
What?
Teach sound doctrine - not relevance, not law, not whatever is new
be tethered to the Word
control their tongue
self-control
Character comes before calling
Life comes before ministry
Teach what is good
be an example
be intentional
value on home
priority on love (love is taught and learned)
self-controlled, sound mind
kind - other centered
submissive to husband
character qualities flow out of sound doctrine
belief changes behavior
How?
The grace of God enables us
The return of Christ
Power of the Cross
Why?
Word of God not be reviled
Opponents will be put to shame
Adorn the doctrine of God
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Definitions
Meek - controlled strength.
As a woman I choose to control my strength to honor God.
As a wife I choose to control my strength to honor my husband.
Meekness is the key to humility, respect and submission.
Humility - not thinking of myself.
Respect - to consider worthy of esteem, to regard or treat with honor or deference.
Submission - surrender of person and power to control to another; to yield.
As a woman I choose to control my strength to honor God.
As a wife I choose to control my strength to honor my husband.
Meekness is the key to humility, respect and submission.
Humility - not thinking of myself.
Respect - to consider worthy of esteem, to regard or treat with honor or deference.
Submission - surrender of person and power to control to another; to yield.
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Others May, You Cannot, by G.D. Watson
If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it; but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. (Matthew 16:24-25)
If God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. He will put on you such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians. In many ways, He seems to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.
Others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot. If you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.
Others can brag about themselves, their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. If you begin to do so, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.
Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, a helpless dependence on Him and His unseen treasury.
The Lord may let others be honored and put forward while keeping you hidden in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.
God may let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing. Then, to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done; this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility, and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.
The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, and with a jealous love rebuke you for careless words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.
So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.
God will take you at your word. If you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things that you cannot. Settle it forever; you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways which others are not dealt with. However, know this great secret of the Kingdom: When you are so completely possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven, the high calling of God.
If God has called you to be truly like Jesus in all your spirit, He will draw you into a life of crucifixion and humility. He will put on you such demands of obedience that you will not be allowed to follow other Christians. In many ways, He seems to let other good people do things which He will not let you do.
Others who seem to be very religious and useful may push themselves, pull wires, and scheme to carry out their plans, but you cannot. If you attempt it, you will meet with such failure and rebuke from the Lord as to make you sorely penitent.
Others can brag about themselves, their work, their successes, their writings, but the Holy Spirit will not allow you to do any such thing. If you begin to do so, He will lead you into some deep mortification that will make you despise yourself and all your good works.
Others will be allowed to succeed in making great sums of money, or having a legacy left to them, or in having luxuries, but God may supply you only on a day-to-day basis, because He wants you to have something far better than gold, a helpless dependence on Him and His unseen treasury.
The Lord may let others be honored and put forward while keeping you hidden in obscurity because He wants to produce some choice, fragrant fruit for His coming glory, which can only be produced in the shade.
God may let others be great, but keep you small. He will let others do a work for Him and get the credit, but He will make you work and toil without knowing how much you are doing. Then, to make your work still more precious, He will let others get the credit for the work which you have done; this to teach you the message of the Cross, humility, and something of the value of being cloaked with His nature.
The Holy Spirit will put a strict watch on you, and with a jealous love rebuke you for careless words and feelings, or for wasting your time, which other Christians never seem distressed over.
So make up your mind that God is an infinite Sovereign and has a right to do as He pleases with His own, and that He may not explain to you a thousand things which may puzzle your reason in His dealings with you.
God will take you at your word. If you absolutely sell yourself to be His slave, He will wrap you up in a jealous love and let other people say and do many things that you cannot. Settle it forever; you are to deal directly with the Holy Spirit, He is to have the privilege of tying your tongue or chaining your hand or closing your eyes in ways which others are not dealt with. However, know this great secret of the Kingdom: When you are so completely possessed with the Living God that you are, in your secret heart, pleased and delighted over this peculiar, personal, private, jealous guardianship and management of the Holy Spirit over your life, you will have found the vestibule of heaven, the high calling of God.
Monday, October 11, 2010
TW 2010 Indy, Crawford Lorritts
Random thoughts from Crawford Lorritts:
I John 2:15-17
The World
don't love it
see it for what it is
live your allegience
Being a lover of God is not theoretical!
Is that all there is to you?
What defines you?
This is a gut question, not an intellectual love.
Cravings, passions - I want it, I will violate Biblical principles to get it.
Strong, powerful, tempting - transient
The one who does the will of God - forever
Worldliness - anything in your life that causes you to lose the enjoyment of the Father's love, or your desire to do the Father's will.
Why do I want this?
Does this consume, control, change me?
Am I clean?
I John 2:15-17
The World
don't love it
see it for what it is
live your allegience
Being a lover of God is not theoretical!
Is that all there is to you?
What defines you?
This is a gut question, not an intellectual love.
Cravings, passions - I want it, I will violate Biblical principles to get it.
Strong, powerful, tempting - transient
The one who does the will of God - forever
Worldliness - anything in your life that causes you to lose the enjoyment of the Father's love, or your desire to do the Father's will.
Why do I want this?
Does this consume, control, change me?
Am I clean?
Sunday, October 10, 2010
True Woman 2010 - Indianapolis
I couple of weeks ago, on a Wednesday afternoon, I got an e-mail from a friend inviting me to go to the True Woman Conference in Indianapolis. The ticket, hotel and transportation were paid for. The trick was, they were leaving that very evening. I sat reading the e-mail in disbelief. I thought through the schedule for the next few days. Impossible. I work, home-school two kids, get those same kids to various activities, teach karate. I can’t keep up with all the stuff I have to do, how can I be ready to leave in a few hours and be gone for four days? How can I take off the two main work days of my week? I called my husband and laid it all out for him. He said if I wanted to go I should ask to get off work and get someone to cover my class. He would take care of everything else. I made phone calls and one by one each obstacle disappeared. It was disconcerting that both my boss and the young black belt I asked to teach for me told me I should go because I have obviously been stressed lately and needed a break. Do I have that printed on my forehead? It all came together. I called and had one of my kids do my laundry. I got home at 8pm, ate, packed, wrote out instructions for stuff that had to be done, left home at 8:30 and arrived at my friend’s house at 9:00. Then I found myself sitting in a van headed for Indy with three other ladies. It was more than a little unreal. This trip was so far out of the realm of possibility for me that I would not have even dreamed of praying for it.
The trip was wonderful. The company was great, the speakers were great, the music was great... you should have heard 6000 women singing praises to God! I came home encouraged and filled and fed and ready to tackle life once again. I am now going back through my notes, and I thought that over the coming weeks I'd post some random comments that I wrote down during that weekend.
I encourage you to go to a True Woman Conference if you ever get a chance. It was a tremendous blessing to me!
The trip was wonderful. The company was great, the speakers were great, the music was great... you should have heard 6000 women singing praises to God! I came home encouraged and filled and fed and ready to tackle life once again. I am now going back through my notes, and I thought that over the coming weeks I'd post some random comments that I wrote down during that weekend.
I encourage you to go to a True Woman Conference if you ever get a chance. It was a tremendous blessing to me!
Saturday, October 9, 2010
Scouts
I had a great time this morning at the Girl Scout camp, teaching self-defense to a whole bunch of scouts. Bob was a big hit!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Marriage
"When husband and wife take their marriage vows, they are given spiritual responsibility to one another, as well as physical, mental and emotional responsibilities. With all of the challenges and pressures on marriage today, husband and wife should both guard against 'sinning against the Lord' (not to mention each other) by failing to pray for one another. As Paul Tournier points out: 'It is only when a husband and wife pray together before God that they find the secret of true harmony, that the difference in their temperaments, their ideas, and their tastes enriches their home instead of endangering it. There will be no further question of one imposing his will on the other, or of the other giving in for the sake of peace. Instead, they will together seek God's will, which alone will ensure that each will be fully able to develop his personality... When each of the marriage partners seeks quietly before God to see his own faults, recognizes his sin, and asks the forgiveness of the other, marital problems are no more. Each learns to speak the other's language, and to meet him half way, so to speak. Each holds back those harsh little words which one is apt to utter when one is right, but which are said in order to injure. Most of all, a couple rediscovers complete mutual confidence, because, in meditating in prayer together they learn to become absolutely honest with each other... This is the price to be paid if partners very different from each other are to combine their gifts instead of setting them against each other...'"
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Fasting
I had been thinking and praying about fasting for the past few months. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to do it. The logistics bothered me, because physically I cannot train or teach if I do not eat. So I began to pray. Then the session of our church called for a day of fasting and prayer for the church. I prayed more. One morning I woke up with the answer in my mind. I could skip breakfast, and spend several hours that morning in prayer, then I could eat lunch and be fine for teaching and/or training that afternoon. Fasting did not have to be an entire day. What an obvious, easy answer!
That first morning I was so excited about getting up and spending time with God that I woke up early. I prayed through the list I had planned, and then asked God what to pray for next. Immediately my mind went to Psalm 23. I turned to it and prayed through it for my husband and each of my children. Then my eyes fell on Psalm 25 and I knew it was exactly what I needed to pray for my husband and my 2 older kids, all about God’s plan for the future. I felt such a great joy and peace. Not assurance that my problems and concerns would go away, but assurance that God would be with me no matter what happened. As I went through the rest of my morning at home and then at work, I was constantly aware of God’s presence. Occasionally I would realize that I was hungry, but instead of being a problem, it was a wonderful reminder of the time I had spent with God that morning. After that morning’s experience with fasting, I was ready and willing, and even excited, about fasting for the church the next week. Since that day I have set aside several mornings of fasting for different concerns. At first I thought I would just fast once a week, but as I planned it felt wrong… it felt like fasting should be a special thing, not an everyday thing, and I needed God to lay on my heart a specific concern. So now I look forward to the times when God lays on my heart the times He wants me to fast and pray.
Random thoughts about fasting:
Doing without something you need
Not just doing without something you want for a short time
Depending on God completely
Bringing your concerns to God with an attitude of submission and dependence on Him
Self-control and self-denial
Loving God more than your needs as well as your wants
More than delayed gratification
To physically show my dependence on God, my body cannot support itself.
As a vow to God
Fasting is obedience
It takes preparation
Special time set aside for prayer for specific needs
Time to ask God Himself what to pray for
“… fasting is an act of humility wherein we acknowledge our need to subdue the appetites of the flesh and focus more intently on who we are and what we have been given in Christ.”
Ken Jones, Tabletalk, July 2010
“God rewards fasting because fasting expresses the cry of the heart that nothing on earth can satisfy our souls besides God.” John Piper, A Hunger for God
“Why the fast? In the first place, it was due to the desperate situation in which the people found themselves and their need to show their dependence on God’s kindness… Fasting reminds us of our creatureliness and moves us to learn better what it means to depend on our creator, thereby glorifying His name.” Ken Jones, Tabletalk, July 2010
©Rebecca A Givens, 10/02/10
That first morning I was so excited about getting up and spending time with God that I woke up early. I prayed through the list I had planned, and then asked God what to pray for next. Immediately my mind went to Psalm 23. I turned to it and prayed through it for my husband and each of my children. Then my eyes fell on Psalm 25 and I knew it was exactly what I needed to pray for my husband and my 2 older kids, all about God’s plan for the future. I felt such a great joy and peace. Not assurance that my problems and concerns would go away, but assurance that God would be with me no matter what happened. As I went through the rest of my morning at home and then at work, I was constantly aware of God’s presence. Occasionally I would realize that I was hungry, but instead of being a problem, it was a wonderful reminder of the time I had spent with God that morning. After that morning’s experience with fasting, I was ready and willing, and even excited, about fasting for the church the next week. Since that day I have set aside several mornings of fasting for different concerns. At first I thought I would just fast once a week, but as I planned it felt wrong… it felt like fasting should be a special thing, not an everyday thing, and I needed God to lay on my heart a specific concern. So now I look forward to the times when God lays on my heart the times He wants me to fast and pray.
Random thoughts about fasting:
Doing without something you need
Not just doing without something you want for a short time
Depending on God completely
Bringing your concerns to God with an attitude of submission and dependence on Him
Self-control and self-denial
Loving God more than your needs as well as your wants
More than delayed gratification
To physically show my dependence on God, my body cannot support itself.
As a vow to God
Fasting is obedience
It takes preparation
Special time set aside for prayer for specific needs
Time to ask God Himself what to pray for
“… fasting is an act of humility wherein we acknowledge our need to subdue the appetites of the flesh and focus more intently on who we are and what we have been given in Christ.”
Ken Jones, Tabletalk, July 2010
“God rewards fasting because fasting expresses the cry of the heart that nothing on earth can satisfy our souls besides God.” John Piper, A Hunger for God
“Why the fast? In the first place, it was due to the desperate situation in which the people found themselves and their need to show their dependence on God’s kindness… Fasting reminds us of our creatureliness and moves us to learn better what it means to depend on our creator, thereby glorifying His name.” Ken Jones, Tabletalk, July 2010
©Rebecca A Givens, 10/02/10
Friday, October 1, 2010
Come, Take, Learn, Rest
Continuing with my pastor's thoughts...
Thoughts from the Pastor
(9/27/2010)
Dear Members and Friends of Lake Crest Presbyterian Church,
I have been reminded of late how resentful I have tended to become in the service of Jesus. After all, the nature of a ministerial calling is for life and for all of it. But I tend to want some free-time, as if any of my time were really free. I find I am not alone. Many pastors fall to this temptation to hoard their time as if it were their own. Our gracious Master lets us get away with this faulty attitude for awhile, but eventually brings us back to reality. Working hard in the kingdom is just like working hard anywhere else – it’s hard work. But it’s His work for us to do, not our work which we do for Him.
But because the work is sometimes hard, we get the idea that our Master is hard. He is not. In Matthew 11: 28–30 Jesus made this statement, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.” If you think about it, we fear the very One who promises us rest, because we think His yoke will be difficult and His burden upon us heavy. As I point out some things in this verses to us, let me confess that I have had to ponder these things for me personally, long before I felt comfortable sharing them with you. But here are some random thoughts:
1. We must “take His yoke upon us”. It must be a voluntary assumption of the duties that He gives us. Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Those “good works” must be approached voluntarily. Not because we must do them, but because we want to do them. But they must be deliberately taken up nevertheless.
2. We must also be willing to learn from Him as we take up the tasks He has given us. He is gentle and so must we be. Isaiah 40: 11 describes the Great Shepherd, “He tends his flock like a shepherd; he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” He is humble and so must we be. We are reminded of the attitude of the King of Kings in Philippians 2: 8 when it tells us, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.”
3. We desperately desire rest for our souls, peace in the midst of trouble and sustenance in the midst of spiritual and physical famine, but we must give up something to get it. If we as Christians would have real rest, it must be His rest, not ours. God-given rest does not necessarily equate with the human idea of rest. See Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by Satan? Forty days and forty nights is a long time to fast. Yet our Lord told Satan in Matthew 4:4, “…It is written; ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Or what did Jesus tell his disciples when they questioned Him at the well in Samaria in John 4:32 & 34? “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
4. Did you notice that here are three things the Lord commands us to do? “Come” to Him, “take” His yoke and “learn” from Him. Then, and only then, will we find His true rest for our souls.
Worry will not give us rest, harder work will not give us rest, more vacations will not give us rest. St. Augustine said it well when he said, “Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee.”
I cannot tell how it happens. I only know that He says we will receive His rest if we do what He gives us to do. Thus far – I have found Him to be faithful to His promises. I confess that I constantly try to do His work my way, and as a result find no rest. But when we seek to do His work in the strength of His Spirit, the promise mentioned above will be fulfilled. He gives us rest in the middle of whatever storm we find ourselves. Try Him and find Him faithful for yourself, and may He show Himself to us all this week as we seek to do what He has given to us to do, for “His yoke is easy and His burden is light.”
In Christ,
Thomas
Thoughts from the Pastor
(9/27/2010)
Dear Members and Friends of Lake Crest Presbyterian Church,
I have been reminded of late how resentful I have tended to become in the service of Jesus. After all, the nature of a ministerial calling is for life and for all of it. But I tend to want some free-time, as if any of my time were really free. I find I am not alone. Many pastors fall to this temptation to hoard their time as if it were their own. Our gracious Master lets us get away with this faulty attitude for awhile, but eventually brings us back to reality. Working hard in the kingdom is just like working hard anywhere else – it’s hard work. But it’s His work for us to do, not our work which we do for Him.
But because the work is sometimes hard, we get the idea that our Master is hard. He is not. In Matthew 11: 28–30 Jesus made this statement, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden light.” If you think about it, we fear the very One who promises us rest, because we think His yoke will be difficult and His burden upon us heavy. As I point out some things in this verses to us, let me confess that I have had to ponder these things for me personally, long before I felt comfortable sharing them with you. But here are some random thoughts:
1. We must “take His yoke upon us”. It must be a voluntary assumption of the duties that He gives us. Ephesians 2:10 tells us, “For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Those “good works” must be approached voluntarily. Not because we must do them, but because we want to do them. But they must be deliberately taken up nevertheless.
2. We must also be willing to learn from Him as we take up the tasks He has given us. He is gentle and so must we be. Isaiah 40: 11 describes the Great Shepherd, “He tends his flock like a shepherd; he gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” He is humble and so must we be. We are reminded of the attitude of the King of Kings in Philippians 2: 8 when it tells us, “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death – even death on a cross.”
3. We desperately desire rest for our souls, peace in the midst of trouble and sustenance in the midst of spiritual and physical famine, but we must give up something to get it. If we as Christians would have real rest, it must be His rest, not ours. God-given rest does not necessarily equate with the human idea of rest. See Jesus in the wilderness being tempted by Satan? Forty days and forty nights is a long time to fast. Yet our Lord told Satan in Matthew 4:4, “…It is written; ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Or what did Jesus tell his disciples when they questioned Him at the well in Samaria in John 4:32 & 34? “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
4. Did you notice that here are three things the Lord commands us to do? “Come” to Him, “take” His yoke and “learn” from Him. Then, and only then, will we find His true rest for our souls.
Worry will not give us rest, harder work will not give us rest, more vacations will not give us rest. St. Augustine said it well when he said, “Thou hast created us for Thyself, and our heart is not quiet until it rests in Thee.”
I cannot tell how it happens. I only know that He says we will receive His rest if we do what He gives us to do. Thus far – I have found Him to be faithful to His promises. I confess that I constantly try to do His work my way, and as a result find no rest. But when we seek to do His work in the strength of His Spirit, the promise mentioned above will be fulfilled. He gives us rest in the middle of whatever storm we find ourselves. Try Him and find Him faithful for yourself, and may He show Himself to us all this week as we seek to do what He has given to us to do, for “His yoke is easy and His burden is light.”
In Christ,
Thomas
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)