Bible, Jesus

A Journey Through the Book of Numbers – Part 2 – God’s remedy for Jealousy

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yellow ceramic mug with water droplets in time lapse photography

In part 1 of this series I shared how God had revealed his plans for salvation in the first and third chapters of the book of Numbers. You can read that blog by clicking here. Now I want to look at chapter 5. The chapter I have titled “God’s remedy for jealousy”.

In the beginning of this chapter we have God telling the people how they make compensation for their sins. In verse 6 we see how they handle sins committed against another person. It goes on to say that person acts unfaithfully towards the Lord and is guilty. God is saying if you sin against someone it is as if you are being unfaithful to me your God, because I have chosen you to represent me to the earth and to be my people and I will be your God. God values people. He feels our pain and hurts as if they are his own. So when you sin against another person, it is as if you have done that act directly towards God himself. That thought right there should make us stop and think before we act. This is Becca’s theology so take it as you want. I believe God uses the word unfaithful in verse 6 of this chapter to link to verse 11-31 which is about potential unfaithfulness in marriage. God is a covenant God. A concept I feel is lost in our western modern culture. A covent is a binding promise. One you can’t just walk away from if you don’t like how things are going. It is for life, for good and for bad, it’s not an option to not fulfill one’s covenant vow. God made a covenant with you when you confessed that Jesus is your savior. He says He will be your God from that moment on. Whether you are good or bad, you now belong to Him. He may punish our sins, but He won’t stop being our God. Because of Jesus our sin cannot separate us from God, but it can invoke His jealousy.

Which leads us right up to verse 11-31. God understands jealousy. He calls Himself a jealous God – see Ex.34:14, Deut. 6:15, and Ex. 20:5 for a few examples. He wants our undivided love, our full devotion, love and affection for Him and no other god. So understand this emotion. God sets up a way for us to handle this emotion. If a man has suspicion that his wife has been unfaithful, he is to bring her to the priest who is to give the woman a test to see if she has been unfaithful or not.

Ok let me stop right here and address a few things – first, this is weird I get it. It is an odd way to work this out in a marriage. And it does seem very unfair to the wife, because there is not a test for the man. First we have to realize this is written in a time when men had many wives, thus making it hard for men to be considered “unfaithful” (Don’t blast me with anger on this topic, I don’t know why God allowed this in the Old Testament.) The culture when this was written is a male dominant culture we can all agree, but that doesn’t make the principal behind this strange ritual invalid. Just keep reading and keep your heart open to what the Lord is saying here, and remember I am a woman writing this so to all you feminists who want to shout unfair I feel you, but hang in here with me for a little while longer.

Here is how the ritual went. The man would bring the potential unfaithful woman to the priest who would have her stand before the Lord, take dirt from the tabernacle floor mix it with water, remove her head covering, and place in her hands the grain offering for jealousy. The woman is to take an oath saying if she has not been unfaithful this water will not bring a curse on her stomach; however, if she has it will bring a curse causing her belly to swell. The priest is to write the curses on a scroll and wash the words he wrote off in the water and have the woman drink it. The priest then takes the grain offering the woman is holding and burns it, then she is to drink the water. If she is guilty her stomach will swell, she will get sick and be unable to have children. If she is not guilty then she will be fine and the water won’t effect her. If she is found guilty she is to bear her own iniquity.

Alright here is what this says – God does not want a husband to linger in his thoughts of jealousy. He wants to quickly restore trust in a marriage. Application for today – take that feeling to God, men. Ask God who is truth and light to reveal truth and bring anything that is hidden into the light. I believe women who feel jealous about their husbands should do the same thing. Go stand before God and ask Him to bring light to the situation. And let me just point out right here that God does not say if the woman is guilty the man can divorce her. He simply says she is to bear her iniquity. If this is where you find yourself, that one or the other in a marriage has been unfaithful, seek out a Godly counselor, spend time in deep prayer, seek God like you never have before, and trust Him for healing.

For the woman, God is her defender. If her husband has wrongly accused her, God will let it be known. The word says righteousness protects the innocent. If she has done nothing wrong then God as her defender will prove that. And then she is to trust God to heal the jealous heart of her husband.

In this ritual known as ‘Sotah’ the name of God was dissolved into the water. In the Hebrew culture it was forbidden to erase the name of God. This is one reason that they don’t fully write out the name of God. But here we see God allows His name to be dissolved and ingested by the woman. God wants to rebuild trust in a marriage so much so that He allows His Holy name to be used in a way that is not allowed in other circumstances. In this ritual description in Numbers chapter 5, we see the phrase ‘before the Lord’ 4 times. The dirt from the tabernacle floor and the dissolved name of the Lord points to the presence of God. God wants us to take our feeling of jealousy to Him, if and when needed we will involve church leaders to help heal the marriage. God is personally invested in marriage as it represents His covenant with us.

Remember God calls Himself a jealous God. He understands feelings of jealousy and the hurt that follows. He also calls Himself merciful in Ex. 34:6. He is the defender of the innocent as seen in Psalm 18:1-2. God wants to be in the middle of our marriage, in the middle of the mess, in the middle of our jealous hearts. He wants to heal. He went to great lengths to prove this in creating a ritual just for this purpose.

Today we don’t have to take our spouse to the church and have the pastor or priest give them some weird concoction to drink, but we should take them before the Lord in prayer, and trust God to show us truth and heal us.

The remedy for jealousy is prayer, going before God, and asking him to show us the truth. Then trust Him to heal what is broken whether in our own heart due to our own issues, or in the relationship due to poor choices. God is merciful. He is a restorer. He is our healer. Trust Him with the process and know He understand.

To read the next post in this series click here.

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Bible, community, love, Steadfast love, surrendering, surrendering

What kind of sign are you?

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snow wood road traffic

Everyone is fighting for something these days. Whether it’s public safety issues like vaccines and mask mandates, to school curriculum content, to saving the earth. I think it is great that people are finally taking an interest in the laws and rules that affect their daily lives. My issue is not what you are fighting for but how you are fighting. Before you get all offended keep reading, and hear me out.

Two phrases keep rolling around in my head; one from the Bible and one from well known Bible study teacher Beth Moore. Beth asked the question in her Daniel Bible study “do you regularly wound the enemy?” That is a very thought provoking question. If I am honest my answer is no, not even close. I am a conflict avoider in the natural and most definitely don’t go looking for spiritual warfare. However it seems that spiritual warfare has found me. So the question stands ‘do I regularly wound the enemy’?

The second phrase is from Psalm 86:17 it says “Make me a sign for good, so that those who hate me may see it and be ashamed. For you, ADONAI, have helped me and comforted me.” (TLV version of the Bible.)The word sign according the Lexicon means “a token for good.” In other words David is saying “Let me reflect goodness so that those that are not good will be ashamed.” Why would David pray that? I believe the answer is two fold. One so that his enemies would realize that they took the wrong side. And two that they might realize ADONAI is the one true God. The whole Psalm is about God who is slow to anger and full of steadfast love.

My question to you today is not where you stand on issues but rather how are you taking that stand? Are you allowing God who is slow to anger to show His steadfast love through you? Are you being a sign of the goodness of God as you fight for whatever it is? At the risk of offending you, have you asked God where He is at on the issue? Have you sought Him to see if this is the battle he wants you in? If you have, then I say go for it. If you haven’t asked Him, please do. So much more is at stake here, truthfully more than personal freedoms. How we represent God when we stand for a public issue has monumental effects. Are you allowing God to use you as a ‘token of good’? Or is it more about what you want? Are you allowing the steadfast love of God to influence your voice on the issue? Are you showing lovingkindness to those you are opposing?

Back to the Beth Moore quote. As you take your stand on your issue, what impact are you making in the spiritual realm? Are you regularly ‘wounding the enemy’? Or is he using you to wound others? My point in this blog isn’t that you stop fighting for what you feel is right. It’s that you do it as a believer who cares about the souls of those around you who don’t know Jesus, and that you are aware of the enemy’s schemes. You should be taking a stand for personal freedoms and injustice and school curriculum and all the other hot topics that are out there right now; but how you take that stand might be more important in the long run than what you are standing for. Matthew 16:26 says, “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole word, but forfeits his soul?” (TLV version).

There is a way to fight that honors God. You can take a stand and still be used as a ‘token for good.’ You can regularly wound the enemy (not your opposition but your true enemy the devil) and voice your opinion. If you yield your heart to the Lord on the matter and ask Him to use you, YOU will be a light in the darkness, and make an impact. As you fight for your issues ask yourself, “Am I being a sign for good? Who or what am I really wounding here?” Then in the words of 2 Timothy 4:7, go ‘fight the good fight, finish the race, keep your faith.” Be a lasting sign for good.

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Bible, Jesus, love, Memorizing scripture, Prayer, Steadfast love, Uncategorized

Determined

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person touching rock

Only once before have I come across a word in the Bible that sends me on a wild chase through scripture to understand the word at its core. The first time was steadfast love – hessed. The Lord has given me a new word to study, meditate, search the truest meaning, and then apply to my every day life. Just as understanding hessed at depths I can’t explain I now carry that word along side a new word, sterizo.

I first encountered the word in a Bible study I am doing called Determined – Living like Jesus in Every Moment by Heather M Dixon. It is an in-depth study of the book of Luke, and an amazing one at that. One of the days in the study she leads you to study Luke 9:51 “Now it came to pass, when the time had come for Him to be received up, that He steadfastly set His face to go to Jerusalem.” (NKJV)

Tucked in this verse we find the word that now has grabbed ahold of my heart and has become a tether from my heart to God. It really is the whole phrase “set His face” that means sterizo. It simply means to firmly fix; direct myself towards; give support to secure; to set ones face as flint; a Hebrew expression.

So me being me, I began to study this little Hebrew expression to fully understand. Along the way I unearthed some amazing facts about this expression and learned new things about flint rock. To put all that information in a nutshell, it means to have unwavering determination to accomplish a purpose or a task.

Using Jesus as our Biblical example it meant everything He did from the fall in the garden of Eden to His resurrection from the grave was about getting to the Cross of Calvary. It was always about becoming the sacrificial Lamb of God for you and for me. When He was here on earth He lived with that purpose in mind.

MacLaren’s Exposition’s found on Biblehub.com (https://biblehub.com/commentaries/luke/9-51.htm) explains it this way:

“As we look up at that Cross we know not whether is more wonderfully set forth the pitying love of Christ’s most tender heart, or the majestic energy of Christ’s resolved will. The blended rays pour out, dear brethren, and reach to each of us. Do not look to that great sacrifice with idle wonder. Bend upon it no eye of mere curiosity. Beware of theorising merely about what it reveals and what it does. Turn not away from it carelessly as a twice-told tale. But look, believing that all that divine and human love pours out its treasure upon you, that all that firmness of resolved consecration and willing surrender to the death of the Cross was for you. Look, believing that you had then, and have now, a place in His heart, and in His sacrifice. Look, remembering that it was because He would save you, that Himself He could not save.
And as, from afar, we look on that great sight, let His love melt our hearts to an answering fervour, and His fixed will give us, too, strength to delight in obedience, to set our faces like a flint.”

Charles Spurgeon even wrote a message about this topic that he preached on Nov. 28th, 1880 at the Metropolitan Tabernacle in Newington. His whole message points to lingering with the idea that the Lord loves us so much that He spent decades of time determined to save us from our sins. It’s a long message but well worth the time to read it and ponder his questions in your own heart before the Lord.(https://answersingenesis.org/education/spurgeon-sermons/2738-the-redeemers-face-set-like-a-flint/)

For me, I want to learn to live with my face set as flint towards God every day. Determined to accomplish His purpose each day. Determined to spend time with Him daily. To linger in His presence. To have a heaven-minded agenda for my life lived out each day.

This word sterizo means seeking God daily. Being on purpose in my quiet time to learn His heart, His plan, His love for me all over again. It’s having a resolve to say no to things that are lesser than God’s best for me. It’s having courage to not participate in things that pull me off course from pursuing His heart.

I know it won’t be easy, but I know that with the aid of Holy Spirit and studying Jesus’s determination, I can do it. I can look to others in scripture like David, Daniel, and the apostle Paul who lived this life of a face set like flint on following the Lord.

It will at points be tirelessly hard, but oh so worth it. I wonder who else has a resolve in their heart, and has set their face like flint to follow after the Lord?

For additional scriptures on sterizo read:

Daniel 1:8

Gen 31:21

Deut. 11:18

Daniel 6:14

2 Kings 12:17

Isaiah 50:7

Luke 16:26

Luke 22:32

Romans 1:11

Romans 16:25

1Thessalonians 3:2

1Thessalonians 3:13

2Thessalonians 2:17

2Thessalonians 3:3

James 5:8

1Peter 5:10

2Peter 1:12

Revelation 3:2

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Bible, Jesus, Prayer, Trust, Trustworthy, Uncategorized

Jedidiah it’s more than a name!

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As is the case with many of my blogs, this one stems from a Bible study I have been doing called Get Out of Your Head by Jennie Allen. I highly recommend this study, in case you were wondering.

I have learned a lot over the last 6 weeks in this study, but the big take aways are these: I have a weird mind and thought life, and I think about myself way too much. Much more than I ever realized I did. That realization led me down a new path of unhealthy thoughts. Our minds are so complex.

Have you ever tried to trace your thoughts – where they come from or what makes you think that way, to where a thought is leading? The Bible actually has a lot to say about what we think on and how we use our minds.

Over the past few weeks I have realized I need to reign in my mind. It goes 100 miles a second and it’s all over the place. I do a good job hiding this for the most part, but ask my close friends and husband. I don’t stay focused on one thing for very long. Something I feel the Lord is wanting me to work on – that good old fruit of the Spirit called self-discipline. But that’s a blog for another day. What I want to focus on in this blog is Philippians 4:8, and believing lies versus truth.

In the study Get out of Your Head, the author points out that most lies we believe stem from 1 of 3 categories. I am helpless. I am worthless. I am unlovable.

I struggle with the last two. I used to struggle with all 3, but God helped me get out of the trap of the first. And I believe He’s helping me get out of the last two, as well. Here’s how. When you start believing a lie for truth, you have to go back to when you first started believing it and deal with what happened there that made your thinking go awry. Sometimes that involves repenting, and sometimes it involves forgiving someone, and sometimes you need to do both. In my situation I needed to do both. The repenting part was easy, but the forgiving part? Well that was harder. It involved forgiving myself as well as a few others. Then once you have done that you need to replace that lie with a truth from God’s word. This part sounds easy, and in theory it is. But if you want to 100% believe that truth in your heart and not just in your head, then it takes a work of God.

I struggle with seeing my self-worth. And for many of you reading this who know me you are thinking, “Why would she struggle with that?” Sometimes others see things you never see about yourself, and we are often harder on ourselves than others are or even then God is.

The other day I was praying honestly not about my self worth but about feeling like there is so much in the world that I was bringing to God to fix, heal, change, un-do; the list goes on. Then I stopped and thought, “I want God to do all of this for me, but what does God want me to do for Him?” So I asked Him. And He said, “Look up who Jedidiah is in the Bible.” That might have been one of the strangest things I have had God tell me. But when I looked it up, it changed me forever.

I am sure you are wondering who this Jedidiah is that you probably have never heard of in the Bible, right? Well the answer to that can be found in 2 Samuel 12:25. “…and because the Lord loved him, he sent word through Nathan the prophet to name him Jedidiah.”

Feeling confused right now? So was I until I looked at who God wanted to call Jedidiah and what Jedidiah means. Jedidiah is Solomon. And verse 25 is the only time he is called Jedidiah. That in and of its self isn’t to jaw dropping, is it? But it means “Loved by God.”

Right there in my living room, God told me all He wanted from me was for me to know I am His Jedidiah; that I am loved by the Lord. I just sat there in awe. I had just unloaded a huge list of big issues on the Lord, and all He wanted in return from me was to know He loved me.

I can’t say I am fully over struggling with my self worth. But I have a new truth that no one can take from me. THE LORD HIMSELF TOLD ME I AM LOVED BY HIM!! And if that isn’t enough to stop believing a lie and turn to truth, I found this other little gem in my study today.

We were looking up the original meaning of the words in Philippians 4:8. You know the “think of these things” verse. When I came to lovely, here is what I learned. Lovely in the original language here is “prosphile”, and it means worthy of personal affection, worth the effort to have and to embrace. Once more I heard God whisper, “You were worth the effort to have and to embrace, you are worth my personal affection.” I just sat at my desk stunned, humbled, and feeling special all at the same time.

Will there still be days when I will struggle with my self worth? I am sure of it, but that struggle won’t last but a moment because when the one who is Truthful tells you His truth about you, it changes you into a Jedidiah. And that reality silences any lies about my worth.

So I challenge you. What one of those 3 lies are you stuck in? How did you get stuck there? Once you know that, repent or forgive or do both, and then ask God to whisper His truth to you. Warning. It will change you forever.

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Bible, Jesus, Steadfast love, Trust, Trustworthy

The Non-Negotiable

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Non-Negotiable

My church is doing a series called Non-Negotiable. And a good friend told me she wished the blogger she followed would post more. So Kim, this one is for you!

The Non-Negotiable idea got me thinking about what things in my life are non-negotiable. I came up with a few, and then I started thinking, “What are my non-negotiable with God?” I boiled it down to one big one that I think is very applicable to life right now mid-pandemic (are we in the middle or the end or who knows where we are in this mess?) That aside, here it is – my big non-negotiable: God is always, always good and loving. There you have it. But allow me to explain. How we think about God determines a lot of how we live. If we think He doesn’t really care or that there is no God, we throw caution to the wind and “party like it’s 1999”. If we believe He is judgmental and always looking for us to mess up, we live in fear and strive for perfection. If we believe we have to earn His love, we spend our life trying to find ways to do better, to help more, to give more, never feeling at rest because there is always more to be done.

But if we live believing He is good and loving then we are at ease and feel free to be ourselves. But how do we process a God who is loving and good in the midst of death, financial ruin, chaos, riots, and strange viruses. Again, the answer is simple. Pre-determine that God is good and loving and kind.

I am prepping to do a Bible study on our thought life. Which has led me to read a book on the mind and how our brain works. I am by no stretch of the imagination a girl of much science. I still get amused at baking soda and vinegar volcanos. But science is fact. And according to many super smart scientists, what you think determines your actions and actually changes the chemistry of your brain. For more on this topic, do the study by Jennie Allen, Get Out of Your Head, or read the book by Dr.Caroline Leaf, Switch on Your Brain.

Ok, back to the point. God is good and loving. I said you have to pre-determine this. What I mean is before life takes a turn for the worse, you have to already know in your mind and in your heart this truth. It has to be decided on as a sure thing. If not, when things go bad, or life isn’t what you wanted or expected you will lose your footing and find yourself hopeless.

I have lived this truth out more than once in my life. The year 2015 was one of the harder years of my life. My son was sick and doctors couldn’t tell us why, but they did keep throwing around the C word a lot. We spent a lot of time and money to see every -ologist there is at Children’s Hospital; had surgery, did a biopsy all to find nothing really. On top of all that I had my 3rd foot surgery and was in a walking boot while pushing my 15 year old in a wheelchair into these appointments.

I lived it out again in 2018 when I lost a dear friend to cancer, watched another friend walk through divorce, our church staff changed dramatically, and finally the death of my dad.

And the last one – 2020. It started out rocky for me on a personal note that I’d rather not mention. Then COVID hit, my son missed his graduation, my daughter missed junior prom, SATs and ACTs were canceled making applying to college a little rough. And all the other issues you all have been experiencing right along side me this year.

Isaiah 50:7 says, “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me. I will not be disgraced. Therefore I have set my face like flint and I know I will not be put to shame.” Two things from this verse help us pre-determine God is good and loving. First the Sovereign Lord, meaning the God who is always in control. Nothing in our lives catches God by surprise, and nothing in our lives is waisted time or events. God uses it all. The second is set my face like flint – means set in rock, un-changeable, it also means pre-disposition.

The Bible is full of verses about God’s goodness and love for mankind. In Jeremiah 29:11 it says that He knows the plans He has for us, and those are good plans.

The best part is you can change the way you view God at any point. Changing how you view Him will change your disposition. If you believe He is good regardless of what is happening around you, then you can stand in the middle of a mess and say God is good and someway, somehow He will use this for good, even if I never see how.

Think about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego from Daniel chapter 3. These men had set their faces and hearts like flint when they said, “O Nebuchadnessar we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it, and He will rescuce us from your hand, O king. But even if He does not we want you to know Of king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” Daniel 3:16-18

I don’t know what the rest of this year brings. I don’t know what will happen. I don’t know how God can use this, but I do know He will; and He is good and loving and that is non-negotiable to me. Will you make it non-negotiable to you?

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Bible, Jesus, love, Parenting, Prayer, Raising Teens, Uncategorized, wisdom

Real change is possible

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Love all people

Have you ever had God drop something in your heart that you weren’t sure what to do with? Then you start getting bombarded with others saying the same thing, only in their voice or through their walk with God. Well that’s where I am right now. So I say it is with much thought, prayer and confirmation that I write this blog.

We have been having great, sometimes intense, conversations in our house relating to recent events. We have discussed topics from social justice, to the danger of generalizations and totalitarian statements, to voicing your opinion on how to bring about social change. Parenting teenagers is harder than I ever imagined. It’s hard to parent through these issues because all my children have their own view point and a unique calling from God that brings with it a unique filter in which they view life events. Not to mention I want them to think for themselves, develop their own conviction with the Holy Spirit, and be who God created them to be – no mini-me’s!

All of those discussions, conversations, have me thinking and praying for wisdom, guidance, and how to respond (not to my kids, specifically, but to life events). Then, unbeknownst to them, people around me have been adding to these thoughts and prayers with God. And here is where I land.

Every person is God’s creation. Ephesians 2:10 applies to everyone. And because the creator is so great, everything He creates bears His greatness. Think, the Mona Lisa is famous and has great value because of the one who painted her. That is my base line of truth. If you are a believer I am sure you can agree with me here. Building from that, how can we make that truth not only known but lived out in our homes, communities, cities and nation? This is where I got stuck until I heard from God.

In my Bible study we were asked to read Exodus 2:24-25. “God heard their groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. So God looked on the Israelites and was concerned about them.”

I am not saying I have a solution but I do have an action to take. God began to stir prayer in me. Specifically this prayer: “God hear the cry of those oppressed and suffering unfairly. God remember you sent your son into the world to reconcile the world back to you, to set the captive free. So God would you please look at my family, my community, my city, my nation, God; and would you become concerned with them?”

I know that prayer alone may seem like a weak stance; however, one of the pastors I work with had an amazing revelation from God on this. She said God told her “There is a Spirit of activation in the air right now. Activation in prayer. Wickedness twists the discernment of activation to activism. We want to see change, want to help, to do something. Activism looks like a lot but accomplishes little; while activation in prayer looks like little but accomplishes much! Do not forsake prayer!” Thank you Amy Martinez for sharing that powerful word.

Slow down read that again. As Christian we are called to act, but wisdom in how we act will be the difference between real change and surface level accommodations.

Prayer is powerful. Pray. Ask God the Almighty to move on behalf of someone or something. Only God can change hearts. So while it is a quiet action, it has a powerful punch. Let’s face it. People are not our enemy here. It is the one who comes only to kill, steal, and destroy. (John 10:10)

I read another blog this morning on this topic and he said:

“I believe God is asking us to look to Him right now, more than anything. It doesn’t mean we ignore issues. No. But unless we drink right now, we will only regurgitate the fear and hysteria of the media that sounds wise but is the twisting tongue of Leviathan which places a veil over those who aren’t discerning it. It’s a call to intimacy and seeking the heart of God when most are wanting to raise their hands to fight.

Nate Johnston Everyday Revivalists
Email: everydayrevivalists@gmail.com
Website: nateandchristy.co
Taken from the Elijah List email distribution.

I want to see things change. I want to live in a place where people are treated with kindness and care. I want to end senseless deaths in America. But I understand I can’t do that in my own strength and power. God is calling us to fight along side Him to bring about a change of hearts and mindsets and bring real justice. Will you join us?

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Bible, COVID 19, Easter, Holiday, Jesus, The power of the Blood, Uncategorized

A Sacrificial Easter

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Easter is in a few days. I’ve been feeling like I should write something about it, but I couldn’t figure out what. I just chalked it up to the fact that this year’s Easter is going to be, well, quite different from the ones in the past. Then I woke up this morning and thought, that’s it!

Yes, this Easter will be very different from every other Easter you have ever celebrated. There won’t be neighborhood egg hunts. There won’t be churches full of people. There won’t even be big family gatherings. No fancy Easter dresses, and no pictures with the Easter bunny. Different indeed.

But the more I thought about all that there won’t be, I began to think of all that there will be. There will still be the day that Jesus died on the cross (Good Friday as we know it); and there will still be the day that Jesus rose from the grave. Which is all we need for Easter. The things we are missing this year aren’t specifically bad. Maybe God is removing them so we can focus on Him and what He sacrificed at Easter.

If you’re like me, and I am going to guess a lot of you are, you don’t like sad things. I think it’s maybe our western culture. We don’t do well with death; especial an unfair one at that. So when we mention the cross we call it Good Friday and then skip over to the resurrection – the happy part of the story. So today I’m choosing to camp on the hard part of Easter – the sacrifice. Because without the sacrifice and hardship that Jesus was and did, there would be no Sunday celebration.

Stick with me here. We see it throughout the Bible. Sacrifices are common in the Bible. Maybe so common we skip over them, or maybe we think they are mean, or maybe we simple don’t understand them. But they are there. Specifically blood sacrifices. We see them applied to both forgiveness and healings.

The first sacrifice made was in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:21 where the Lord made garments of animal skin for Adam and Eve. An animal gave it’s life, and bled to cover them. We see over and over animal sacrifices for forgiveness of sins. In Leviticus 14:3-7 we see a bird sacrifice for healing of a disease. We even see Jesus tell the man with leprosy after healing him to go show himself to the Priest and offer the sacrifices that Moses commanded for your cleansing. (See Luke 5:14)

You see the cross and the Blood that Jesus shed and the beatings that He took were His great sacrifices for us. The stripes that he bore are our means to healing. We can proclaim that we are healed by the Stripes of Jesus (Is. 53:5 and Matthew 8:17). We see in Eph. 1:7 and Hebrews 9:12-14 that we have forgiveness and are made righteous by the Blood of Jesus.

So this Easter, as things look a lot different than what we are used to; let’s look at Easter in a way we maybe aren’t used to either. Take time to reflect on the sacrifice that Jesus made. Take time to understand the power of the Blood. And then on Sunday praise Him from a new place of understanding. Shout praises to the one whose Blood truly makes us clean.

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Bible, COVID 19, Memorizing scripture, Prayer, Trust, Trustworthy, Uncategorized, wisdom

Trust God

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Trust God. Simple words to tell a friend or someone you know who is going through something hard in life. Simple to say, especially if things are going well for you at the time.

It seems like right now the whole world is going through a hard time. We are all facing struggles, uncertainty, fear, and probably a host of other emotions depending on how COVID-19 has effected you personally. Even with all of that, my advice to myself, friends, family and my church ladies is to still trust God.

I am preparing to lead a study at my church on Psalm 40. In preparing for it I felt impressed to memorize the whole psalm – all 17 verses. I found myself today stuck on verse 4. Not because I was having trouble memorizing it, but because God was saying “Slow down. Repeat that again. Did you catch what it really said?” Truth was I hadn’t. I had not really let that verse sink into my heart. Verse 4 reads “Blessed is the man who makes the Lord his trust, who does not look to the proud or those who turn to false gods.”

That one little verse says a ton. First, it’s a choice to trust God. You must make yourself trust God. That means that you have to decide if God is always good. Does He always Love me? Is He faithful? Based on those answers, you can decide either “Yes, He is. So I will make myself trust Him,” or “No, I am not so sure.” I believe the answers to those questions is a resounding YES. So I have decided to trust God when things are good and remind myself I trust God when things are not so good. I teach the ladies in my Bible studies that they have to pre-decide in their hearts that God is trustworthy when things are good so that when the rough time hits, you have a firm answer in your heart. Trust God.

The second part of the verse says not to look to the proud. That means not looking to those who put their trust in their own abilities – those who think they can handle anything. And then, not turning to people who put their trust in false gods. People who trust in money, their status, their minds and so on.

You see right now life doesn’t make senses. Things are weird, it seems no one really knows exactly the best things to be doing. So if we look to family, friends, jobs, government, or even doctors we are putting our trust in the wrong thing. The only one who is ever really in charge, the only one who really knows how things will end and what to do, is God. So why wouldn’t we trust Him?

It is simple to say we trust God but mind-bogglingly hard at times. However, it’s the best choice and full of blessings, absolutely.

So as we walk this COVID-19 thing out, decide right now that God is good and ALWAYS trustworthy. Then when you feel uncertain or that sense of panic rising, remind yourself, “I am one who trusts God. I can remain calm, and pray. He is good. He is with me. He will lead me. I trust God.”

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Bible, Easter, Holiday, Uncategorized

The Simple Gospel

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The Gospel was not something I heard much in my world. I mean, I was used to hearing other words like sharing your faith, living for Jesus. But the use of the word Gospel just wasn’t around much, until recently. I just finished a Bible study by Christine Caine (which I would highly recommend) called 20/20. It’s about how we are all seen, chosen and then sent. Hence the word Gospel being used.

But it also came up in two different books I am reading that are completely different topics, but both both about God. All this use of the word Gospel got me thinking. I mean I am a pastor and I do know what it means, but maybe I didn’t know ALL that it means.

I am sure you are familiar with the word Gospel used as in the 4 Gospels of Jesus. AKA Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. And I am sure you have probably known the word Gospel in the sense to share the Gospel with someone. But could you say anything else about that word?

The word Gospel is a rather simplistic word. According to Websters definition it means: the message concerning Christ, the kingdom of God, and salvation, one of the first four New Testament books telling of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ also: : an interpretation of the Christian message. Ok simple enough.

Right about now I am sure you are thinking why is this woman writing about this? It’s common knowledge and so far boring. Stick with me.

The Gospel I believe is more than the definition above. It should be a way of life. The first definition is concerning Christ, the kingdom of God and salvation. Yes the Gospel is the road you take to find salvation in Jesus Christ. But from there it is how you conduct your life.

“I received Jesus Christ by faith in His gospel. And it was in and through this gospel that I saw God. In my seeing God through the eyes of faith, illuminated and bright with the gospel’s light, sin could no longer compare to the King of Glory. I’d laid eyes on Someone worth dying for because His death had both lifted my own and ensured that I would be able to die to all that kept me from Life.” Jackie Hill Perry author and poet.

Jeff Vanderstelt stated in his book Gospel Fluency, “The Gospel doesn’t just bring about forgiveness of sins and save us from Hell. The Gospel of Jesus Christ empowers us to live a whole new life today by the power that raised Jesus from the grave.”

Now those are definitions that can get a girl excited about the Gospel. And as Easter is approaching in a little more that a month from now, I am thinking what would it be like if I lived out these two Gospel truths. What would my life look like in a month from now if I lived each day fully aware of the big and little sins that steal my heart away from Jesus but knowing I had the power of God inside me to overcome every time they speak my name? What if I lived fully believing that things don’t have to be the way they are; that by the power of God I can remove idols like TV and Facebook and those things that I go to for attention or to simply turn my brain off? What if I said no to them and Yes to Jesus’s power?

What if I looked at those sins in my life I dare not mention on the internet -the things I keep hidden; knowing that they don’t have any real power over me because the resurrection power of Jesus lives in me?

What if I started sharing my faith with my friends and family not because I don’t want them to go the Hell (which for the record I don’t) but because they are missing life while they are living?

What if the Gospel, a seemingly simple and boring word, became to me and others who read this what it was always meant to be? A powerful, awe inspiring word that leads us to be amazed at a God who is so much bigger than we know.

Will you join me for a month? Will you ask God to daily show you how He wants you live this day in light of the Gospel of Christ? If you do, please share in the comments how it impacted you and others around you.

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Advent, Bible, Christmas, family activities, family fun, Hanukkah, Holiday

The Hanukkah Experiment

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First of all, and right off the bat, I am NOT Jewish by birth. However, one could argue that I am Jewish by my faith in Jesus. (See Ephesians 2:19 and 3:6)

A few weeks before Christmas I was doing an Advent study. I love Advent. It makes Christmas less crazy for me and a little more fun. I have admitted in the past I am not crazy for Christmas as some of you out there are. I honestly most years could take it or leave it. It was probably best when my kids were little simply because of their enthusiasm and excitement. But alas, now they are older and I’m right back in the “what is all of this nonsense about?” mode. You have to agree – Christmas is a crazy time of year. Tons of people going nuts about buying the right gift; tons of food that isn’t good for anyone’s waist line (can you say cookies, fudge and cakes oh my?); and if you have allergies like me, well then it is temptation city on top of adding a few “Holiday pounds”. Ok, you get it. I am not in love with Christmas. But I am in love with Christ. Thus my battle with Christmas. Is it really supposed to celebrate the birth of my Savior? I have just never been able rationalize the whole thing. The two – Jesus and Christmas – just don’t go together in my head. No matter how many birthday cakes are made for Jesus on Christmas, it’s still plain weird to me. Before all of you who love Christmas stop reading, I will get to my point. In the Advent study, I read John 10:22-23 which says, “Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.” Feast of Tabernacles I know. The Passover Feast, yep, know that, too. But the Feast of Dedication, that one I didn’t know. So I looked into it. In researching I discovered that the Feast of Dedication is Hanukkah. It is also known as the Festival of Lights.

And so my search to understand Hanukkah began. All I knew is it’s about the Maccabees and candles and oil for the lamps that last 7 days longer than it should. I will spare you tons of details so this post won’t take you an hour to read. The main points I learned was that a bad guy named Antiochus who called himself Epiphanes which means “God Manifest” defeated the Jews, took control of the temple, and desecrated the temple. On the fifteenth day of Kislev (which would be our November/December), Epiphanes held the pagan Saturnalia ceremony where a pig was slaughtered on the altar in the Holy of Holies, and the blood was sprayed throughout the temple. This was the last straw, and a rebel group of Jews known as the Maccabees fought back against Epiphanes. After a 3 year battle, they finally won. The Maccabees took back control of the temple and began to clean up the horrible things done in the Temple to defame it. The Maccabees lit the candles in the temple and kept them lit for 8 days with only enough oil to burn one candle for one day. The number 8 in the Bible means Resurrection and Regeneration or new beginnings.

The original foundation of the temple was laid in Kislev. In Haggai 2:18 it says, “From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, (Kislev) give careful thought to the day when the foundation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought.”

I will put this altogether for you now. Jesus was at the temple during the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah). The temple was destroyed in the month of Kislev and re-dedicated 3 years later in the month of Kislev. Oh and the original temple foundation was laid on in the month of Kislev. Call me crazy, but things are adding up. And here is where this blog gets good.

With all of that and a few other things I learned while studying, I think celebrating Hanukkah is a way to honor God. So we are going to give it a whirl this year. We will start on December 22nd because that is the day that Hanukkah starts. We will light a candle each night and my husband will read the traditional prayer spoken when the candles are lit. Then we will deviate from Jewish tradition to Storey tradition. Each prayer spoken while lighting the candle has a key phrase in it – the reason you are thanking God. We will expand on those phrases and talk as a family how we can rededicate our temple (our lives, since the Bible says in 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, and 6:19-20 that our bodies are temples and the Holy Spirit lives in them.) We will thank God for His goodness and offer a new way to honor Him in our lives.

It will look something like this: Click Here for the outline of traditional prayers and the Storey’s way of dedicating our lives accordingly.

We still have our Christmas tree with gifts galore under it and our advent tree; but this year we have a menorah too. This year in the midst of the craziness we will settle down, light a candle, pray, and reflect on new ways to live for God. It’s my way of pushing back against the self-absorbed ways of Christmas to shout Glory to God in the Highest, and unto us a Savior has indeed been born! That Savior is Jesus who now lives in me and I will honor Him first!

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