Our future in laws

The Lord always has a rhyme and a reason for everything He says in His Word. We might not understand His ways initially, but if we stay our course, it's amazing at how God reveals Himself in our lives. Our kids are still elementary aged right now, but it is already apparent how important it is for them to consider who that "special person" will be, the one that they spend their lives with. When they were in public school, we had examples upon examples of how important it is to recognize godliness in their friends. Jackson with his fourth grade confidence, was the social leader in his class. Hannah, being in first grade, needed a little more guidance, but done just fine. As they've gotten older, it's led to more interesting conversations. I actually think it might be harder as they are older because it's not necessarily black and white and they have to make more of a conscious choice to fight their flesh. It's during this time, that they need to understand that through the friends they choose, their mate will come.

God is specific about marriage. As the Jews in the Old Testament, we are to be yolked to each other, other Christians. Those who believe the same way we do. Otherwise, there will be conflict, and we do not need to put ourselves in a position where we must compromise a conviction or biblical principle, for the sake of our spouses. The same with friendships. Can they have friends who are not Christian? Of course. How else will their lights shine? Should their closest friends, the ones they go to for wisdom and advice, be non- Christians? NO. Because:

"Neither shalt thou make marriages with them; thy daughter thou shalt not give unto his son, nor his daughter shalt thou take unto thy son. For they will turn away thy son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so will the anger of the LORD be kindled against you, and destroy thee suddenly."
Deuteronomy 7:3-4

Do you pray for your children's friends?
How about their future husband or wife?
(Maybe now is a good time to start?)

Building stronger families: part 2

Part One

Part Three

Building Stronger Families series

2) We must have a biblical perspective of self:
Galatians 5:17
For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Whatever we feed the most will win: be it flesh or spirit. If we continue to fight the spirit to hold onto our worldly things, then the flesh will win. Likewise, if we concentrate on God and His will for us, and what he wants, and what is holy, good, and true, then the spirit will win and we will grow closer to God as a result of that. But if we continue to allow our flesh to win, then we will continue to grow further away from God and lack that fellowship we so desperately need.

a) Pride is a destroyer of relationships:
If God is in the right place with both people in the relationship, the people will be in their right places within the relationship. If their sights are set on God, then they will not be set on each other's faults and worldly desires.

Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 29:23
A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.

b) Pride is defeated by appropriating scripture:

Romans 6:6-7
6Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Whenever we give into the power of our flesh, then we resurrect our prideful attitudes. Do we really want that? Or do we want to break our prideful spirits and be contrite before the Lord?

Proverbs 8:13
To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

contrite:
"feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming " *

To Be Continued: Stay Tuned!

"That in ALL things he might have preeminence"
Sunday School Notes from April 27, 2008 (outline was provided)

Building stronger families: part 1

Part Two

Part Three

Building Stronger Families series

Proverbs 24:1-4
1Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.
2For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.
3Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
4And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

There are three tools available to help our families. How can we have strong families? Everything we need is found in the Word of God. He has offered to provide us with the wisdom we need:

James 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Here are three powerful tools that God gives to build and strengthen our families:

1) The guiding presence of the Holy Spirit:

a) Because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we can have unity. God brings believers together, moving towards their commonality- GOD. If two believers are even opposite natures or personalities, if they are yielded to God, they will still always be going in the same (and right) direction- towards God and living a life that glorifies Him.

b) The purposes of the Holy Spirit:
1) He is our Comforter - John 14:16
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;"

2) He is our teacher: John 16:13-14
13Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

3) He glorifies Jesus Christ - our lives should life up and exalt Christ; and they will if we will allow the spirit to guide us and we determine to be yielded to the spirit.

To Be Continued: Stay tuned for part two!

"That in ALL things he might have preeminence"
Sunday School Notes from April 27, 2008 (outline was provided)

WOW! Whatta guy ...

Glenn Beck is going to be on 20/20 this week, and I was just looking at one of the clips from the interview segment at home, with his wife present.

"My favorite time of the week is coming home and we'll sit on the couch and I'm not even watching the show as much as I'm just watching her and listening to her. Just hearing her laugh, that is my favorite thing to do in the world."

That's love.

Life2

Categories pertaining to the "Life of CalvaryGirl"

Words to live by

Zechariah 8
16These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:
17And let none of you imagine evil in your hearts against his neighbour; and love no false oath: for all these are things that I hate, saith the LORD.

I read this passage this morning and found it so profound, yet so simple. "These are things you need to do", and he just lays them out.
Be truthful.
Do not tolerate lieing within your gates (home).
Plan no evil against anyone ... this one I'll go as far as to THINK no evil towards anyone.
Find false oaths unacceptable.

These are things he hates, so we should, too. Such a basic plan to live by in our daily lives. What a great foundation to lay for our children. This is what kids can grasp, so there's no reason we as adults should not be able to grab hold of these concepts and do so. Yet, will we choose to do so?

I was reading in a forum recently a conversation about Christians boycotting companies that promote, or even, do not oppose, homosexuality. There were scores who said they had nothing to do with a major theme park in our country, or the merchandise of the company that owns the theme park, because of their refusal to stay neutral in the culture war. There was a lone Christian there that shared her thought that she felt such a boycott was not ... necessary perse, because there are TONS of companies out there, that support the lifestyle in one way, shape, form or fashion and we might be supporting that company.

I understood what she is saying. "Choose your battles". I watched the thread unfold, with her conversing when she could with the rest of those who chose to boycott, then there was "the post". The one that says anyone who has that wavelength of thinking is just making excuses not to live a godlier life and stand up for the Lord. Whhhaaaaaattt?

Okay lets step back. The bible says nothing about boycotts. Can we acknowledge that? Are we really questioning the fruitfulness of some one's spirituality because they choose to purchase merchandise from a company that supports the homosexual lifestyle? Since when did we become the judge and jury of what is in some one's heart?

That person was thinking evil towards their neighbor. Even worse, towards a sibling in Christ, which IMO is worse. We all have our own convictions regarding certain things, but we must be careful in our words not to strike down another because they do not share the same convictions. If the bible does not say "boycott companies that ...", then clearly, there's a gray area and we are left to seek the Lord in the matter.

If we all acted the same, we would be one boring family, that's for sure. We all have our own purpose in this giant family in Christ, lets remember to respect each other.

Lets be truthful:
acknowledge there are gray areas that the Lord has left in our world to cause us to seek Him out for His guidance, not the opinions of others.

Lets not be so dogmatic about our convictions that it might cause someone in our home to lie to us for fear of confrontation. Have you ever had someone visiting that was lost, and when trying to talk to them about the Lord they acted much more spiritual than you know they are? There's such thing as showing respect for some one's way of life, then there's the matter of someone feeling like they have to act like something they are not around you, because of how you act through your attitudes, words, and actions.

Plan no evil against anyone.
If someone does not share the same convictions as you, and you are having a hard time wrapping your mind around how someone can feel that way- it might be a good idea to just not say anything at all. You stand a better chance of getting understanding and wisdom in the matter of you pray for that person, rather than accusing that person of making excuses for not being the same as you, and coming off as legalistic or "better than thou". That person might be the weaker Christian and your attitude may cause them to stumble greatly in their walk with the Lord because of what you might say.

Find false oaths unacceptable.
This can be applicable to witnessing. Most anyone will say "Yes I'm a Christian" to avoid speaking to you. There are many versions of the term "Christian" out there. To us who know truly what it means to be a Christian, this is unacceptable, that person may indeed be false! How about asking "Have you been born again?". You can tell from their reaction where the truth lies. Even if you don't get to lead them to the Lord that day, you know more what to pray for then rather than accepting the person's word that they were a Christian, when it's very possible, they truly are not according to the Bible's standards.

Have you ever read through the book Zechariah? This is my first time. What a treasure. Those two verses just jumped out at me this morning. I hope this was a blessing for you, as it was for me to find these verses. Why not comment and share your thoughts?

The revival at Corinth

2 Corinthians 7: 8-12

I read this passage this morning and it was one of those moments where the scriptures just come to life for me. I've read this chapter many times, but this aspect of it just never come forth. I believe the Lord opens your eyes to scriptures, not all at once, but in doses. I got a dose this morning and I thought it was so interesting!

In verse 8 Paul is speaking about the letter he wrote to the Corinthians earlier. I would assume that would be the letter of First Corinthians. In that book some BAD things were going on in that church, and that was quite the serious letter. Lets examine the result of that letter:

8For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season.

Lets look at the word "sorry"; there are four definitions, but I believe the latter two likely applied to the Corinthians because of the nature of that church at the time it was built:
1) to make sorrowful
2) to affect with sadness, cause grief, to throw into sorrow
3) to grieve, offend
4) to make one uneasy, cause him a scruple

Now lets check out the usage of "repent":
1) it is a care to one afterwards
a) it repents one, to repent one's self

Other expressions of this particular word would be likened to:
* refers to an emotional change
* has reference to particulars,
* signifies nothing but regret even amounting to remorse

Paul was probably dreading writing that first letter. He probably was sorrowful in his heart that he even had to write such a letter to God's people! Lets not forget that men within the church were sleeping with their step mothers, others were cheating on their wives and not trying to hide it, needless to say with no intent on stopping. There were some awful things going on. He didn't want to write it, but he did write it, but he was sorry that he had to write it in the first place. We've all been in that predicament, haven't we? Some times the right thing is not always the easiest.

9Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing.

He saw the benefit of writing his letter. Yes, the Corinthians were probably embarrassed that Paul called them out on the sinful manner in which they were living, but Hallelujah the holy spirit was able to work in their hearts- they were not so hardened that they were beyond reproof. They were receptive to what Paul was saying, and though they might have been sorry they got "caught" by the preacher doing such things, or they were sorry that they had reason for accusation, nevertheless, their sorrow led them to get right with God. They were made sorry for the right reasons, they realized their error as it pertained to God, and they were thankful that Paul was bold enough to write the letter.

10For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death.

We experience this, too. The Pastor is preaching away on something that is hitting close to home, and boy oh boy- are we feeling pretty sorry for ourselves in that service! The Lord deals with our hearts, and convicts us of our sin. This can only happen if the Holy Spirit is living within us, and that can only happen if we have accepted Christ as our Savior and had our sin debt taken care of by the sacrifice Jesus made on the cross for the sins of the world. But we know it doesn't stop there, we must still confess our sin as we sin day to day.

I would like to point out that the assertion that one is no longer a sinner
after they are saved- is NOT biblical. Yes, when we are saved, our sins are
washed away, but that does not mean we are not a sinner and will never sin again
in our lives. We continue to be sinners, our purpose in life from the time of
salvation is to become more Christ like- but we will not be sinless until we get
to glory. So I encourage anyone who listens to one who asserts that we're
sinless after salvation to think twice about listening to one who teaches
such things- they are NOT BIBLICAL.

The epistle of First John was written to believers, not the lost, and it
says:

1 John 1
8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word
is not in us.

So the Corinthians confessed their sin and repented. The unrepentant believers that were put out of the church, some were probably reinstated to the church. Praise the Lord! I believe verse ten speaks of two different kinds of sorrow, heavenly sorrow, and worldly sorrow. It's rather self explanatory, but heavenly sorrow is the work of the Holy Spirit in the believer's heart, which brings them to repentance. However, if a lost person is sorrowful, what is accomplished? Nothing, unless that sorrow brings them to the desire for salvation. In that case, they are brought into life by the repentance of their sins and calling upon Jesus to be saved. Otherwise, their sorrow accomplishes nothing but death in the end.

The following is a very "loaded" verse, there's a lot in there-
11For behold this selfsame thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter.

Lets break it down and examine the words here- because they sorrowed unto repentance:

"what carefulness it wrought in you"
1) haste, with haste
2) earnestness, diligence
a) earnestness in accomplishing, promoting, or striving after anything
b) to give all diligence, interest one's self most earnestly

They were more careful about striving for what pleases God, and not themselves.

"what clearing of yourselves"
1) verbal defence, speech in defence
2) a reasoned statement or argument

I imagine that Paul's letter brought much discussion and conversation into the church. I am sure there were some rumors that were dispelled in the midst of their investigations. It is just as much reason to rejoice when someone who is being lied about, is cleared, as it is someone who being accused rightly, repents, don't you think?

"what indignation"
1) indignation, irritation, vexation

Ever heard of "righteous indignation"? I've been accused of being "too passionate" when discussing things of the bible before. I never understood that, and the Lord always brought to mind that phrase. I'm sure when the Corinthians received Paul's first letter, people who might not have otherwise said something to exhort their brothers and / or sisters, did so after the letter. You know sometimes it is GOOD to get excited about the things of God!! Sometimes it is GOOD to step out on the ledge, and risk "sounding offensive" to one who is not walking with the Lord in the way they should, to the one who might not have a clear understanding of what God's Word says about something.

If we are ever going to accomplish something for the Lord, we need to learn when it's time to be bold! Instead of thinking about "peace always", how about thinking "God always ... peace in due time", because there will be times in a Christian's life when things are completely up in the air. Emotions will get high, and feelings will be hurt, just like in the Corinthian church- but do not hinder what God might be trying to accomplish through someone for the sake of "peace", you might just hinder some one's walk with the Lord. Praise God that the Corinthians got some righteous indignation in them and as a result their church was cleansed from the unholiness that was infiltrating them.

"what fear"
1) fear, dread, terror
a) that which strikes terror
2) reverence for one's husband

Do we think that after Paul's letter, that the people in the church feared the Lord just a bit more than they did before? Paul was probably hundreds of miles away- yet he knew what was going on in that church. They didn't even have phones, computers for internet, faxes, even the telegrams were not in existence then. Yet God saw to it that Paul knew what was going on. That alone, is amazing to me. I believe the Corinthians had a much greater respect and reverence for God after their cleansing. I also believe that husbands and wives had stronger relationships as well, because the infidelities were repented of.

"what vehement desire"
1) longing

I believe the Corinthians had a deeper relationship with God, and they longed for His return much greater than they did beforehand. How deep do we truly long for Christ to come back? How deep does that desire burn within our souls, that we would be burdened to seek others actively for His kingdom?

"what zeal"
1) excitement of mind, ardour, fervour of spirit
a) zeal, ardour in embracing, pursuing, defending anything
1) zeal in behalf of, for a person or thing
2) the fierceness of indignation, punitive zeal
b) an envious and contentious rivalry, jealousy

Do you think they had a renewed excitement to serve the Lord above anything else they had going on? I bet they had a brand new soul winning program started and everyone attended! Do we really have a zeal for Christ?

"what revenge"
1) a revenging, vengeance, punishment
side note: With respect to 2Cr 7:11: "...meeting out of justice; doing justice to all parties.

It crosses my mind when I read this, how BIG of a revival must have happened in that church as a result of Paul's first letter calling on them to forsake their wicked sins. To think of the sins that were happening, their were some seriously broken families in that church. I know how hard it would be for me to reconcile with my husband if I knew he was committing adultery. It would take a LOT of grace through God for me to be able to "forgive and forget".

"In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter."
I can only imagine an entire church experiencing such brokenness, for the entire church to be able to be reconciled one to another again. In today's churches certainly there would have been at least one family that would have left or fell by the wayside, yet, our bible does not leave us to believe that, but that ALL parties were reconciled! Praise God!!

12"Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you."

It wasn't that Paul was trying to stir up hurt within the church. Surly his letter could have been seen as that, like he was "judging". Lets remember, we ARE to judge, a righteous judgement. Surly Paul could have been deemed as "overly passionate", and some might think he needed to stop being so pressing in his letters. I believe the wife of the man who was committing adultery was thankful that Paul was so pressing, that he followed the Lord's lead and wrote that letter, so that her husband could repent and her marriage could be made whole again only through the power of God.

This passage perfectly explains, that even though sometimes someone might be saying something (maybe even to someone else) that makes you uncomfortable, it might be the better thing to pray for that person, and that God accomplishes His work in that person's life and / or what that person was trying to say, instead of labeling them as "too passionate", and not trying to understand what they are truly saying or convey through their words.

Paul was not happy about what he was having to write about, yet he wrote it anyway- because he knew that's what God would have him to do. As a result, the Corinthian church was redeemed from their sins because they listened to what Paul had to say, therefore, experiencing a GREAT revival in their lives.

Preeminence (pt 1)

"That in ALL things he might have preeminence"
Sunday School Notes from April 27, 2008 (outline was provided)

Proverbs 24:1-4
1Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.
2For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.
3Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:
4And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.


There are three tools available to help our families. How can we have strong families? Everything we need is found in the Word of God. He has offered to provide us with the wisdom we need:

James 1:5
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

Here are three powerful tools that God gives to build and strengthen our families:

1) The guiding presence of the Holy Spirit:

a) Because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we can have unity. God brings believers together, moving towards their commonality- GOD. If two believers are even opposite natures or personalities, if they are yielded to God, they will still always be going in the same (and right) direction- towards God and living a life that glorifies Him.

b) The purposes of the Holy Spirit:
1) He is our Comforter - John 14:16
"And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;"

2) He is our teacher: John 16:13-14
13Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. 14He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall shew it unto you.

3) He glorifies Jesus Christ - our lives should life up and exalt Christ; and they will if we will allow the spirit to guide us and we determine to be yielded to the spirit.

2) We must have a biblical perspective of self:
Galatians 5:17
17For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

Whatever we feed the most will win: be it flesh or spirit. If we continue to fight the spirit to hold onto our worldly things, then the flesh will win. Likewise, if we concentrate on God and His will for us, and what he wants, and what is holy, good, and true, then the spirit will win and we will grow closer to God as a result of that. But if we continue to allow our flesh to win, then we will continue to grow further away from God and lack that fellowship we so desperately need.

a) Pride is a destroyer of relationships:
If God is in the right place with both people in the relationship, the people will be in their right places within the relationship. If their sights are set on God, then they will not be set on each other's faults and worldly desires.

Proverbs 16:18
Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.

Proverbs 29:23
A man's pride brings him low, but a man of lowly spirit gains honor.

b) Pride is defeated by appropriating scripture:

Romans 6:6-7
6Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
7For he that is dead is freed from sin.

Whenever we give into the power of our flesh, then we resurrect our prideful attitudes. Do we really want that? Or do we want to break our prideful spirits and be contrite before the Lord?

Proverbs 8:13
To fear the LORD is to hate evil; I hate pride and arrogance, evil behavior and perverse speech.

Psalm 51:17
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.

contrite:
"feeling or showing sorrow and remorse for a sin or shortcoming " *

3) A daily practice of serving:
a) Submitting to one another

Ephesians 5:21
Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God.

b) Love one another:

John 15:12
This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

c) Serve one another:
Galatians 5:13
For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another.

d) Praying daily in humility, as our examples in scripture:

Acts 10:
1There was a certain man in Caesarea called Cornelius, a centurion of the band called the Italian band,
2A devout man, and one that feared God with all his house, which gave much alms to the people, and prayed to God alway.

In Conclusion:
Our three tools to help us have stronger families:
1) Recognizing the guiding presence of the Holy Spirit
2) Having a biblical perspective of our selves
3) Forming a daily practice of serving God, and one another.

"An exhaustive study shows that no woman has ever shot her husband while he was doing the dishes" ;o)