BE A RECABITE!!!

Have you ever heard of the Recabites?  I had not until I had Sunday School curriculum to teach from Jeremiah 35.  Now I strive to be a Recabite and encourage my kids and grandkids to be Recabites!  I encourage YOU to be a Recabite!

"This is the word that came to Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, King of Judah "go to the house of the Recabites, speak to them and bring them to one of the chambers of the temple of the LORD to offer them a drink of wine.  I set jars filled with wine and some cups before the sons of the house of the Recabites and said to them "Drink wine!" But they replied "we do not drink wine, for Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, commanded, "you and your sons must never drink wine! You must not build a house or sow seed or plant a vineyard. Those things are not for you.  Rather, you must live in tents your whole life, so you may live a long time on the soil where you stay as a temporary resident"  We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab in all he commands us"  Jeremiah 35:1-2, 5-8a.

This lesson is not just about not drinking wine or living in tents.  It's about obeying God and standing firm for what He says in His Word.  It's about defending what you have been taught and what your family stands for.  We are constantly tempted to be "politically correct", to make choices that are not in line with who we are and what we know to be Truth.  We too often "go along with the crowd" to avoid strife, ridicule, or conflict. We don't want to seem intolerant or judgmental.

Dan Cathy, President of Chick-fil-A is a Ricabite.  He is standing firm on the Word of God.  He is not judging, being intolerant, ridiculing or purposefully causing strife and conflict.  He is simply stating, as the Recabites did "we do not drink wine, for Jonadab, son of our ancestor Rechab, commanded, "you and your sons must never drink wine!"  He is standing firm on God's Word and like the Recabites he will be greatly rewarded by the God he serves. 

I encourage you to read all of Jeremiah 35 and be a Ricabite!

I would also encourage you to read the complete transcript from Dan Cathy's interview in the Baptist Press

 http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38271

GROWING IN GRATITUDE

Last week I began a 30 Day Challenge "Growing in Gratitude" published by Revive our Hearts.  I know I've been greatly blessed, but I don't often stop to actually express my gratitude to God and others.  I am asking God to transform me into a truly thankful person. It may take more than 30 days :)  

Day 4 challenged me to make two lists under these headings:  "Gifts from God' and "Gifts from Others.  then put down everything that comes to mind. This is to be an ongoing exercise not something to do in ten minutes.  A list that I will add to over the next 30 days.   

As we discussed Caleb and Joshua in Sunday School this morning and the spiritual legacy they left behind to the generations after them.  I thought of someone very special to add to my list of "Gifts from God".  Thank you God for my fraternal grandmother, Zelma Irene Bicknell Herring.  I know without a doubt I am walking with the LORD today because of her prayers.  She loved the LORD, read her Bible every night, served faithfully in her Methodist Church and loved her children and grandchildren unconditionally.  

Six years ago when I was anticipating being a grandmother for the first time, I sent an email to my cousins asking them, what made Grandma Herring special to each of them.  They answered back, "because I was so special to her, I was her favorite".  I laughed at each one, because I KNEW I was her favorite.  Then I realized that we were each her "favorite".  She treated each of us as her favorite whenever we were with her.  When I visted her we watched Lawrence Welk and Billy Graham Crusades together, I helped her "put up" fig preserves, snap green beans and dry the dishes. She would brush my hair, rub my back and read to me clippings she had saved out of the paper of things she thought I would be interested in. She was always interested in what I liked, what I did in school, who my friends were and was always eager to "show me off" to her "Circle".  (The Methodist Women's Circle). 

I am grateful for a godly loving grandmother.  I desire to be that godly loving grandmother to all my grandchildren. I desire to treat each one as if they are my "favorite".  I long to leave them a godly legacy.  I pray that 40 years after my death, my memory will stir in the heart of each of them sweet memories of a grandmother that loved the LORD with all her heart, mind, and strength.  

"Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul and forget not all His benefits."  Psalm 103:1-2

For more information on the 30 Day Challenge "Growing in Gratitude" go to www.reviveourhearts.com

A SPECIAL PROMISE

An excerpt from "Journey" by David Jeremiah

    "Like most women,missionary Amy Carmichael wanted to be married. But her work would have been impossible for a married woman,and God gave her Psalm 34:22 as a special promise. Amy's struggle was deeply personal, one she didn't divulge for years. Finally she told the story. "I went away alone to a cave in the mountain...I had feelings of fear about the future...The devil kept whispering.  "It's all right now, but what about afterwards? You are going to be a very lonely.' And he painted pictures of loneliness...And I turned to my God in a kind of desperation and said. 'Lord what can I do? How can I go on to the end?' and He said, 'None of them that trust in Me shall be desolate.' That word has been with me ever since."

    In heaven, we'll have no loneliness, no loss, no privation, and no painful sacrifices. But it's our joy now to yield ourselves fully to God, for no one who trusts in Him will ever be desolate."

"The Lord redeems the lives of His servants, and none of those who take refuge and trust in Him shall be desolate."  Psalm 34:22

What a wonderful verse for us to cling to when our lives just don't seem to be going the way we had planned or anticipated.  We much to often cling to the past, are discontent with the present and fear the future. It would do us well to seek first the kingdom of God and His will for our lives.

RUSHING WATERS & A BEACH VACATION

One of my all time top five vacations, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  Each year Jeff's golf club has a week long golf trip to different locations throughout the U.S.  Five days of golf at five different courses with 100 of his closest golf buddies :).  This was our second trip to Myrtle Beach and definitely one of my favorites!  Our room had a balcony that overlooks the beach and the beauty was breathtaking.  There is a spotlight at night that shines out on the water and we watched the rolling waves hitting the shore.  Peaceful it is not, calming it is.  Go figure.  I could not quite understand that as loud as the sound of the ocean waves are, virtually a roar, it seemed so peaceful on that balcony.  

This year a friend and I planned to spend the week doing Beth Moore's DVD Study "Here and Now...There and Then, A Lecture Series on Revelation" along with hours on the beach.  And that is what we did.  We met for breakfast, retired to our room for Bible Study (God was so sweet to provide a DVD player with our large flat screen TV) and then we hit the beach from 12:00 until 4:00 everyday. We dressed to meet our men for dinner, watched a LOT of basketball and started over the next day.  It was awesome!

But what I want to share is one of those God "nuggets" I learned on my balcony overlooking the Atlantic.

Revelation 1:12-16 NIV  Verse 13

" and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," 

dressed in a robe reaching down to His feet ...

His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace,

(15) and His voice was like the sound of rushing waters."

   Revelation 19:6 NIV 

"Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, 

like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting: 

            "Hallelujah!

                   For our Lord God Almighty reigns.

             Let us rejoice and be glad

                   and give Him glory"

             For the wedding of the Lamb has come,

                   and His bride had made herself ready.

Daniel 10:6 AMP 

"and the sound of His words was like the noise 

of a multitude of people or the roaring of the sea".

I through open the balcony door and listened to the "roar of the sea" and understood the peace that comes from the sound of the roaring waters.  Someday I will hear that "roar" and know that it is my Saviors voice!

A NEW HEAVEN AND A NEW EARTH

I can't believe it has been almost a month since my last blog entry.  Where does the time go?  Well a lot of my time was spent on the beach at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  I will post about that trip in the next few days.

Now I simply must share a conversation I overheard in the backseat Sunday as we came home from Sunday School.  In the backseat were my two precious granddaughters, Presleigh age 5 and Sydney age 4.

Me:  What did you learn in Sunday School today?

P:  Jonah and the Whale

S:  Baby Moses

P:  Oh yeah - his mom put him in a basket and he floated down the river.

P:  I want to see Moses in Heaven

S:  If he is in Heaven

P.  Oh, he's in Heaven

S:  How do you know?

P:  Because he was a friend of God.

Here's were I wanted to intervene with Scripture knowledge and tell how God met Moses on the mountain and when Moses died God buried him where no one would know.  But, thankfully I listened to the Holy Spirit and kept my "holy" mouth shut.

S:  I want to go to heaven

P:  Me, too. I want to pet all the animals.

S:  But not the hippos, they would bite. (Her favorite animal is the hippopotamus!)

P:  Not when heaven comes down.  When heaven comes down to the earth all the animals will get along, even the hippos.

S:  When heaven comes down won't it squash the trees and everything?

P:  No it's coming down to go over everything here.  A new heaven and a new earth. 

S:  I think it will squash everything.

P:  No it won't. It will fit over and everything will be new.

Then they were off on to another story.

Oh my goodness!  It took 55 years and lots of Scripture study for me to understand the concept of a New Heaven and a New Earth and this precious 5 year old has it figured out!  Praise be to God!

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea" Revelation 21:1

If you want some great summer reading and deep insight into this subject I suggest Randy Alcorn's book HEAVEN.  A MUST read!

 

SIN AND CONSEQUENCES

I am currently participating in a Bible Study "Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed a Study of David"  The last two weeks are written by one of my favorite Bible teachers, Kay Arthur.  Sin and Consequences have been a subject heavy on my heart for a while and particularly the past couple of days.  As I was walking tonight I was praying and then formulating the words for this blog.  Before I began blogging I purposed to do two days of homework for this week, Week 5.  How amazed I was that the title of Day One was "Sin and Consequences" and Day Two is "Persevering Through Discipline".  Hmmm.  Even more interesting is, as I sat down to write this blog and opened the study book I realized these lessons are for next week, Week 6.   Lord, thanks for the message :)

Kay starts out in Week Six, Day One with "Life is neither easy nor ideal.  Rarely is it the dream fulfilled, and it's good to realize that early on."  Agreed!

She goes on to say " How do we handle life when we are worn to the bone or think our hearts are going to rupture because of rejection and pain? when our family is falling apart? How do we go on in the joy of our salvation? How do we teach transgressors His way when we've blown it so badly ourselves? How do we joyfully sing in down times?"   Good question, how do we?????

Kay asks "What lessons can we learn so that we go deeper still with God rather than self-destruct because of failure?"

"Now, therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittitie to be your wife!' Thus says the LORD, "Behold I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight." (2 Sam 12:10-11)

Read 2 Samuel 13.  Kay goes on to say "Do you see anything that might reflect God's judgment when He said "The sword shall never depart from your house" 

It isn't easy to watch your family fall apart.  Maybe you too, like David, have mourned over a son or a daughter.  It was just the beginning of David's sorrows.  As you read on in 1 Samuel you find David and Absalom's relationship deteriorating until Absalom was in open warfare with his father seeking his kingdom and his life. 

The son died, the father lived. David wished it had been the opposite, but in God's sovereignty, it wasn't.  Even though life did not get easier, David pressed on.  Persevering without becoming bitter, the king humbled himself under God's mighty hand and took God's discipline as a true son of God.

David did not fail to appropriate the all sufficient grace of God."  Thank you Kay!

Like a Father who discipline's his son, because of His great love for us God disciplines us in the midst of our iniquity.  We are forgiven of our sin but we don't "get away" with our sin.  God loves us too much to let us go undisciplined. I pray that we would humble ourselves before God and take His discipline as a true child of God.

"Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.  For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.  Against You, You only, I have sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that You are justified when You speak and blameless when You judge."  Psalm 51:2-4

WRESTLING WITH GOD

Have you ever wrestled with God?  I've read the story so many times of Jacob wrestling all night with the Angel of the Lord, nice story, but until you actually are "on the mat" you really don't get it.  I've been "on the mat" with the Lord for the past couple of weeks.  It doesn't end until He gets you in a head hold and pins you to the floor.  I'm finally there, head to the floor, weak from the battle, exhausted but exhilarated.  

The wrestle began last week when I read a "thread" on a friends Facebook page.  She NEVER posts, but when she did, she caused some controversial chatter.  She was attacked by non-Christians who had done their Bible homework and neither she nor I were prepared for the onslaught.  The discussion is too long and too detailed to play out here, but the "attackers" used Matthew 5:31 and 1 Corinthians 7:10-11 toward my friend who is divorced and remarried.

Now most of you know that prior to being born again, I was married and divorced twice. Two years after I was saved Jeff and I met and married.  Only God could have orchestrated our meeting, courtship and marriage.  We have built our almost 20 year marriage on the foundation of Jesus Christ. We love the Lord and try to live a life worthy of Him.

So I talked with two women, that I highly regard, who are spiritually sound and extremely knowledgeable of the Word. They agreed God did not agree with divorce or remarriage, but He is a God of grace and forgiveness.  I accepted that and moved on. 

Then I ran across a link to a John Piper website and as I perused the site I came to a Position Letter that he had written to his church concerning Divorce and Remarriage. http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/divorce-remarriage-a-position-paper  I was devastated.  Was I really an adulterous in the eyes of God, am I really continuously living in a state of sin and am I a hypocrite to the highest by teaching the Bible to other women?   GOD help me understand!  

So the wrestling match began.  

Finally with my head held to the floor by God himself I understood.  The answers to all my questions were "No".  I am forgiven, I am covered by God's grace, I am His and He is mine.  BUT...... there was a plank in my eye that needed to be removed.  Again, that was another familiar verse that I have read a hundred times and although I totally understood it, I never could really personally apply it to my life.  Until now.  

I have been so busy looking at the speck in other peoples eyes, concerned over their sin, wanting to expose their sin to themselves and others, that I didn't see the plank in my own eye.  Who am I that I should judge?  I am not better nor am I worse, and I have no right to judge others, that is God's position.  I must let go and let God take care of the sins of others.  

I can only hope that when He lets me up off the floor, I walk away with a limp that will serve to remind me every time I start looking at the speck, that my plank is bigger.  

Praise be to God for loving me and saving me!  Thank you, Jesus!