Praying God's Word

I believe in the power of prayer. I have a rich heritage of believers on both sides of my family.  (I'm really interested in genealogy/ancestry) I believe the prayers of my great grandparents have touched my life. 

When I started in the youth group, I was introduced to the idea of praying for my future husband. A girl a grade or two ahead of me prayed for her future husband when she found change on the ground and saved it in a jar so she could present it to him when they were married.  A godly woman, a pastor's wife actually, told our young women's college class at church how she coped with insecurities as a newlywed by praying that the desire of her husband's heart be for the Lord.  So as result of being introduced to this idea, I started praying for my husband long before I ever met him.

So what do I pray for my husband and my kids and myself? Besides the desire of our hearts to be for Him, I pray His word back to Him.

Early in my Christian walk, it became evident to me that wisdom was a big deal to God so I pray for us to "say unto wisdom, thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:" Prov 7:4 (Before I was married I knew I would want the man I married to be wise and I thought he would want wisdom in a wife).

Like Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, told God, "I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in" 1 Kings 3:7 so I tell Him I need His wisdom to do all I have to do and be who I am because I don't know how and He gives it so freely to anyone who will ask James 1:5.

To me, words are important and I really try to say what I mean.  How we talk and relate to others so that we convey to the world Christ and He gets the glory is also really important so I pray that our "speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person." Col 4:6

I pray specifically for my husband that God would let him find favor with those he is subordinate to and those who are subordinate to him. That everyone he encounters will see Jesus through him and that God will get the glory.
I have, in the past, prayed for my husband to change about this or that but I don't do that anymore because 1. It would be redundant since I am already praying that the desire of his heart would be for the Lord and 2. "The Power of a Praying Wife" by Stormie Omartian.  She relates that a spouse or anyone for that matter won't change unless they are ready (duh!) You can't control them, their attitude, or their choices but you CAN control yourself, your attitude, and your choices. So instead she suggests to pray for yourself to change.  It works.
And lately, I find myself praying that the Lord would do something special for my husband that would really encourage him, something that would be special and really answer a prayer for him, even if it's little, like a parking space.  I ask him to do this for me too, sometimes.

For all of us, but especially the kids, I pray that God would provide the right friends. Friendships with like minded Christians, there really is nothing better than the fellowship and bond with others who love Jesus.  I started specifically praying for godly friends in 6th grade and while my prayers were not immediately answered, it was well worth the wait.  I am still close with many of my high school youth group friends.  We live states away but we can talk on the phone and pick right up where we left off.  "A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother." Prov 18:24  I pray my kids can enjoy this one day, and even say it of each other.
I also pray for us (again more so the kids) that they will not be "tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;" Eph 4:14.

And lastly, I pray that we would be a blessing to others. That we would be refreshing and not a black hole, sucking the life and fun out of things. I don't really have a verse for this but that's the kind of person I want to be around, so that's how I want to act and my family too. 

Reading Log

The big kids have a reading log for their classes; sometimes it looks the picture in this post
and sometimes we fail at getting it done what with all the craziness and having added another person to the mix.  It helps me to read to them when it's something I can get into also, so George MacDonald it is. 

The Wise Woman is great. The story is about 2 spoiled girls. One a princess and one a daughter of a shepard.  They are parralelled but MacDonald begins with the Wise Woman being summoned to the palace by the king and queen to advise them on why their daughter, Princess Rosamond, is so difficult and how she can be a better person. The wise woman interjects little as they tell her of the princess' horrible behavior and she finally tells them much of her poor behavior is their own fault.  The king, of course, is completely offended and feels he's unjustly been accused.  The wise woman takes on the case though and in the morning, the princess runs out of the court room after throwing a huge tantrum and it's then that the wise woman takes her to her cottage.  All along the walk to her cottage, Rosamond begins to push her boundaries with the wise woman to see what she can get away with, just as she does her own servants but the wise woman does not cater to Rosamond.  At her cottage, Rosamond is expected to do chores and earn her keep. This is basically where we have stopped for now.  George MacDonald can get flowery and drone on but I really enjoy some of that. When it comes to human nature, he nails it. He's great at describing types of people and he doesn't sugarcoat it, he calls it like he sees it.  To paraphrase about the type of person Rosamond is.  She thinks she is "Somebody", meaning she feels entitled to everything and that her needs and wants should come before anyones. She doesn't have a self esteem problem at all and thinks she's SO good when she has a change of mood. Which is another thing MacDonald says about a certain kind of person, their mood dominates and dictates how they will act that moment.  If they feel good then everything is going well, if they are in a bad mood everything is horrible and nothing can be right. We just can't be ruled by our circumstances or emotions.  Our attitude is our own choice. 

I'm so glad God is unchanging.  When we focus on Him then there is no time to dwell on all that surrounds us and we can be a more effective Christian and glorify the Lord.

Eternal = Forever

I truly wish as Christians we could all be of one mind.  I don't like confrontation and I do want us to agree and get along.  I have differing views from my brothers and sisters in Christ and it grieves me.  Calvinism, Arminianism, theistic evolution, Bible versions, tribulation/end times etc.  There are people smarter than me who I do not share in their beliefs because I cannot reconcile what I read in the Bible with what they are telling me or simply looking at in a logical way.  Eg if A is true then B can not be true.  There ARE absolutes.  Only one view is going to be the truth.

One subject along these lines that grieves me lately is eternal separation from God.  Universal redemption, it's not new (Ecc 1:9).  In fact George MacDonald believed in it and it came out in his literature, especially, Lilith, which is such a tragedy because it is so good.  To me, the best part is when Lilith comes to Adam and truly desires to be good and change.  He tells her first she has to open her hand that has been holding onto something for so long that her hand has basically grown together and won't open, even when she wants it to, so she tells him to cut it off, which reminds me of Matthew 18:6-9.

Anyway, I can't agree with universal redemption.  If it's true that God will let everyone in heaven regardless of whether they choose to believe in Him and ask for forgiveness, then what was the point of the cross?  Everything that lead up to Christ's birth, everything that went on in His ministry, everything that lead up to His death, burial and resurrection would have been for nothing because it doesn't matter anyway whether He died or even came to earth to begin with. It's like a parent who makes empty threats. It makes light of Jesus' sacrifice and His sacrifice is WAY to serious a thing.  To think, he broke fellowship with the God head for it!  How blasphemous to think of all He went through for Him not to mean business about eternal separation being real; for Him to just say after 10,000 years of eternity "ok, you can all come out of torment now".  I'll say it again, it makes light of Jesus' sacrifice.  It proves how dire the need is for people to come to His saving grace. Besides, If God reneges on that, what else can we NOT trust about Him?

Eternal = Forever

If eternal life means we are forever with God after time ceases (and a bit before) then eternal separation means forever away from Him.  One can not pick and choose the meaning of eternal to mean one thing in one instance and not in another.

Here is a good list of scriptures to support eternal separation being for forever. 

Holy vs Consecrate

A few weeks ago at church the pastor said consecrate instead of holy and it got me to thinking: what's the difference between the two?

Here's what I discovered on Blue Letter Bible .
Consecrate means a few things. "Dedicate" make new; to renew "perfected" complete: reached it's end. 

Holy means "Reverent" sacred character. "Sanctification" separated unto God. "Sacred" consecrated to God.

The difference I found was that in every instance holy is always to God but consecrate can be either to God or to evil as in EX 22:20 means to ban; to split, slit, mutilate. To divide. Prohibit, forfeited, to exterminate, completely destroy. 

Though I don't know much, about Hebrew grammer and the tenses, I think it's so wonderful to know that when God talks about those who are consecrated to evil there is never a future tense.

Everyone has the choice of who they are going to devote themselves to. 

I'm back...??

What a hiatus!..well, actually, let's be honest and say I may not stick with it this time either because, you see, I do have something to say and many thoughts and opinions but I am so busy these days. 

God has given me the desire of my heart and blessed us with a fourth and last (for sure) baby.  I had to put homeschooling off the table, which I hate.  I love to see my kids "get it". I hate that another person gets that experience with them. It was best for them though. I was WAY too unreliable with my 9 months of morning sickness.  Babies are ALWAYS a blessing but, as the Bible says, birthing is a curse and in my opinion so is pregnancy. I do enjoy some of the pregnancy of course but it was way harder in my 30s than it was in my 20s.

Rosh hashanah 2012

Christ's life coincided with Jewish feasts. His birth was during the feast of tabernacle, His death was at Passover. He left and gave us the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. All of the feasts have been fulfilled but the trumpets (Rosh Hashanah). Last year I was introduced to the concept that the rapture would occur during this feast and it seems that more and more people are jumping to this conclusion. In a way, the rapture taking place at the feast of trumpets makes sense and it kind of feels good to have something to hold onto in my mind which I'm sure is a draw to these many but there are a few things I can't reconcile. The dates change every year but it's not hard to figure out so one could still not know the exact day but narrow it down to 2 (this year Sept 16-18). Also Christians are not Jews and are told in Rev 3:9 to not act as though they are. So maybe we should not tie the rapture of the church to the Jewish feast of trumpets. Every blog I have read of the passionate Christian making the case for the rapture to occur in a few weeks make it about them. They pray and feel that God has answered them directly (not saying God doesn't speak to us) but it's like "on the receipt the cashier handed me her employee number was 44357 and if you add them up it's my grandma's birthday from the year when she turned 77". A whole lot of personal meaning but nothing for the church body. The Bible says a few times "no man knows the day or hour" Matt 24 and 13. Actually, these verses are talking about Christ's 2nd return not the rapture but in a few places we are told the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night (2 Pet 3:10, 1 Thes 5:2) but a thief doesn't tell you when they are coming to your house, so essentially it is the same concept in a diff context. So while their stories are nice and no doubt bring them comfort, why would God reveal these things to only them and not all of us? Well, I'm here to tell you He wouldn't b/c He is not a respecter of persons. Act 10:34, Romans 2:11. Maybe it will be this feast of trumpets or maybe it will be Halloween or maybe this afternoon.

Wow! Really?!

You've heard in real estate it's all about location, location, location!  Well in the Bible it's context, context, context!  How often (silent "t" people)  I have heard and used Psalm 46:10 out of context.  "Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.". The first part of this scripture has inspired beautiful songs and words of comfort & encouragement in times of distress. If taken in context however, it's clear this is not supposed to be a comfort to God's people but a statement to the world powers who have come to battle against Israel (Rev 6:12-17 & Rev 19).  To paraphrase Dr. Ron Allen, whom I first heard correctly exegete this passage, the context is when Israel is turned on by every nation and it is what God is saying to those who have come to war against His people and Himself as he returns to save Israel, conquer the earth, and begin His millennial reign. Dr. Allen says "be still and know that I am God" is like saying "shut up and listen, I'm in charge."  Actually, to a believer this should be comforting, God in charge, but to whom it is meant for it is not meant to be comforting.

Who is this passage meant for? Rev 9 tells us the men who endured the demon creatures that ^"17 having breastplates of fire, and of jacinth, and brimstone: and" road horses who's "heads were as the heads of lions; and out of their mouths issued fire and smoke and brimstone...¹⁹ For their power is in their mouth, and in their tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them they do hurt.  Rev 9:20-21 explains "and the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: Neither repented they of their murders, nor of their sorceries, nor of their fornication, nor of their thefts."  Wow!  Really?!  ALL the grass has been burned (Rev 8:7) a flaming mountain is cast into the sea (v 8) causing a third of the sea to turn to blood because a third part of the sea life died and a third of the ships were destroyed (v 9).  Then a star falls on a third of the rivers/lakes and turns that drinkable water to poison (v 11).  Sun, moon, and stars lose a third of their light and then the crazy demon locusts all preceding the demon riders on horses with fire-breathing lion heads and serpent-headed tails come along and these men still want to commit idolatry, murder, use drugs, fornicate, and steal?  The men who (Rev 16:8-11) "blasphemed the name of God, which hath power over these plagues: and they repented not to give him glory (v 9) and blasphemed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, and repented not of their deeds (v 11)."  That is who "be still and know that I am God" is meant for. The men who live through all this rejecting God the whole time, shaking their fist in the air at Him, going to war because they would rather be the authority in their own life than to serve the one who gave them life and lets them continue to have the ability to fight Him and the free will to choose to reject Him.  


If you would like to hear the sermon by Dr. Ron Allen you can find it at Bayside Community Church's (Tampa FL) website http://www.baysidecommunitychurch.net/resources.html under sermons.  It's entitled "Let's Turn That Puppy Over" from 10/17/2010 or download the sermon.net app and choose Bayside Community Church as a channel.