"Big Words, Little Words..."

The following is a paraphrase from the sermon given by Rev. Alan Johnson at Old Peachtree Presbyterian Church, Duluth, GA, on Christmas Eve:

Rev. Johnson used Luke 2:11-12 and commented on the two verses as to the BIG words and the SMALL words. In verse 11 God sent angels to the Shepherds with a very great message, a child was born in the city of DAVID, a SAVIOR, who is CHRIST the LORD. The big words DAVID, SAVIOR, CHRIST, and LORD, God uses to tell us the Gospel message.


DAVID points to Christ's lineage as David's promised Son who would sit on the throne of David forever. SAVIOR points us to the name Jesus, which means God will save. God will save His people from their sins. CHRIST is the New Testament Greek word for Messiah and points to Jesus as the promised Messiah to which all of the Old Testament pointed. And LORD is the New Testament Greek equivalent to the Old Testament Yahweh, and declares Jesus Christ as the second member of the Godhead.

In verse 12 God points out the small words, BABY, WRAPPED IN CLOTHS, MANGER to show us how the God of the universe made Himself manifest the first time He came to earth. He came humblely, grew up meekly and died a humiliating death for His people.

But, praise God, that's not the end of the story. On the third day God the Father raised Him from the dead, first born among many brothers. He has ascended to the right hand of God the Father where He is crowned with many crowns, Lord of Lords and King of Kings, and sits as our Eternal High Priest. And from there He will come again and at that time He will come in ALL POWER! And every eye will see Him and every knee will bow, and every voice confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! Hallelujah! Come Lord Jesus, come!

"And the greatest of these......"

Did you know that LOVE, which is one of the attributes of God we can imitate, is the only attribute that is both a Gift of the Spirit AND a Fruit of the Spirit?! As I was listening to R. C. Sproul's tapes about the growth in grace of a Christian, I was really caught up in his comparison of 1 Corinthians 13 and Galatians 5:22-23. He pointed out that all the Fruit of the Spirit found in the Galatians' passage can also be found listed in the 1 Corinthians 13 passage describing Love.

So as we practice the First and Greatest Commandment, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (and with all your strength)... , and the second,"You shall love your neighbor as yourself," we are also putting into practice the Fruit of the Spirit,"...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control..." We can't have the Fruit without first having the Love. The Fruit is bound into and completed by Love. Take time to read 1 Corinthians 13 and find in it each of the Fruit of the Spirit. Be blessed as you do.

Ready for Every Good Work

The little book of Titus has a wealth of teaching. Paul is writing to his "true child in the faith, Titus," whom he had left in Crete "so that he might put what remained into order and appoint elders in every town...," choosing them carefully as to their true knowledge of God and their good works which demonstrate their love of God.

Upon studying through Titus the phrase "='good work or works' kept appearing. Titus is instructed by Paul not only to be about his work choosing Elders who are showing good works, but also he is instructed to teach sound doctrine to older men, older women, younger women through the older, young men and slaves. And in Chapter 2:7 Paul tells Titus, "Show yourself in all respects to be a model of good works." Paul continues in verses 11-14 telling Titus that "the grace of God has appeared bringing salvation for all people," training us to live godly lives as we await Christ's second coming, because His work on Calvary redeemed us from all lawlessness and purified us as His people, "His own possession who are zealous for good works." In Chapter 3:1 Titus is to "remind them.....to be ready for every good work."

In verse 5 of Chapter 3 Paul is quick to remind Titus, "He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, which He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior." The good works stressed in Titus DO NOT save us, but are evidence of the good work of Christ in us.

Paul continues his theme of good works in Chapter 3:8, when he instructs Titus to insist on these things (salvation by grace in Christ alone) so that believers in God may be careful "to devote themselves to good works." Paul tells Titus that good works are excellent and profitable for people. That is followed by a list of things not to do that would be condemning for the people. Finally, in verse 14, Paul continues to instruct Titus to "let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need and not be unfruitful."

Micah 6:8 points out that God has already told us what good works we are to do. Ephesians 2:10 reminds us, "For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." And, greatest of all, we have Jesus' own example of the good works as He went about healing people, raising the dead, feeding people, and telling them the good news of the Kingdom of God. We can't do all Jesus did, but we can feed people and give them a drink, clothe people, visit the sick and widows, take care of orphans, visit those in prison, and welcome strangers. Jesus says that when we do that for the least of His brothers we have done it for Him. If we do good works in Holy Spirit power they will have eternal glory, benefit others, and bring glory to our Lord Jesus Christ, which, as Christians, is our chief end.

Patiently Enduring Evil

As I do each morning, I was using a portion of Scripture to pray for my family. The Scripture this morning was 2 Timothy 2:20-26. When I came to verse 24 the Holy Spirit really caught my attention with the last portion that says, "....patiently enduring evil." I realized that I don't often endure evil patiently. I get frustrated with what the devil is doing around me in this country and the world. So, I paused to pray for myself to remember that God is sovereign even in evil and is using it for His glory and our good whether I see it or not. I must keep focused on Jesus who endured the greatest evil of the Cross to bring the greatest good ever for His people.

Well, God was not through with me. I got to my daily Bible reading and it was the story of the Rich Man and Lazarus. Not only did God show me His sovereignty, but He also reminded me that there will not always be evil. When we leave this world we are going to be separated from evil by a great chasm, and we won't have to endure hardships, trials, troubles or problems any more. We won't have to face the pressure of daily battling the evil one ever again. We may face bad things here, but our good things are yet to come. Hallelujah!

God encouraged me so much with His Word with these two Scriptures I wanted to share them with you. God once again dispelled the darkness of this evil world with the light of His Word. May God's Word so light your world.

Time's A-Flyin

Richard commented yesterday that since our move, time seems to be standing still, and yet at the same time it is flying. It seems like there is a Sunday than a blank and than a Sunday. Time goes so quickly that it is hard for us to keep up with all-the-goings-on! :-) Yet what is time for us? As James says in 4:14, "For you are a mist that appears for a little time and vanishes." We live for a short space of time on this earth and then we vanish, at least from the sight of those still living on earth. Why does the Lord have us here for 'a little time?' What are we to do in the short time we live on this earth? Let’s think about time from the perspective of Scripture given to us from a timeless God.

Ecclesiastes 3 tells us that there is a time for every matter under the heaven—being born, dying, planting, harvesting, etc. In Ecclesiastes 3:11 Solomon says, “He has made everything beautiful in its time.” In one translation John 16:22 says, “Now is your time to grieve….” In Esther we read that God calls forth His people for His work “at such a time as these.” Hosea 10:12 tells us to, “sow for yourselves righteousness;…..for it is time to seek the Lord, that He may come and rain righteousness upon you.”

Romans 5:6 reveals to us from whence our righteousness comes: “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.” From Galatians 4:4 we read, “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.” Even our timeless God humbled Himself to come under the bondage of time to save the sons and daughters He loves. And we know He will come a second time in great glory. But as for sacrifices Hebrews 10:12 tells us, “But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God…” “He perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.”

Let’s think now what He wants us to do in our time, with our time. Ephesians 5:15-16 tells us, “Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.” Time is loaned to us by God just as is money. God wants us to give back to Him tithes and offerings of our money, and in the same way He wants us to give back to Him tithes and offerings of our time. We need to be like Mary and spend time at Jesus’ feet. We need to understand the times as the men of Issachar did in 1 Chronicles 12:32, to know what their country ought to do. As Christians we ought always to glorify God in all things and at all times.

We can ‘waste’ time and we can ‘kill’ time. But we are here on this earth for such a short time it would be far better to ‘spend’ time, and spend it wisely. We need to prioritize our time, giving God the first fruits by meeting with Him daily. We need to spend time with our families, service to God, and friends. God even gives us time for rest on the Sabbath and time for fun. One day, we who love Him, will spend eternity with Him and time will be no more. May God bless the time He has given you and me while we walk in time.

Back to the Beginning

Wow! I can't believe that it has been almost 3 months since I had a chance to add to my blog. But here we are. Richard and I have come full circle in our married life. We have completed our move to Atlanta, GA, where we met almost 47 years ago. The Lord has taken us through so many things in that 47 years. From 1962 until 1977 we moved a whole lot. Someone has said about God, "We are restless until we rest in Thee." We were restless because we were not yet "resting" in the Lord. We attended a liberal church that didn't believe the Bible and, of course, never taught it. We knew we were saved by Christ's work on Calvary, but we couldn't translate that into our lives.

After many moves to many states God took us to Jackson, MS where He put us into a PCA Church and our lives took a dramatic turn. (The details of those years are listed at the beginning of this blog.) It was in that church, learning the Word of God we finally felt at peace. Our next move didn't come until 23 years later. The move to Minnesota was not because we were restless in our souls, it was because God placed on our hearts the need to be near our family so we could pass on our faith to our grandchildren. That was a hard move for us leaving friends and church in Mississippi, but we knew it was the right thing to do.

Now, 9 years later, we made what will probably be our last move on this earth, back to where we started in Atlanta. Again, it has been a hard move, but one we know that the Lord would have us make. We continue to enjoy being near children and grandchildren, and still pass on our faith to both. We are content and at peace where He puts us. We are in a very large church, but are making some friends. Richard is in a Discipleship Journey Group, a group of guys getting together early on Thursday morning studying God's Word. My heart's desire is to teach God's Word to women and God has given me a great opportunity to do just that in Wellspring Living Home, a place for broken women to heal and get back into society. Also, Heather and I will be studying Job together as she is not teaching right now, and is really grieving over the move. Job should have some real words of encouragement for us.

It is good to get back to blogging and will continue as the Lord gives opportunity. Until then....

Hope

Webster defines 'hope' as "desire accompanied by expectation of or belief in fulfillment." What do people hope for? People hope for that which they believe will bring something better in their lives. When a person loses all hope he loses the desire to live. Can there be 'hope' in the midst of tragedy, even the tragedy of losing a child? God says emphatically, "Yes." For about 2 years after the loss of our son the Lord walked with me through "the valley of the shadow of death" where hope seemed far away at best. He walked me through the valley by walking me through His Word. In my search for comfort and peace in His Word He also brought me hope. In John 16:33 Jesus said, "I have said these things to you, that in Me you may have peace. In this world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world." What peace! What hope! Jesus had already walked the path of sorrow I was walking and He had overcome and had promised He would take me through as well and in Him I would overcome.

Psalm 42-43 sings the refrain, "Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? HOPE IN GOD; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God." Where do you turn for hope in a hopeless situation? I turn to my God, my salvation. He brought me through the dark valley once more into the light.

Ephesians 1:18 reminds us, "having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you...." What is the hope to which He has called us? For those who trust that Christ's death on the Cross alone paid for their sins once and for all, hope is every spiritual blessing that God has given us in Christ Jesus. In Ephesians 1:3-14 the apostle Paul names all the blessings to which He has called us and the hope we have in them: He chose us before the foundation of the world that we should be holy and blameless before Him, He adopted us through Jesus Christ into His family, He redeemed us (bought us back from sin and death) through Christ's shed blood on Calvary, He has forgiven our sins according to His grace through Christ's blood, He revealed His plan through Christ to reunite us with Him, He has given us an inheritance, heaven, to spend eternity with Him, and He even gave us a guarantee of all these promises by sending His Holy Spirit as the sign and seal of that guarantee.

What hope! I will see my son again because he had believed Christ died for his sins and Christ's blood even covers the sin of suicide. Hope in God, for I shall yet again praise Him!

A Handful of Stars in a Dark Night

In the deepest, darkest nights God throws out a handful of stars and the moon to reveal His presence and His glory. In my darkest night God threw out His stars, His moon and His Son. He began a process of absorbing me into Himself and He in me. God's Word became my anchor that I clung to passionately. In that on going process that continues even today He brought me face to face with the fact that He Himself was a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief. In every way, but my sin, He knew what I was going through. It is a comfort, though sad, to walk through a trial with someone who has been there before you.

One of the first things God taught me in His Word is that it is ok to grieve. Jesus told His disciples, "you will weep and lament...," "You will be sorrowful....," "So also you have sorrow now..." But He also points out that that isn't the end. He goes on to finish His statements with "your sorrow will turn into joy...," "but I (Jesus) will see you again and your hearts will rejoice, and no one will take your joy from you." Grief is an emotion that God gave us to take us through the darkest places. As in all emotions God gives us they are good---anger, grief, disappointment, love, hate, fear. As one dear friend said, we can have all the emotions we want as long as they don't have us! Sorrow and grief are good emotions; not ones we want, but they are good in God's hands. So how do we have sorrow and grief and not let them have us. I Peter 5:7 says, "casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you."
The way I found to not let sorrow and grief "have me," and consume me was to give them back to God! When the tidal waves of sorrow would wash over me and threaten to drown me I would read I Peter 5:7 and literally picture my sorrow being cast on Jesus' shoulders and Him walking away with it. I had someone who's shoulders were strong enough to bear any burden I gave Him. Then Philippians 4:7 became real to me--"And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." I had grief and sorrow beyond description, but I have Jesus to keep that grief and sorrow from destroying me. I could not walk away from grief and leave it, but I had Someone strong enough to walk through it with me

Why black and white?

There is not a person who has lived, is living, or will live that will not go through a least one dark time in their lives. Dark times are a given. I have lived long enough to see it in others lives and my own. And Jesus said, "In this world you will have tribulation (trouble)." But Jesus doesn't leave us in the darkness of trouble. He continues by saying, "But, take heart, I have overcome the world." Praise God for the hope of Jesus and the Light He brings into the world to dispel the darkness.

Since we know the dark times and troubles are coming, what should we do to prepare for them. I was not always at the point of knowing the light of God's written Word. Although now I know that God chose me before the foundation of the world and I made a profession of faith at 5 years old at a small Bible Church where my folks sent me, from that point on the denomination in which I was raised fell away from God and His Word. My husband's church had also become very liberal. Being raised in that situation we actually were unaware of the lack of biblical teaching and preaching. Still, the Holy Spirit made us more and more restless to the fact that something was missing in our spiritual lives. To make a long story short, the Lord of all the earth moved us to Jackson, MS to care for my parents in their old age and one of their friends invited us to attend their church, Alta Woods PCA Church. Although not our "brand" of Presbyterian church we attended. There are just no human words to properly explain the joy I experienced that day to see Bibles in the peoples' hands as they followed along as the Pastor was reading it from the pulpit, to hear the Pastor preach about what he had read, to realize they believed what they were reading and hearing. That is when the light first penetrated my heart and I knew what was missing in my spiritual life--the written Word of God illumined by the Light of the World, Jesus.

Where did God take me from there? In my next posting I will share how God took me along the path of learning His Word and how it has become the source of my living and being.

Blogging in the 60's

There was no way I figured I could learn computers in my 50's. But with the help of a very dear friend named Robin I did! There was no way I ever figured I would do a blog in my 60's, but with the encouragement of a very dear friend named Andrea I did. Along with her daughter, Sonja, helping me here I am posting my first blog post. Who would have ever thought! :-) Thank you Robin, Andrea and Sonja for getting me into the 21st Century. I love you guys.