September 29: We have met the enemy, and he is us...

Isaiah 57:14-59:21

Philippians 1:1-26

Psalm 71:1-24

Proverbs 24:9-10

In you, Lord, I have taken refuge;

   let me never be put to shame.

In your righteousness, rescue and deliver me;

   turn your ear to me and save me.

Be my rock of refuge,

   to which I can always go;

give the command to save me,

   for you are my rock and my fortress.

Sometimes our biggest battles are with ourselves, and the sinful habits we've developed which, try as we might, we can never seem to overcome completely.  At times we think we have vanquished them for good, and then they come back.  

That happens to me a lot - typically when I've neglected my prayer time.   Then the day goes quickly pear shaped, and I find myself full of angry discontent and resentful thought, a starting point for sinful word and deed.  

That's why I was drawn to the reading above, from Psalm 71.  I used to read it as one seeking refuge and help against an external enemy.  Tonight, I see it differently, as I realized that the biggest obstacle to my salvation is, in fact, my very own self.  

The quote "we have met the enemy, and he is us" was written for a cartoon published on the first Earth Day by Walt Kelly, and spoken by a character looking to clean up the Okefenokee swamp and realizing that people like himself were the cause of the pollution.  Pogo may have realized who the enemy was, but the author of the words on which Kelly's quote was based understood the situation far better.  In 1813, Commodore Oliver Perry was heard to say "we have met the enemy, and he is ours!", signifying the victory he anticipated - victory over our sins which, by God's grace, we can anticipate and obtain as well.

Thank God for His grace, which saves us even when we are at our most undeserving.

September 28

Isaiah 55

 

One of the greatest tasks I face every day is to get my heart joyful in the Lord. It seems that when I listen to the radio, watch TV, read the internet or open a newspaper, the information fills my heart with despair and darkness. The bad news is like eating a crusty, moldy, week old mayonnaise and bologna sandwich; it just upsets the stomach. The world promises to satisfy us with laughs and cheers but not many people are smiling these days. If you want to know how much this is impacting people. go on a "smile search" for a day. Keep track of how many smiling faces you see around you in a

24-hour period.

 

I have often heard that children laugh much more than adults. Many numbers are thrown around concerning the frequency, but the most recent stat is that children laugh more than 300 times a day, whereas adults laugh less than 20 times a day. The implication is that somehow as we grow older we become too entangled with the bad news and it steals the joy from our hearts.

 

Isaiah knew this was a possibility to the people of God. So he wrote this encouragement in Isaiah 55:2. He wanted to redirect their appetites to that which is truly satisfying and good.

 

Why spend money on what is not bread, and labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

 

What God is urging us to do is to reject the junk food of the world and eat the organic, wholesome, soul food that he is offering us. When we eat what is good and wholesome it brings delight to our hearts. The enjoyment of God is the only happiness that will truly satisfy us. When we fill our hearts with Jesus it fills our life to overflowing with joy. If you try to find happiness in anything on earth, you are going to be disappointed.

 

The application of this is clear. Get rid of the junk food of this planet and sit at the table and find Jesus. When you spend time with Jesus you find joy.

 

--

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

9/27/14

Isaiah 51:1-53:12

Ephesians 5:1-33

Psalm 69:19-19:36

Proverbs 24:7

Saturday, September 27, 2014 

"Yet it was the Lord's will to crush him and cause him to suffer...After the suffering of his soul he will see the light of life and be satisfied" (Isaiah 53:10a and 11, NIV).

I read the phrase "it was the Lord's will" over and over again.  Other translations say, "it pleased God." The verb in Hebrew for this phrase literally means "to delight or take pleasure in" something.  So, the Lord was pleased, He was delighted, to call Jesus to suffer.  At first blush this sounds sadistic.  However, a little perspective is in order. It wasn't the Jesus' suffering that was the object of the Father's joy.  It was the opportunity for reconciliation (or re-connection) with humanity that brought about God's pleasure.  But, the Lord is even more excited when we, who have embraced this opportunity to be His kids, follow in Jesus' footsteps.

"Follow God's example,therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God" (Ephesians 5:1-2)

"Just as Christ loved..." 

I was talking with a guy recently who is the one of eight children in the family.  His dad left his mom when he was young and she had to take care of herself and eight kids.  There were many days when she didn't eat so that her kids could.  This seemingly small act of sacrifice is an example of how Christ loved.  What He wanted was secondary to what we needed (Luke 22:42).  This is sacrificial love; this is the love to which we are called.

How do we love like this?

1. Receive God's love daily. Spend time talking to Him and listening to Him (e.g. prayer, Scripture reading).  This is your time to rest in God's presence. Don't rush it; enjoy it.

2. Ask Jesus to lead you to someone you can love each day. Lord, who do you want me to encourage? Who do you want me to pray with? When He shows you that person, seize the opportunity to bless them.  It may require that you skip something that was on your to-do list and sacrifice time to be with someone. Guess what? If you follow through with this you exchange your to-do list for God's, which counts for eternity!

Jesus, teach us to love JUST AS you loved us.

---------

Kenny Sullivan

soli Deo gloria

September 26th

September 26th

Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.
Don't use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them. And do not bring sorrow to God's Holy Spirit by the way you live. Remember, he has identified you as his own, guaranteeing that you will be saved on the day of redemption. (‭Ephesians‬ ‭4‬:‭21-24, 29-30‬ NLT)

Today's reading is a particularly good teaching about having the Holy Spirit living inside of you. See, in every one of us there is a battlefield. Good vs. evil, light vs. dark, dog person vs. cat person. But this is not what I am talking about today. I am referring to God's will vs. my will. We are all on this battleground. We all try desperately to impose our will, and in some cases try to make a case that our will is the same as God's will. But they are two separate things. Our human nature has a natural tenancy to oppose God's will. Look at Adam and Eve at the tree, they wanted further knowledge, and that will directly opposed what God wanted for them. This is where the Holy Spirit comes in. The Holy Spirit is a guide to point us to God's will. Now the field where this battle is fought is the mind. Will vs. will, the knockout round. And the Holy Spirit is there not to help us to oppose God's will, but to remind us to surrender to it. Without the surrender to God's will, we are completely lost and alone. That is not a place I want to be. But it is a place that my human nature pulls me towards. So the Holy Spirit jumps in and reminds me whose authority I need to be under. Just one clue, it's not mine. The battle of the mind is the hardest battle that you will face. It is full of wins and losses, but the closer we become to our savior, and the more time that is spent in His word and prayer, the easier that battle becomes. Well, at least the more better choices you will make. The battle will never go away, and the liar has a way of getting involved, but the Spirit is there to bring back our focus. And that changes the way we live our life.

Sent from my iPad

Thursday, January 31

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 2014

Isaiah 45:11–48:11

Ephesians 4:1–16

Psalm 68:19–35

Proverbs 24:3,4

 

 

“Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head – that is, Christ.  From him, the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” (Ephesians 4:15,16)

 

 

In this chapter, Paul urges the Ephesian church, for which we have no evidence of internal strife in the context of this letter, to seek unity. 

 

In His great priestly prayer in the hours before His death, Jesus requested the Father’s power to bring unity among all believers:  “My prayer is not for them alone.  I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.  May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me.  I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity.  Then, the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (John 17:20–23)  It appears clear from these verses that God had staked His reputation of goodness on Christian unity:  that the unity in the Body of Christ would point back to the glory of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

 

From Jesus’s prayer, we also gather that God bears chief responsibility for bringing unity, given our fallibility as people.  Yet, as with most interactions between God’s sovereign grace and human free will, we may partake and support God’s mission for unity among believers.  This chapter provides some beautiful insights into that goal.  For Paul, unity stands as part of living “a life worthy of the calling you have received.” (Ephesians 4:1)

 

Paul starts by explaining that humility, gentleness, and patience – “bearing with one another in love” – will allow us to “keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.” (Ephesians 4:2,3)  This goal will indeed involve the believers’ active participation.

 

Yet, we also understand God’s action on man’s behalf:  the Oneness of God and the unifying character of faith and baptism; His appointment of leaders; and joint growth to maturity and unity.  The Bible and human experience demonstrates that, while sin separates and divides us, love gathers and unites us.  These characteristics of God’s path toward unity highlight the love of God for His people.

 

In faith, all believers are seeking after the same Lord and Master, Jesus Christ.  Our submission to Christ’s Headship therefore puts on an equal playing field with other Christ-followers.  Realizing that we all have fallen short of God’s standards also highlights our unity in needing a great Savior.  Paul summarizes these two aspects by mentioning our baptism, in which the believer becomes identified with the Lord Jesus:  buried with Him in His death and raised to new life through His resurrection.

 

Then, God equips us actively for unity through bringing prophets, evangelists, and teachers to build up the Body.  Importantly, these servants will “prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.”  Crucially, the church will become unified and mature through service to God, and God will bring forward the right trainers for His service.

 

We find that God anticipates unity through the activity and action of growth.  On an individual level, we commit to consistent spiritual and emotional growth to prevent stagnation and atrophy.  Together, we may promote others’ growth and thereby support the maturation and growing up of the entire body into Christlikeness, with “each part” doing “its work.”  Paul explains that a growing, diversely talented church is a healthy church.  Such a church couches the “truth” in “love,” modeling both “grace” and “truth” that were so characteristic of the Lord Jesus (John 1:14).

 

Practically speaking, we may all promote unity by seeking God wholeheartedly and pointing others to Him.  Reading the Word and praying in faith allow us to know Him better, and we may then encourage others to likewise seek Him.  We may consider:  “How may I build up my brother or sister?  What would be beneficial for their continued growth?”  At Grace Church, may we look to others’ best interests and maturation in Christ and support the strength for the whole Body.

 

 

Lord God, thank You for bringing forth the elements for unity in Your Body, the church.  Grant us Your wisdom so that we may understand how best to promote unity at Grace Church and beyond.  Help us to seek You wholeheartedly and to exercise discretion in building others up in the faith.  Bring to mind pictures of our collective need for a great Savior.  Help us to see how we need one another in Your family and how we may best support one another.  In Jesus’s Name, amen.

________________________________________
1) Blog:                  http://bit.ly/rV1Cw1

2) Facebook:        http://on.fb.me/tc6jkS

Wed 9.24

Isaiah 43:14-45:10, Ephesians 3:1-21, Psalm 68:1-18, Proverbs 24:1-2

I have been a believer and follower of Christ all my life, but in these years I have definitely experienced different seasons. I can think of the times when I was totally on fire and in tune with God. There have been times when I've rebelled, done my own thing, but always kept my foot at the door. Then there are the in between times. The times when I'm in routine, doing what I do, but just being. Praying, going to church, doing Bible study, but withoutg any passion or joy. I've been in one of these seasons this past year (or maybe even longer). There have been people around me that have been praying for me and it's been a comfort knowing that I have been in their circle.

Many of you know that D and I love to travel. Period. We love exploring and figure out a way to make these adventures happen. The weeks that have led up to this adventure have been challenging for me cause I have been faced and dealing with some questions and struggles with God. They are a mix of indifference, TRUST, how to be in constant prayer, to blah-ness, to "alright God, you're there, now what." On this current adventure I have cried, been in total awe of God, been having spiritual heart pains, and learning about trust. I've never doubted that God is Creator, I've always just wondered where do I fit into it?

These chapters in Isaiah have been constant reminders that some of the questions don't matter (yet) but I have to first get back to the basics of Who is God. God declares who He is over and over:
•"I am The Lord, your Holy One, Israel's Creator, your King" ( Is 43:15)
•"I am the first and I am the last; apart from me there is no other God. Who then is like me?" (Is 44:6-7)
•" I am The Lord who has made all things" (Is 44: 24)
• "I am The Lord, and there is no other; apart from me there is no other God. I will strengthen you, though you have not acknowledged me, so that from the rising sun to the place of it's setting men may know there is none besides me. I am The Lord, and there is no other. (Is 45:5-6)

On this little adventure we are on, God has revealed himself in so many ways and I think I have been ready to listen. I think my heart has been yearning to hear him. He has shown himself in His word. Isaiah. He has challenged me in the 40 days of prayer. Draw the Circle will be a part of my journey in the years to come. Physically He reveals himself in full GLORY in his creation. Alaska. Psalm 68 talks about majestic mountains who "gaze in envy...at the mountains where God chooses to reign, where The Lord himself will dwell forever...(Ps 68:16). The mountains here are like nothing I have ever seen. Verse 8 talks about the earth shaking and the heavens poring rain. We experienced both while here. We felt a 6.1 earthquake this morning. God is more powerful.

I know I'm a work in progress (Is 43:18) and it's the "gift of God's grace given [to] me" (Eph 3:7) that makes the transformation. I know that I am in awe of the Creator and that He shows His glory through everything that surrounds me. I know that I am a piece that shows His grace and I pray I give Him the glory.

Tuesday September 23

Isaiah 41:17-43:13

Ephesians 2

Psalms 67:1-7

Proverbs 23:29-35

"God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can't take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  For we are God's masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago."

Ephesians 2:8-10

This is so so so hard for me. I know this to be true. I understand it. I will never deny it. I can do nothing for myself. I can do nothing in my own power. I cannot save myself.

So why is this so hard for me to actually live it? Why am I constantly trying to fix my own problems? Why am I constantly trying to fix problems around me? Why am I taking back all the things I surrender to God? Why am I always trying to save myself?

I need constant reminding of this. I cause myself so much unnecessary stress and worry and anxiety when I try to run my life on my own (and to be honest, I can't really say I'm running my life because I fail every time I try).

How much more freeing is it to stand before an impossible situation and just give it to God? His might and power and wisdom can bring us through anything. We have nothing to worry about because He has everything under control. All we must do is follow Him. He has already saved us. He already has a plan for us. He already knows what will happen. 

September 22: Open my eyes...

Isaiah 39:1-41:16

Ephesians 1:1-23

Psalm 66:1-20

Proverbs 23:25-28

Reading through today's OT and NT readings, and today's psalm, I could not help but be struck at all the reasons we are given to be joyful.  The reading from Isaiah describes a powerful, almighty God who has chosen - CHOSEN! - us...

"But you, Israel my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen...

   I took you from the ends of the earth...I have chosen you and have not rejected you."

...and who tells us what He will do for us:

"I will strengthen you and help you;

   I will uphold you with my righteous hand."

...that He will defend us:

"All who rage against you will surely be ashamed and disgraced;

   Those who oppose you will be as nothing and perish.

...Those who wage war against you will be as nothing as all.   
 For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand
   and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."

And He doesn't just remind us of this once today...in the NT reading we read yet again of 

"the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms...For He chose us in Him...in love He predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ.

...and then again:

"In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will"...

So what we have is a God, an all powerful and almighty God, who has chosen us, who loves and protects us, and who works everything out according to His will - a will guided by His love for us.   So why is it I struggle to do things by my own feeble strength, guided by my ignorant mind?  I think it is because I have not taken the psalmist's advice: I should "come and see what God has done, his awesome deeds for mankind!"  I think that if I opened my mind up to recognize His presence, through prayer and the reading of His word, then I would better come to know the God described above...and would then be able to praise Him for "he has preserved our lives and kept our feet from slipping...you tested us but you brought us to a place of abundance."

Help me please, to spend the time in prayer needed to open my eyes and see Your goodness and greatness.

September 21

Galatians 6:7-8  Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.  The one who sows to please his sinful nature, from that nature will reap destruction; the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

 

As we come to the end of our gardening season I would like to share with you some wisdom. In fact, I would call this the first rule of gardening; plant the right seeds. A few years ago we learned this the hard way. We had purchased peppers at a local garden shop but someone had switched the labels on one of the packs. We thought we had bought all sweet Bell peppers when in actuality some of the plants were HOT peppers. After many weeks of growing, the fruit matured and was hanging there in all of its beauty. So Kathie decided to bite into one of these fine looking peppers. Her mouth immediately jumped to a 5 alarm fire. The burn was so great she actually thought about going to the emergency room.  The two pepper plants looked very similar but in the end they produced drastically different fruit. 

 

This matter of sowing is not a small matter. Every day we are either sowing to destruction or sowing to eternal life. There is nothing neutral in life, nothing. So be very careful what you plant in the garden of your life.  Samuel Smiles put it this way…  

 

"Sow a thought, and you reap an act;
Sow an act, and you reap a habit;
Sow a habit, and you reap a character;
Sow a character, and you reap a destiny."

So my prayer for all of us today is that this will be a day of sowing for eternity. Since there is a God who knows every intimate detail of my life, he knows every act and every word I will speak today. We are told that even a cup of cold water given in the name of Jesus counts for eternity. So use your words and your actions today to impact eternity. Today can be the most exciting day of life we have ever lived.

 

"Draw the Circle" Quote from Friday: If you keep sowing the right seeds, the harvest of blessing will come in God's time, in God's way.  

--

"Multiplying leaders to change the world"

9/20/14

Saturday, September 20 [by Keesha]

“Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires” (Galatians 5:24 NIV).

Paul told his Christian brothers and sisters to crucify their sinful nature (to put [it] to death by nailing or binding [it] to a cross). He knew that if they continued to live in the sinful nature that it came with a cost, a great cost.

Paul said, “The acts of the sinful nature are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God” (Galatians 5:19-21 NIV). No one who willfully decides to stay in these activities will inherit the kingdom of God. “And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11). Once we begin that process, we have to choose to live that way each day. We daily have to pick up our crosses (Luke 9:23). 

There is a lot at stake when it comes to willingly giving into our fleshly, sinful nature. Paul not only gives the Gentiles a warning, but he tells them how to be overcomers. He says in Galatians 5:16, “So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.” In so many words, Paul is basically telling us to live in close relationship with the Holy Spirit and to be obedient to what He wants us to do each day.

Although trying to overcome the sinful nature for us is impossible by ourselves, Jesus says in Luke 18:27, “What is impossible with man is possible with God." Thank God that He can help us supernaturally live an overcomer’s life. We are sons and daughters of the Most High King. Due to this incredible, merciful status, we have a Father that can help us overcome anything, including sin and no matter how painful it is.

Lord, please help us to live by the Spirit. Help us to desire and to do what the Spirit wants since it is the opposite of what our sinful nature desires. Please give us the fruit of the Spirit. Help us to crucify the sinful nature with its passions and desires every day. We love You, Lord. Thank You for helping us to always do the impossible. You are amazing God. We stand in awe of You and Your goodness. Amen.

September 19th

September 19th

So Christ has truly set us free. Now make sure that you stay free, and don't get tied up again in slavery to the law. Listen! I, Paul, tell you this: If you are counting on circumcision to make you right with God, then Christ will be of no benefit to you. I'll say it again. If you are trying to find favor with God by being circumcised, you must obey every regulation in the whole law of Moses. For if you are trying to make yourselves right with God by keeping the law, you have been cut off from Christ! You have fallen away from God's grace. But we who live by the Spirit eagerly wait to receive by faith the righteousness God has promised to us. For when we place our faith in Christ Jesus, there is no benefit in being circumcised or being uncircumcised. What is important is faith expressing itself in love. (‭Galatians‬ ‭5‬:‭1-6‬ NLT)

This is a good picture of what it means to live the Christian life. We've all been there. Trying to live our life on our own strength. Maybe we have accepted Christ but we don't really get it. Maybe we are just too stubborn to let go of control. But the truth of the matter is if we are trying to earn eternal life, then we have greatly missed the point. If we are trying to do it on our own, then we are discrediting Christ crucified. I remember when I was a kid, playing Super Mario Brothers. Now throughout the game there are different "power-ups" and every time you get to the next one without getting hurt, you get the next one better. One of the power-ups is a star, and when you get the star, you become invincible to your enemies for a while. Now if you use this as an analogy for our passage today, living under the law is like playing Mario without a star. Dodging enemies, jumping over them, battling through. But, living in the spirit is like having that star power. You can just run, and not have to worry about the enemies around you, because the star power (Christ) has already defeated them. This life is so much simpler if we lean on Christ rather than our own power. Jesus paid it all so I don't have to. We need to live like we recognize Christ paid it all, and all we have to do is trust in him. Trust in his provision.

Sent from my iPad

Thursday, September 18

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 18, 2014

Isaiah 28:14–30:11

Galatians 3:23–4:31

Psalm 62:1–12

Proverbs 23:19–21

 

 

“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.  There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” (Galatians 3:26–29)

 

 

Paul’s letter to the Galatians addresses this church’s struggle with outside forces that threatened to re-institute the Jewish law as the vehicle for “receiving” salvation.  Paul argues that, before “this faith [in Christ] came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed.  So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith.  Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law.” (Galatians 3:23–25)

 

Paul explains that the law revealed our desperate need for grace and forgiveness, and, now having received this grace, the law no longer dominates.  He does not suggest that we may live a careless, devil-may-care existence; instead, we must transform our thinking from that of a slave (forced obedience) to a son (joyful fellowship).  Even with many years of Bible teaching and discipleship, the Church has consistently wrestled with this concept.  In fact, Martin Luther relied heavily on this letter in posting his 95 Theses, lending Galatians the nickname of “Luther’s book.”

 

For us today, we still cannot grasp the fullness of our sonship in the Kingdom through the merciful blood of Christ.  Many of us live to please God and others – but not out of love, but rather fear.  Our fear stems from a prideful belief that we may somehow fall short of our own lofty standards, thereby trashing our self-worth and identity.  This fear impedes our trusting God through all circumstances and urges us not to take risks.  The accompanying self-justification becomes mentally agonizing and crowds out better motivations.  Even if we achieve some measure of “success” through meeting these standards, we recognize that failure may be just around the corner and become even more vigilant.  This cycle of perfectionism leads to unfulfilled misery and distance from God.

 

As I mentioned, our full adoption as sons and “heirs according to the promise” should negate attempts at perfectionism.  Paul details that “God sent his son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights as sons.” (Galatians 4:4)  Christ’s fulfillment of the law – through His sinless life and death that brought satisfaction of God’s wrath against sin for those who have trusted in Him – is complete.  Because of His completed work, we may “approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” (Hebrews 4:16)

 

For many of us, it may be difficult to grasp what the Fatherhood of God and our “full rights as sons” implies, due to our family background.  By God’s grace, I have two parents who deeply love me and showed this love in innumerable ways.  I may look at their great love and then extrapolate to consider God’s unfathomable and lavish love for me.  Even with these obvious facts, however, I still fall into the slave-works trap against which Paul cautions.  If you have suffered through family strife, the nature of God’s familial love may seem foreign and indiscernible.

 

I encourage you to join me in reflecting on God’s amazing fatherly love for us today.  I have found that joy may oversweep me as I reflect on God’s goodness to us:  His grace, His blessings, and His awesome power.  In this exercise, I often reflect on His amazing creation and yet His desire to speak to us through His Word and Holy Spirit.  How are you able to connect with Him and experience the full depth of His love?  Will you take some time today to reflect – and be richly encouraged?

 

With such reflections in our mind, our motivation to please God and others turns from fear to love.  We wish to lavish on others the love that God has lavished upon us and to bring glory to our great and loving Father.  The negative, vicious cycle of fear and rejection becomes replaced by a positive, virtuous cycle of love and acceptance.  May God carry us into such a positive cycle, to His honor and glory.

 

 

Lord God, thank You for making it possible for us to approach You as sons through the completed work of Christ on the cross.  We are amazingly blessed to know You and experience the eternal life that You desired for us, even now as sons and heirs.  Help us to become so overwhelmed by Your fatherly love that we may deeply love and compassionately care for those around us.  Bring to mind today images of Your deep and amazing love and cast out our wrong notions that make us slaves to fear.  Bring the freedom as sons that You have always desired for us.  In Jesus’s Name, amen.

 

 

“How Deep the Father’s Love for Us”:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV2zMZ-nZ7k

________________________________________
1) Blog:                  http://bit.ly/rV1Cw1

2) Facebook:        http://on.fb.me/tc6jkS

September 15: The curious diet of some animals...

Isaiah 19:1-21:17
Galatians 2:1-16
Psalm 59:1-17
Proverbs 23:13-14

13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you punish them with the rod, they will not die.
14 Punish them with the rod
and save them from death.

I've been a parent for almost 17 years, and each day I grow in my appreciation for how difficult, oftentimes how frustrating it must have been for my parents to raise me. Growing up, I gave them frequent, almost daily reason to abide by the proverb above - yes, I was that much trouble. They are still waiting for me to get payback from my own children, and can only gaze in slightly irritated wonder at how much better behaved, how much less trouble my three kids are to me combined than I was to them.

Despite how much better behaved, how much less trouble my children are, I still struggle with the need for discipline. There are days I swing wildly from the one extreme - of exasperation, surrender and abdication, to the other - of fear and desperation; from giving up on them, to clamping down on them like an alligator's jaws and shaking some sense into them. And every time that happens, I have to remind myself discipline is to be found somewhere in between, cloaked in the love that wants to "save them from death". It is that judiciousness, that wisdom that I pray for, living in a society that increasingly finds everything permissible, even ideal; a society that eschews and abhors the very concept of discipline - self discipline in particular.

It is when society demands that we conform to its gradual, inexorable deemphasis on discipline that we are fortunate to have the example of Paul who, faced with Cephas's hypocrisy and transgression, did not hesitate to call him out, to correct him, that he and others might not be led astray. I cannot imagine that that made him popular, but it was the right thing to do, and Peter found the balance between frustrated abdication and fearful control.

My parents tell me they are proud of how I turned out. I can only say that I am the way I am because they, too, persisted in finding the balance Paul did, and persisted in disciplining me - despite, I am sure, the many occasions I demonstrated to them why some animals eat their young.

Thanks, Mom and Dad.

Saturday BlogPost (9/13/14)

Saturday, September 13, 2014 [by Keesha Sullivan]

“Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me, for in you my soul takes refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed,” (Psalm 57:1). 

These words are similar to the ones that a woman cried out that was going through unfathomable grief. She had two boys, a great husband, and a beautiful home. She had gotten to know Jesus a few months prior to the event that would forever change her life. She had been listening on the radio to Kathryn Kuhlman and she had spoken to this mother of two about how Jesus would perform miracles for those that asked. She had also spoken about the power of the Holy Spirit seeing us through life.

On that snowy fateful day, this mother had her sons go into the backyard to play as she cooked dinner. She could hear their laughter and joyful screams as she prepped the food. She noticed other voices at the front of the house and figured her boys would soon join the group of kids playing in the street. The voices of her boys and the other kids seemed to get farther and farther away, but she did not worry about it. They lived in a safe neighborhood and her boys looked out for each other. Just ten minutes later a little boy from the neighborhood ran to her house and began pounding as hard as he could on the door. The fear in his eyes made her heart jump into her throat. She followed him to her boys. One of her son’s had climbed onto the icy lake near their house to get a ball that the kids had thrown onto it. The ice broke and he went under. Her older son immediately went to his rescue only to fall in to the lake as well.

As I read this true story, my adrenaline rose and I prayed and hoped that the miracle would be her sons coming back to life or being okay once the police and firemen came to the rescue. That wasn’t the case. This mother of two lost both of her boys in one day. The miracle that she wrote about was “God [having] mercy on [her], for in [Him her] soul [took] refuge. [She] took refuge in the shadow of His wings,” and grieved the loss of her only two children. Going through the process of grief with Jesus kept her mind in tack. It enabled her to minister to her unbelieving husband that was close to committing suicide and went into a deep depression. It allowed her to still say, “Blessed be the name of the Lord.” I cried and cried and cried some more. It was one of the greatest miracles I have ever encountered. God sustained her and had mercy on her through one of the most horrific tragedies that she would ever encounter.

Lord, have mercy on us. Help us to take refuge in you during this journey called life. Help us to take refuge in the shadow of your wings as the disaster lingers and until its passing. Help us to lean upon You and Your Word in this broken, fallen world. Help us to trust You for miracles and for Your incredible Power to sustain us. We love You, Jesus. Amen

Kenny Sullivan

Grace EFC | Stamford, CT

C: 203-803-7478

O: 203-323-6737 ext. 12

soli Deo gloria

Thursday, September 11

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2014

Isaiah 8:1–9:21

2 Corinthians 12:1–10

Psalm 55:1–23

Proverbs 23:4,5

 

 

“Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.  Three times, I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me.  But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’  Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:7b–10)

 

 

In today’s reading, Paul describes a “thorn in my flesh” that, despite its inherent difficulties, ultimately leads to greater glory for God and to His manifest power in Paul.  Simply put, Paul “delight[s] in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

 

When we take an honest inventory of our lives, we recognize that “every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)  Chief among these gifts is God’s grace, His unmerited favor towards us.

 

We all experience “common grace”:  the power that holds the universe in order and allows for the normal, day-to-day functioning of the world.  As Jesus explains in Matthew 5:45, in His “common grace,” God “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”  Through this “common grace” – most elegantly displayed in the glory of Creation – God resonates with the human heart, beckoning us to approach Him:

 

“The heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of his hands.

Day after day, they pour forth speech;

night after night; they reveal knowledge.

They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.” (Psalm 19:1–4)

 

 

To those whom He chooses to call, He provides saving (or “salvific”) grace.  This saving grace is effective and breaks down the veils of unbelief and separation from God.  For this reason, as we consider sharing the truth of God’s Word with family and friends, we must seek God’s intervention and foregoing movement in their lives.  When God chooses to reveal Himself, people respond with gratitude, love, and faith.  We may look back at the times in which God revealed Himself first – and continues to do so – with gratitude, thanking Him for breathing life into our dead hearts, minds, and bodies and “call[ing] into being things that were not.” (Romans 4:17)  As 2 Corinthians 5:17 teaches, “therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation:  the old has gone; the new has come!”  God brings about this renewing, giving life to the dead and calling

 

God’s sustaining grace, especially through speaking through His Word and the indwelling and filling of the Holy Spirit, allows us to follow after Him, committed both to trust and to obey.  Both trust and obedience emerge from a heart of faith, and faith originates through God’s self-revelation and an application of His grace.  We offer ourselves to become renewed and transformed, but God acts in and through us by means of His Holy Spirit.  Our spiritual growth comes by making ourselves available and then leaning on the abundant grace of our loving Heavenly Father to chisel a beautiful sculpture out of our rough rock.  Grace intervenes even to the point of giving us the desire to become available to God.

 

Let’s praise God for His grace and for overcoming our weaknesses with His awesome power and strength today.

 

 

Lord God, we bow our knee to You, recognizing that we are dead without Your grace.  We thank You for your effective grace, which brings beauty and order into this world, reveals the truth of the Gospel into our hearts, and strengthens us to serve and honor You in our daily lives.  We recognize that every good and perfect gift comes from Your hand, and we embrace You today as our Daddy.  Shepherd our hearts and our nation to hunger for You and Your righteousness.  Let us not stray into fields of unbelief, but provide Your grace to remain faithful and committed to growing under Your care.  We desperately need Your grace and are lost and dead without it.  Thank You for standing with us through every moment.  In Jesus’s Name, amen.

________________________________________
1) Blog:                  http://bit.ly/rV1Cw1

2) Facebook:        http://on.fb.me/tc6jkS

Tuesday September 9

Isaiah 3-5

2 Corinthians 11:1-15

Psalm 53:1-6

Proverbs 22:28-29

Isaiah 5:2 

He plowed the land, cleared its stones, and planted it with the best vines. In the middle he built a watchtower and carved a winepress in the nearby rocks. Then he waited for a harvest of sweet grapes, but the grapes that grew were bitter.

 

Out of today's reading, this is the verse that stood out to me the most. Immediately a picture came to mind of the Lord as the caretaker of this vineyard. And we are the vines. The caretaker does everything he can to make sure that the vines produce sweet grapes. He works hard at preparing the land and protecting the vines. He even makes preparations for using the sweet fruit once it arrives. But after all that work, still the grapes were bitter. 

God does everything for us to ensure that we live in the Spirit and can then be used to glorify Him. But because we are humans and because God gave us free will, even when God makes all the conditions perfect for us to grow spiritually, unless we choose to follow His ways, we will turn out to be nothing but bitter grapes.

God wants us to be a vineyard that produces sweet fruit that can then be used for His kingdom. He makes all the conditions right so that this can happen. He does all the hard work and preparation. All we have to do in return is simply follow Him.

September 8: Of weapons and their uses...

Isaiah 1:1-2:22

2 Corinthians 10:1-18

Psalm 52:1-9

Proverbs 22:26-27

2 Cor 10:3-4 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.

And thank God for that.  Have you ever been frustrated by a bad, sinful habit?  Could be something as simple as throwing a bad word out regularly in casual conversation, could be something worse, like constant envy or ill will (what was that the Lord said about "Raca"?), a habit which, try as you might, with all your heart, you just cannot break?  Not easy to break a sinful habit, and more likely as not beyond the abilities of the one who fell into the bad habit in the first place.  Even worse, sometimes we don't realize the habit for the sin that it is!  Jerry Bridges, in his book "Respectable Sins", discusses the "sins we tolerate" - things like anxiety and frustration, discontentment...yes, these are sins - and they are also tough habits to break.  We need help.

Funny enough, we KNOW we need help.  Pastor Scott mentioned that, in the US, we now have more therapists than we have dentists.  So we know we need help...but we are looking for it in the wrong places.  How much better that we can turn to one whose weapons, with which He arms us, are NOT of this world, who has the power to "thoroughly purge away your dross and remove all your impurities", Who, "though your sins are like scarlet" can make them "white as snow".  And He doesn't even exact a price - there is no need for the meaningless offering, the worthless assemblies.  What He wants is for us to be "willing and obedient", to "throw away to the moles and bats [our] idols of silver and idols of gold, which [we] made to worship."

Thank You, God, that though we have turned from You, still You do not forsake us.  You are still willing to welcome us back into Your care.  Accept our submission and obedience, and reveal to us our sinful habits..and then demolish the strongholds of our sin with your weapons of divine power.

Blog Saturday 9/6/14

Saturday, September 6, 2014 

3 All night long on my bed
    I looked for the one my heart loves;
    I looked for him but did not find him.
2 I will get up now and go about the city,
    through its streets and squares;
I will search for the one my heart loves.
    So I looked for him but did not find him.
3 The watchmen found me
    as they made their rounds in the city.
    "Have you seen the one my heart loves?"
4 Scarcely had I passed them
    when I found the one my heart loves.
I held him and would not let him go
    till I had brought him to my mother's house,
    to the room of the one who conceived me. (Song of Songs 3:1-4)

Today's reading had me imagine times when I've woken up to a half-empty bed. After being married for even a short  six years, it feels weird to wake up and no one is there. There have been times when this has happened to me and I was startled thinking, "What happened to my wife? Where is she?" In these moments, I have gone from room to room to find her, not stopping until I satisfied my search. I thought about this today and asked myself, "Do I search for Jesus this way?  When I'm confused or feel disconnected, do I look for Him and search relentlessly for My Savior?"

Feeling disconnected from the Lord can be nerve-racking. I often wonder what God is trying to teach me in those moments. Is He "hiding" on purpose? Am I missing something? But, what I see in this passage is the Beloved so desirous of her Lover that she will stop at nothing to find Him.  From her bed to the city streets, to the watchmen, she is on a mission - she NEEDS Him!

13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. (Jeremiah 29:13)

Jesus is worthy of "all your heart" effort. Songs is calling us higher in our love for God, our passion for His Presence, our commitment to the relationship, and our time spent in intimacy.  We will have times of disconnection, times when we feel like the bed is half-empty.  Father, help us not to be half-hearted in seeking you.  Help us to search for you with all our heart.

---------

Kenny Sullivan

soli Deo gloria

September 5th

September

Don't let the excitement of youth cause you to forget your Creator. Honor him in your youth before you grow old and say, "Life is not pleasant anymore." Remember him before the light of the sun, moon, and stars is dim to your old eyes, and rain clouds continually darken your sky. Remember him before your legs—the guards of your house—start to tremble; and before your shoulders—the strong men—stoop. Remember him before your teeth—your few remaining servants—stop grinding; and before your eyes—the women looking through the windows—see dimly. Remember him before the door to life's opportunities is closed and the sound of work fades. Now you rise at the first chirping of the birds, but then all their sounds will grow faint. Remember him before you become fearful of falling and worry about danger in the streets; before your hair turns white like an almond tree in bloom, and you drag along without energy like a dying grasshopper, and the caperberry no longer inspires sexual desire. Remember him before you near the grave, your everlasting home, when the mourners will weep at your funeral. Yes, remember your Creator now while you are young, before the silver cord of life snaps and the golden bowl is broken. Don't wait until the water jar is smashed at the spring and the pulley is broken at the well. For then the dust will return to the earth, and the spirit will return to God who gave it. (‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭12‬:‭1-7‬ NLT)

In this passage the word remember is used 6 times, and is the precursor to almost 20 different descriptions of old age. I think that Solomon is trying to get the point across that it is important to remember God. Not to give up on him, or to leave Him behind while you live your life. I think that Solomon is looking back on his life and maybe even looking at who his son Rehoboam is becoming, and regretting the distancing of his life from God. He relied on the wisdom that was bestowed on him, yet forgot about the One who gave it to him. He had set his mind on what was going on in his life, and yet left a God in his dust. But God wanted to be the center of the life he had made, after all, it was God who gave him the wisdom to get to where he had gotten. When you live a life without God as the center, there will be regrets when you look back on the life you have lived. God want to be, in fact he designed us to have Him be the center of our lives.

We are in day 5 of our Church's 40 day prayer challenge, and God is on the move. God moves when people submit their lives to Him. Looking forward to what we are going to see God do in the next 35 days!



Sent from my iPad

Thursday, September 4

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4, 2014

Ecclesiastes 7:1–9:18

2 Corinthians 7:8–16

Psalm 48:1–14

Proverbs 22:17–19

 

 

Today’s passage touches upon the key differential between depression (worldly sorrow) vs. godly sorrow.  Paul carefully indicates that these two types of sorrow have different sources and different outcomes.

 

Although chemical imbalances may cause lasting depression, I have often found that negative thoughts (often, lies) can deliver the type of “worldly sorrow” that Paul describes in 2 Corinthians 7:8-11a:  “Even if I caused you sorrow by my letter, I do not regret it.  Though I did regret it -- I see that my letter hurt you, but only for a little while -- yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance.  For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us.  Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.  See what this godly sorrow has produced in you: what earnestness, what eagerness to clear yourselves, what indignation, what alarm, what longing, what concern, what readiness to see justice done.”

 

Godly sorrow leads to conviction and repentance.  Recognizing that we have a judgmental attitude or that we have thought frivolously about God leads us to confess and seek restoration with the Father.  Clearly, these steps are beneficial for our growth in character.

 

Yet, we often face sorrowful (worldly) thoughts.  These sorrows may arise through actual circumstances or feared circumstances that we create in our minds.  We may be remorseful for our performance or others’ opinions of us.  These thoughts may cause us to question God’s goodness and presence in our lives.  I am convinced that the Evil One uses our thoughts against us, in order to entrap us and keep us from experiencing the victory (and proclaiming the glory) of Christ.  He desires to thwart God’s work:  “Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17)

 

In short, we must seek God’s guidance on the nature of the sorrows we face.  Has He genuinely sent this sorrow for our repentance or growth?  Or are these words lies from the Evil One meant to set us astray?

 

Like Paul, we need God’s grace for a healthy mind and spiritual heart:  “But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.” (1 Corinthians 15:10)

 

Lord God, thank You for godly sorrow, which draws us back to Your side and restores our full fellowship.  Help us to sort through our daily thoughts, to determine which thoughts come from You and lead us to You and those that come from this world or the Evil One and lead us to depression.  Bring freedom as we understand how You have created us and rejoice in Your createdness in us.  Help us to serve as ambassadors and bringers of hope by introducing You to hurting people, who have become overcome with worldly sorrow.  May we bring glory to You through the renewing of our minds and reaching out to others.  In Jesus’s Name, amen.

________________________________________
1) Blog:                  http://bit.ly/rV1Cw1

2) Facebook:        http://on.fb.me/tc6jkS