Father God, thank you that we have the great joy and privilege of calling you Father. Thank you for embracing us as your children, as heirs with Christ in the glory that You gave to Him. Thank you that we are Your daughters. That we are made in Your image and that as we grow in intimacy and experience of You in our daily lives, we have greater and greater opportunity to be like You and to share Your true nature with the world around us. As we continue in our study of this section of Romans, where Paul is lamenting the sad truth that so many people trade Your revelation of Yourself as Father and Lover for the cold-hearted nature of human beings with limited sight, limited understanding, and a limited view of love. Expand our capacity to receive Your Presence in our lives. Expand our capacity to understand and experience all that You are and all that You have given us as your children. Expand our capacity to reflect, to rise and shine Your goodness, Your beauty, Your holiness, Your joyful Presence to all those around us.
Father, I pray specifically today that You will lift the burden of stress, worry, fear, and pain off of Tina's heart. That You will infuse her with a revelation and experience of Your goodness that is so powerful that it chases every fear of the future away in one breath. Father, give Tina the most expansive revelation of the Love You have lavished upon her as a child of God (1 John 3:1). That she might celebrate and not feel compelled to do, but rather to rest in being...to rest in her calling as a child of God. Yes, we will do things because we are called Your children, but true joy really comes from knowing that You do not love us because of what we do, but because of who You call us to be...Your sons and daughters. She is greatly treasured and a great delight to You, especially when she is completely free from worry, fear, stress, and pain...when she is laughing freely and openly without a care in the world...that is how You want her to live every day of her life. May it be so, Father. Release her from the grip of fear, and draw her into Your glorious light where there is no fear and no pain. Thank you, Jesus.
1:24-25 "Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen."
This therefore is attached to verse 23, that they exchanged the glory they were intended to shine in for the glory of creation, which was meant to serve. They exchanged the truth of God's goodness for the false belief that He wanted to rule over them, to control them, to govern them without relationship. This makes me sad, for so many Christians live every day of their lives, having heard that Jesus loves them, but not really understanding that His love calls us to a higher plane. The result is sad, that we just act and behave like animals instead of reigning queens and kings on the earth. Instead of having dominion over the earth, the earth has dominion over us. We are tossed about by every wind and wave of nature, as well as by every wind and wave of doctrine...not sure who we are, not sure of our purpose, not sure of the hope we were called to. This breaks my heart, and it surely broke Paul's heart. It was sorrow over this fallen state of man that moved him to so resolutely and purposefully focus his entire attention on getting the word out about God's goodness, about His kindness toward man. There is nothing worse in this world than seeing someone live below their full potential. It saddens God's heart, and it saddened Paul's heart, and it breaks my heart, too. I am a champion for helping people begin dreaming again, living life fully, experiencing true joy and true pleasure as they gain victory over the strongholds in their minds so they can have the true picture of what they were called to...not a list of things to do, but a lifestyle of being loved and loving fully, a lifestyle of living out of joy and rest rather than out of obligation and servitude. Ahhhh! I could go on and on about this.
1:26 "Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion."
This seems to be one of the main verses used to condemn homosexuals, but what I just realized this minute is that it's a result of a whole group of people exchanging the truth about God for a lie. He didn't say just one person. He said "they". They exchanged...God gave them over. I'm having trouble putting into words what I'm really thinking about this. I can start here...when a culture has groups of people who practice homosexuality, it is a sign...it is a sign that the truth has been exchanged for a lie, not just in the individual's life but in the life of the entire culture. This seems to be the final sign of the full exchange of the lie. Our culture is steeped in lies about God. We see it all over the place. People believe He is angry at everyone, that He is unhappy and is seeking vengeance against mankind. These lies about God have been promulgated since the dark ages, and just now they are coming to full fruit in our country in the devastating acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle as normal. And the church is missing the sign...they are railing against the homosexuals instead of actually repenting for their own folly in believing and promoting lies about God...instead of laying down sin, the Church has chosen to further commit error by taking to task those who are displaying the fruit of the lie all of us believe. In 2 Chronicles 7:14, it says the solution to this is not telling people they are going to hell. Rather, the solution is in humbling ourselves, going to Him and repenting of our wrong thinking about Him. We are not supposed to be repenting for overeating, for engaging in sexual immorality, for smoking or doing drugs. No!!! That is small-minded repentance. We are supposed to be repenting for believing the worst about God, for believing that He is mad at us and that the fear of the Lord is supposed to be a cowering, frightened, shaking, and trembling fear that makes Him completely unapproachable and foreign to us. We are supposed to be repenting for not believing that we are co-heirs with Christ, saved completely, healed completely, delivered completely of all that stops us from spreading the Love of Christ everywhere we go. We are supposed to be repenting for not believing that God is faithful to do all that He has promised on behalf of mankind and the earth...it is time to dust off the promises of Scripture (I recently heard there are 7,000 of them in there!), and begin actually living by faith that He is who He has revealed Himself as in Christ Jesus, who had compassion on all who came to Him with faith and humility. He healed EVERY disease, He delivered the people of EVERY spiritual oppression, He embraced and accepted as Holy every person who came to Him, wealthy or poor, sick or well. We need to embrace the true revelation Jesus came to give...that Father God is raising up a family...children who will be like Him, who will love like Him, who will embrace the world as He did...
Okay, I'll stop preaching now. I am so passionate about this, having had an awakening of my own in this area. I no longer doubt His goodness. I no longer doubt His power to change, to heal, to transform, to deliver...even the hard things like fibromyalgia, chronic pain, arthritis, and other maladies that seem to have their roots so deep in peoples' lives that it's as though they might never leave. I am positive that He has breakthrough in mind for every person's life. I am believing this for you. I have believed it for me for a couple of years now and am finally seeing the fullness of His healing in my physical body. I still have a few things I'm praying for in my body, but I have had tremendous breakthrough in my body. And it's not because I'm somehow in a class above anyone else. I am definitely in a class alone...there is no one else like me, and I'm amazing. But that is true of each one of us. There is not one person who is exempt from the blessings of His generosity and His good pleasure to give us all things. Not one of us...we are all unique. We all are meant to shine from within, filled with His Spirit who brings peace, joy, faithfulness, self-control, and all those other amazing fruits that we can seem to produce without Him. We are all meant to be special, unique, the only representation of Him that has ever lived on the planet. It is a glorious call.
I admit it. I'm still preaching. Haha! I really will stop now.
Father God, thank You for sending Jesus to die so that we can approach Your throne boldly. Thank you that we can cry out to You, Abba, Daddy. Papa. Papa, we need You. Tear the veil away from our eyes that keeps us from seeing You in Your full goodness. Papa, help us identify the lies we're believing about You that keep us trapped in isolation, fear, and oppression. We want to exchange these lies now for the truth, and we want to see healing come upon our land as we repent and begin to come into agreement with the truth about Yourself that You revealed in the man Jesus Christ, who laid down His life to reconcile every man to God and to save the whole earth from the judgment and wrath of God. Thank you for this good news. May it soak deeply into the core of our beings and begin to change us from the inside out. Amen.
~Angela
Monday, October 10, 2011
Romans 1:18-23
Dear Father God I thank you so much for this time we have to share with you and each other today. Lord help me to focus on what is important today, help me to not be distracted by stress and pain and family woes, help me to focus in on you. Lord I thank you so much for my sister Angela and her willingness to spend time in the world with me, I glean so much from our time together. Lord you know the needs of both or our families and I ask you to overflow our cups. Amen
1:18 But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves. (My bible has a side note "or people who prevent the truth from being known.")
God's anger is poured out on those who prevent the truth from being known or who push the truth away from themselves. I am thinking that there are many in our culture who will be shown the wrath of God when the time comes. God is holy and just, loving and forgiving yet his anger is for those who prevent his true nature from being known. I love that this makes him angry, it shows us his nature which is justly and good.
1:19-20 For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. (Manifested in them) God has put this knowledge in their hearts. From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.
I really loved your view on this verse. It is hard not to take the view point of judging those who look around and see the wonder around them and yet they believe all of it was just an accident or part of chaos theory. I want to know more specifically what did God put into their hearts as "knowledge"? Do you think it is your conscious or the knowledge of right and wrong. Is it the wonder of nature? Hard to say isn't it? I look at this verse and believe that even those who have not heard the word of God might be saved if God desires it. That those who died before Christ was on the cross might be saved, those in the deep jungle might be saved also.
21 Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn't worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. The result was that their minds became dark and confused.
I think left to our own imaginations we could make God into something very scary and dark because our imaginations are tainted by our sinful nature. God is indescribably big, powerful, creator of all things and if left to our sinful imaginations of coarse he would be vengeful, mighty forceful and in love with power. God is all those things but he is also HOLY, sinless, full of love and mercy all of which our human heart and mind can not grasp.
22 Claiming to be wise, they became utter fools instead. And instead of worshiping the glorious, ever-living God, they worshiped idols made to look like mere people, or birds and animals and snakes.
Our little minds can not comprehend the every-living glorious God we like to keep God contained in a little package, make him familiar like a bird or an animal. We are fools. I am guilty of this myself, not in worshiping an object but of obsessing over an idea or not giving my cares and worries up to God, thinking I can handle this. Thinking God can not possibly handle all of my burdens. I become the fool because I can not carry my burdens, I need God to take them away.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Romans 1:18-23--Angela
Father God, bring your peace to Tina and Mark and to the girls. I thank you for encouraging Echo to make the decision she has made to move to Anacortes. I praise you and your glorious nature for inspiring Mark and Tina to encourage her to follow her heart, despite the fear and concerns they may have about her future. Thank you for providing for me and Eric today. You keep placing upon my heart the importance of remaining firmly rooted in today's provision. My heart is often distracted by the future, concerns that aren't even on the horizon...weeks or months away. And I know you are faithful. I know that you are faithful to provide for our needs. I know that I must push past my enemy, fear, and press into your faithfulness. You are faithful, not because of what we do but because of who You are. Reveal to us Your faithfulness today. Lord, I pray a special prayer for Ruby today. I pray for your ministering angels and your people to meet her, to encourage her, to love her. Father, give her the security of being a daughter of the King. Give her the security she needs right now. Father, I pray right now for the lies to be broken over Mark. I pray for Mark to have a great awakening to his partnership with fear, depression, and discouragement. I pray that he would have a great awakening to the way he has been partnering with the lies of the enemy, who only desires to keep him low, pressed down, oppressed, and depressed. Father, lift his eyes to see your countenance shining upon him. Call forth his spirit into true communion with Your Spirit. Break through the lies and bring forth Your truth in greater and greater measures each day. Fan the flames and renew for him the joy of his salvation. Your good news is really good news. The life he is living, the life he has settled for, is not the life you planned for his family. Father, spark in Tina prayers and songs of deliverance over her family. Father, remind her of the dreams she's had, and give her fuel to fan the flames of her intercession and prayer. Give her hope and life in these times. A smoldering wick You will not snuff out. I breathe life into her soul. I breathe life into her spirit. I call her forth into communion with Your Spirit...nourish her, strengthen her, revive her, give her tools and truths to combat the lies of the enemy in this season. Give her swift breakthrough, Father God. Thank you. ~Amen.
1:18-19 "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them."
This really stirs my heart in righteous anger against the enemy right now. It is such godless and wicked teaching that has Christians at the bottom of the barrel, oppressed by poverty, fear, and depression. It is wicked and godless teaching, the false doctrines of demons, that keep us under the finger of fear that God is not who He says He is, that keeps us from seeing the great victory and triumph that has been given to us by Christ's sacrifice. The sentence right before this is "The righteous will live by faith." That is as plain as plain can be. Just like you said this morning, it is that SIMPLE!!
LIVE: Fully alive, fully infused with the joy that is the very nature of God, fully confident of purpose and destiny, fully assured of all provision (all that we need for life and godliness). The promises are clear in the Bible, but somehow we feel we are disqualified. We fear that somehow we have done something, or not done enough to be sure that God will make good on His promise to provide. It is by faith that we live. Anything less or more is a teaching borne out of wickedness and godlessness.
I have long since stopped seeing people as wicked and godless...I see the principalities behind these lies as wicked and godless. If we are oppressed or downcast, we have only to see that these things are not from God. We have only to recognize our true nature...our new nature...the one that is free to believe all the good things that God says about us. If someone doesn't know the Lord, I still see them the same way...loved by God, the promises are for them, they only need to meet the Promise Maker (the Promise Keeper).
1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
So often when discussing this verse, I have been tempted to focus solely on the fact that men are without excuse. I have used this verse to fuel a judgmental attitude of superiority...I know God, and you don't. You missed the signs. Oh shucks, too bad.
In reading this today, though, I see a very different focus. It is a question that this verse begs an answer to...what are the invisible qualities of God? This verse implies that they should be obvious, yet so many of us seem to look at creation and see only the bad...the violence, the disease, the darkness. None of these are God's qualities, so this is not what Paul is talking about. God reveals His nature in the fruit of His Spirit...Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
I want to turn my attention toward these qualities of God. I want to look at creation, at my brothers and sisters, at my husband, at my children, through the eyes of God's immutable nature...from beginning to end, God's kindness, gentleness, patience shines forth from all of creation. I want to see God clearly, and I want to see my fellow humans clearly, and I want to see creation clearly. I want my mind to be completely renewed to see the earth as good, to see all of creation as good, to see everything around me as something for my enjoyment, for my nourishment, for my good. I think this is what Paul is so up in arms about...if we see God as evil, then we are without excuse, for He has never revealed Himself that way. If we see Him that way, it's because we are projecting our fallen nature onto Him. We must stop doing that and trust Him at His Word!
1:21 "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
This is in keeping with I wrote in the last paragraph, but it brings freshly to mind a scene in The Magician's Nephew, by CS Lewis. I hope you've read it. If you haven't, I highly recommend it. It's one of the Narnia books, and the scene I'm thinking of is when Uncle Andrew (a greedy, low-minded man) is surrounded by the talking beasts of Narnia, but he can't hear their words. He can only hear growls, and he interprets them all as having ill-intent. He trusts none of them, and even Aslan's song is just noise to him...frightening. Because of his "darkened understanding," he interprets the whole beautiful scene as threatening and evil. In fact, he has just projected his own evil heart upon the creation of a brand new world. He's missed the beauty, and because of it he will succumb to his fear and possibly die.
1:22-23 "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal men and birds and animals and reptiles."
I recently heard someone teach on this verse. He said that we become what we gaze upon. In other passages, Paul says that we become like our idols...not seeing or hearing. This man who was teaching said that the glory we were given by God was like His glory and was meant to ensure that we would have intimacy with Him. This is what allowed Jesus to tell His disciples that they were not mere slaves, but actually friends of God. And later, when His Spirit fell upon all flesh, the ability to receive the mind of Christ was given to all mankind. However, we are given the choice as to what we gaze upon, what we worship, what we meditate (worry) over. When we are in idolatry, we exchange our God-given glory for the glory of nature. And throughout the Bible, all of nature is in subjection to God...nature is subservient to God...lower than what we were made for. Even the angels do not share in the kind of intimacy that God reserves for human beings...we are meant to colabor, to coreign on the earth. We are not meant to have a slave relationship with God, but rather a partnership. Moses had this, Abraham had this. David had this. And that was in the Old Testament. They managed to tap into the truth of man's glory before His glory was revealed to all mankind through Jesus. The time when Moses interceded on behalf of the Israelites, and God heard his pleas and spared their lives. The time when Abraham was given power over the fate of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is a grave mistake to be like Esau...to give our birthright away for momentary peace, for momentary satisfaction. Rather, we are to be like Jacob, understanding the power that lies within and not settling for anything less than all we were meant to become.
I pray we will both grow in our understanding of the glory reserved for us, and that we would both grow in wisdom and stature, so that we can carry that glory in such a way as to honor the One who gave it to us.
Bless you, my dear friend.
~Angela
1:18-19 "The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them."
This really stirs my heart in righteous anger against the enemy right now. It is such godless and wicked teaching that has Christians at the bottom of the barrel, oppressed by poverty, fear, and depression. It is wicked and godless teaching, the false doctrines of demons, that keep us under the finger of fear that God is not who He says He is, that keeps us from seeing the great victory and triumph that has been given to us by Christ's sacrifice. The sentence right before this is "The righteous will live by faith." That is as plain as plain can be. Just like you said this morning, it is that SIMPLE!!
LIVE: Fully alive, fully infused with the joy that is the very nature of God, fully confident of purpose and destiny, fully assured of all provision (all that we need for life and godliness). The promises are clear in the Bible, but somehow we feel we are disqualified. We fear that somehow we have done something, or not done enough to be sure that God will make good on His promise to provide. It is by faith that we live. Anything less or more is a teaching borne out of wickedness and godlessness.
I have long since stopped seeing people as wicked and godless...I see the principalities behind these lies as wicked and godless. If we are oppressed or downcast, we have only to see that these things are not from God. We have only to recognize our true nature...our new nature...the one that is free to believe all the good things that God says about us. If someone doesn't know the Lord, I still see them the same way...loved by God, the promises are for them, they only need to meet the Promise Maker (the Promise Keeper).
1:20 "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."
So often when discussing this verse, I have been tempted to focus solely on the fact that men are without excuse. I have used this verse to fuel a judgmental attitude of superiority...I know God, and you don't. You missed the signs. Oh shucks, too bad.
In reading this today, though, I see a very different focus. It is a question that this verse begs an answer to...what are the invisible qualities of God? This verse implies that they should be obvious, yet so many of us seem to look at creation and see only the bad...the violence, the disease, the darkness. None of these are God's qualities, so this is not what Paul is talking about. God reveals His nature in the fruit of His Spirit...Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
I want to turn my attention toward these qualities of God. I want to look at creation, at my brothers and sisters, at my husband, at my children, through the eyes of God's immutable nature...from beginning to end, God's kindness, gentleness, patience shines forth from all of creation. I want to see God clearly, and I want to see my fellow humans clearly, and I want to see creation clearly. I want my mind to be completely renewed to see the earth as good, to see all of creation as good, to see everything around me as something for my enjoyment, for my nourishment, for my good. I think this is what Paul is so up in arms about...if we see God as evil, then we are without excuse, for He has never revealed Himself that way. If we see Him that way, it's because we are projecting our fallen nature onto Him. We must stop doing that and trust Him at His Word!
1:21 "For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
This is in keeping with I wrote in the last paragraph, but it brings freshly to mind a scene in The Magician's Nephew, by CS Lewis. I hope you've read it. If you haven't, I highly recommend it. It's one of the Narnia books, and the scene I'm thinking of is when Uncle Andrew (a greedy, low-minded man) is surrounded by the talking beasts of Narnia, but he can't hear their words. He can only hear growls, and he interprets them all as having ill-intent. He trusts none of them, and even Aslan's song is just noise to him...frightening. Because of his "darkened understanding," he interprets the whole beautiful scene as threatening and evil. In fact, he has just projected his own evil heart upon the creation of a brand new world. He's missed the beauty, and because of it he will succumb to his fear and possibly die.
1:22-23 "Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal men and birds and animals and reptiles."
I recently heard someone teach on this verse. He said that we become what we gaze upon. In other passages, Paul says that we become like our idols...not seeing or hearing. This man who was teaching said that the glory we were given by God was like His glory and was meant to ensure that we would have intimacy with Him. This is what allowed Jesus to tell His disciples that they were not mere slaves, but actually friends of God. And later, when His Spirit fell upon all flesh, the ability to receive the mind of Christ was given to all mankind. However, we are given the choice as to what we gaze upon, what we worship, what we meditate (worry) over. When we are in idolatry, we exchange our God-given glory for the glory of nature. And throughout the Bible, all of nature is in subjection to God...nature is subservient to God...lower than what we were made for. Even the angels do not share in the kind of intimacy that God reserves for human beings...we are meant to colabor, to coreign on the earth. We are not meant to have a slave relationship with God, but rather a partnership. Moses had this, Abraham had this. David had this. And that was in the Old Testament. They managed to tap into the truth of man's glory before His glory was revealed to all mankind through Jesus. The time when Moses interceded on behalf of the Israelites, and God heard his pleas and spared their lives. The time when Abraham was given power over the fate of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. It is a grave mistake to be like Esau...to give our birthright away for momentary peace, for momentary satisfaction. Rather, we are to be like Jacob, understanding the power that lies within and not settling for anything less than all we were meant to become.
I pray we will both grow in our understanding of the glory reserved for us, and that we would both grow in wisdom and stature, so that we can carry that glory in such a way as to honor the One who gave it to us.
Bless you, my dear friend.
~Angela
Romans 1:14-17--Tina
14 For I have a great sense of to the people in our culture and to people in other cultures, to the educated and uneducated alike.
Paul feels called to tell everyone know matter who they are about Jesus. Everyone despite where they have come from can come to Christ, he is for everyone.
15 So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach God's Good News.
I find it interesting that Paul wants to go to Rome and is eager to go into enemy territory, he is eager to put his life on the line and go against the culture. I don't think I could have gone into Rome to preach the gospel.
16 For I am not ashamed of this Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes-Jews first and also Gentiles.
It is not shame that would keep me away from Rome but fear. Paul is fearless instead remembering that through God's power all things are possible. Even waking in the morning is done by God's power, he wills it to be. I think remembering that God's power is in control of everything from the tiny ladybug to my heart beating in my chest is important, he is bigger and more powerful than any force of nature. It is so easy to forget this and therefore lose faith in God.
17 This good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."
I love that it is only through faith that we are made right in God's eyes. Simple child like faith, no works, no pain we endure, no tests we pass, it is through simple faith. Through living by faith, with faith, in faith we are made clean and holy in God's eyes. It sounds too simple doesn't it? Like we should be doing more and more yet God is always going against what we think of as logic, his heart is bigger and more loving then our heart we can not even imagine how much he loves his creation, how much he loves us. Truly amazing!
Dear God, Thank you so much for this time to spend in your word today. Lord let these words sit on my heart, sink into my heart and become part of me. Lord I pray for Angela and Eric, Lord you know the needs there and I ask you to bless them beyond measure with your provision. Amen
Saturday, October 1, 2011
Begin Again
So I have finally gotten on here and read your post and your prayer. I am amazed that we seem to be dealing with a lot of the same issues, provision, direction, purposeful work all these things can be so disheartening. I find that this is the stuff that steals my joy, lessens my faith and leads me astray. I think God knows that provision is a big issue for me that I have to put all my faith into holding on to the fact that God will provide and that God takes care of children. Even knowing that, bringing it into the light and still it consumes me "the worry." I do not know what God has in store for us, the conversation has begun with the knowledge that we all feel like we don't belong here. We have asked God for his direction, for his plan to be worked out in our lives and so far nothing has been revealed to us. I continue to speak to my husband about his spiritual issues, he continues to deny that he even has any spiritual issues but he has come to the point where he admits that things that have happened have affected the family and their relationship with God. I see this has a step in the right direction, even if it is a baby step. I continue to struggle with loneliness and isolation and working at a job that is both hard on the body and very unsupported with pay and encouragement. So the long wait in the dessert continues and I do not know what is on the other side. I hold on to the promise that God has good things for his children.
Dear God, Hear my prayer this evening. I lift up my friend and sister Angela and her family. Lord you know what the needs are, you know that Eric has taken a step of faith in quitting his job in the hopes of something more. Lord I ask for you to reward Eric's faith, that you would step out and meet Eric and deliver to him a job, work, and purpose and that Eric would know that all things come from you. Lord I ask that you would surround Angela with a blanket of peace through this time, that she would know that you are giver of all good things and that you will provide for them what is needed. Continue to feed her with your unending faith and that she would continue to speak through her writing and blogs and profess your name again and again. Lord I ask that what ever is biting Orion and Zara would be banished from their home and yard, that the invisible bugs would be gone. Lord surround those children with your perfect love and protection, help them to grow in faith and become soldiers in your army. Amen
Dear God, Hear my prayer this evening. I lift up my friend and sister Angela and her family. Lord you know what the needs are, you know that Eric has taken a step of faith in quitting his job in the hopes of something more. Lord I ask for you to reward Eric's faith, that you would step out and meet Eric and deliver to him a job, work, and purpose and that Eric would know that all things come from you. Lord I ask that you would surround Angela with a blanket of peace through this time, that she would know that you are giver of all good things and that you will provide for them what is needed. Continue to feed her with your unending faith and that she would continue to speak through her writing and blogs and profess your name again and again. Lord I ask that what ever is biting Orion and Zara would be banished from their home and yard, that the invisible bugs would be gone. Lord surround those children with your perfect love and protection, help them to grow in faith and become soldiers in your army. Amen
Friday, September 30, 2011
Romans 1:14-17--Angela
Father,
I pray a special blessing of peace for my dear friend, Tina. She needs a gentle touch from You right now. Give her Your perspective. Bring her to a higher place to see all that You are up to for her and her family. Give her the assurance that You haven't left her and that You are always and forever in her court. Bring revelation and reality to Your deep affection for her. Give her eyes to read Your Words afresh, especially the Words of promise and blessing for her, Mark, and their children. Lord, infuse her with wisdom, perspective, and clear direction. Give her a vision for their future and help her to hold onto it no matter what circumstances may be. ~Amen.
vs. 14 "I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish."
Paul's heart beats for every person. His message is for every type of person, from every walk of life, from every station. Whatever he says applies to me, it applies to you, it applies to the wealthiest of the wealthy and to the poorest of the poor. It applies to every person in every religious sect, and it applies to every atheist out there. No one is exempt from his message, his prayers, his hopes, and his dreams. He lived to see Jesus get His full reward.
vs. 15 "That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome."
His calling gives him gumption, enthusiasm, and joy. Eager is a word I associate with my children. They are eager to try new things, to be with me, to talk to me, to show me their greatest inventions or their dollies' new outfits. He is eager to share because this message of freedom is so amazing, and it's for everyone!!
vs. 16 "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."
I am coming close to having this same boldness and excitement about the power of the gospel to save, heal, and deliver those who hear the good news of Jesus. Everyone who believes! I am intrigued by the order Paul shares here...first the Jew, then the Gentile. I don't quite understand how this all works, though I have been impressed in recent years by the import of the Jews in Jesus' mind. I know this speaks of order, and I also know it speaks of Paul's heart for his own people. I think it also speaks of the mystery of the Old Testament and the crimson cord of salvation that runs through the pages of Jewish history, the prophets, and the wisdom literature of the Old Testament.
vs. 17 "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'"
Paul lends credence to my theory about the crimson cord running through the Old Testament by quoting Habakkuk 2:4 (2:3-5 says: For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and not delay. See, [the wicked foe] is puffed up; his desires are not upright--but the righteous will live by his faith--indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples.") The righteous shall live by faith is a very powerful saying that is quoted all the time in Christian circles. What is the evidence that we are living a life of faith? That we wait patiently, trusting His timing. That we read His Word and believe that everything He says about us (the righteous) is true and is for us and is for today. The passage in Habakkuk implies that the righteous have peace and are satisfied...content, filled with gratitude. The wicked one strives and gathers people unto himself as though they are his resource, his sustenance. The righteous one trusts in God alone and does not lean on another person to give him his daily bread. This is a lesson I have been learning for my own life. How to put my trust in God to provide instead of in my husband or even in myself...to put my hand to the plow, yes, but not to carry the burden of the outcome of the works of my hands. Instead, I rely on Him for the outcome and His perfect timing.
Prayer Request: We are in a season where this reality is being tested fully. My husband felt the Lord calling him to completely surrender in the area of provision. He quit his job without another one to take its place. We are pressing into the Lord for His provision, for His direction, and for His peace through this time. I have had to daily take my fears to God (as we do not have enough to pay October's utilities or November's rent) and rely on His Word to daily increase my faith for His promise to provide. This morning, I woke with the same fear of not having enough (plus having to deal with invisible fleas that are eating my kids alive despite the fact that we have no animals!). After washing bedding and vacuuming all morning, I went to Him in despair. He encouraged me to continue looking up the passages on "treasure" that I started looking up a couple of weeks ago. I was so encouraged. I know He is going to provide. I don't know how, but I know I am to keep putting one foot in front of the other and trust Him to show us the way. We need prayer, just as you do. This has a make-it-or-break-it feeling to it. Eric has long been searching for his place in this world, for vision, and for confidence to make his mark. I am weary of the cycles and the fears and the uncertainties. I am weary of the pressure and his depression. I am seeing signs of him coming out of that, and I am seeing signs of cycles being broken, but I face the fear every day. I know you are in a similar place with Mark, with a lot less clarity and a ton more fear. As we pray for each other, I think the Lord will lift the veil and bring more peace, more joy, and more confidence in the foundations He is laying for our families in this season of uncertainty. I love you, my friend.
~Angela
I pray a special blessing of peace for my dear friend, Tina. She needs a gentle touch from You right now. Give her Your perspective. Bring her to a higher place to see all that You are up to for her and her family. Give her the assurance that You haven't left her and that You are always and forever in her court. Bring revelation and reality to Your deep affection for her. Give her eyes to read Your Words afresh, especially the Words of promise and blessing for her, Mark, and their children. Lord, infuse her with wisdom, perspective, and clear direction. Give her a vision for their future and help her to hold onto it no matter what circumstances may be. ~Amen.
vs. 14 "I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish."
Paul's heart beats for every person. His message is for every type of person, from every walk of life, from every station. Whatever he says applies to me, it applies to you, it applies to the wealthiest of the wealthy and to the poorest of the poor. It applies to every person in every religious sect, and it applies to every atheist out there. No one is exempt from his message, his prayers, his hopes, and his dreams. He lived to see Jesus get His full reward.
vs. 15 "That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome."
His calling gives him gumption, enthusiasm, and joy. Eager is a word I associate with my children. They are eager to try new things, to be with me, to talk to me, to show me their greatest inventions or their dollies' new outfits. He is eager to share because this message of freedom is so amazing, and it's for everyone!!
vs. 16 "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."
I am coming close to having this same boldness and excitement about the power of the gospel to save, heal, and deliver those who hear the good news of Jesus. Everyone who believes! I am intrigued by the order Paul shares here...first the Jew, then the Gentile. I don't quite understand how this all works, though I have been impressed in recent years by the import of the Jews in Jesus' mind. I know this speaks of order, and I also know it speaks of Paul's heart for his own people. I think it also speaks of the mystery of the Old Testament and the crimson cord of salvation that runs through the pages of Jewish history, the prophets, and the wisdom literature of the Old Testament.
vs. 17 "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'"
Paul lends credence to my theory about the crimson cord running through the Old Testament by quoting Habakkuk 2:4 (2:3-5 says: For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and not delay. See, [the wicked foe] is puffed up; his desires are not upright--but the righteous will live by his faith--indeed, wine betrays him; he is arrogant and never at rest. Because he is as greedy as the grave and like death is never satisfied, he gathers to himself all the nations and takes captive all the peoples.") The righteous shall live by faith is a very powerful saying that is quoted all the time in Christian circles. What is the evidence that we are living a life of faith? That we wait patiently, trusting His timing. That we read His Word and believe that everything He says about us (the righteous) is true and is for us and is for today. The passage in Habakkuk implies that the righteous have peace and are satisfied...content, filled with gratitude. The wicked one strives and gathers people unto himself as though they are his resource, his sustenance. The righteous one trusts in God alone and does not lean on another person to give him his daily bread. This is a lesson I have been learning for my own life. How to put my trust in God to provide instead of in my husband or even in myself...to put my hand to the plow, yes, but not to carry the burden of the outcome of the works of my hands. Instead, I rely on Him for the outcome and His perfect timing.
Prayer Request: We are in a season where this reality is being tested fully. My husband felt the Lord calling him to completely surrender in the area of provision. He quit his job without another one to take its place. We are pressing into the Lord for His provision, for His direction, and for His peace through this time. I have had to daily take my fears to God (as we do not have enough to pay October's utilities or November's rent) and rely on His Word to daily increase my faith for His promise to provide. This morning, I woke with the same fear of not having enough (plus having to deal with invisible fleas that are eating my kids alive despite the fact that we have no animals!). After washing bedding and vacuuming all morning, I went to Him in despair. He encouraged me to continue looking up the passages on "treasure" that I started looking up a couple of weeks ago. I was so encouraged. I know He is going to provide. I don't know how, but I know I am to keep putting one foot in front of the other and trust Him to show us the way. We need prayer, just as you do. This has a make-it-or-break-it feeling to it. Eric has long been searching for his place in this world, for vision, and for confidence to make his mark. I am weary of the cycles and the fears and the uncertainties. I am weary of the pressure and his depression. I am seeing signs of him coming out of that, and I am seeing signs of cycles being broken, but I face the fear every day. I know you are in a similar place with Mark, with a lot less clarity and a ton more fear. As we pray for each other, I think the Lord will lift the veil and bring more peace, more joy, and more confidence in the foundations He is laying for our families in this season of uncertainty. I love you, my friend.
~Angela
Thursday, February 10, 2011
My week
Angela,
My week is crazy!! Ruby has been out of school due to asthma, I am trying to get her into the doctor for tomorrow. (I had to get a sub for work) Mark was sick and time is speeding up. I won't be able to work on our study until at least next Monday, just wanted you to know that I am thinking of you and to let some of the pressure off of you also.
Love,
Tina
My week is crazy!! Ruby has been out of school due to asthma, I am trying to get her into the doctor for tomorrow. (I had to get a sub for work) Mark was sick and time is speeding up. I won't be able to work on our study until at least next Monday, just wanted you to know that I am thinking of you and to let some of the pressure off of you also.
Love,
Tina
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