Glory

Before I dive into writing about “glory”, I need to share some background as to why I have been thinking about the word. Recently a home group leader shared a scripture he had been thinking about and wondered if any of us in the group had thought about the passage, too. It was from 2 Cor.3:17-18.

17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Thinking about these verses has caused me to ask many questions and it has taken me to the verses which preceded verses 17 and 18 in order to get the context.  I have also read into chapter 4.  Because context rules whenever we are trying to get the meaning of Scripture, it is a good habit to get into when we are wanting to find the true meaning of a verse or verses.  Remembering that all Scripture is God-breathed, through the various authors of the books of the Bible, we know God had a meaning in mind for the verses written.  There are NOT multiple meanings of a verse.  However, there can and should be many different applications to the verse or verses.  So, knowing that principle of interpreting Scripture, let’s look at what Paul, the author of 2 Corinthians was saying in chapter 3.  Verses 7 and 8 are vital to the meaning of the verses that follow

7 Now if the ministry of death, carved in letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, 8 will not the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory?

Here we see that Paul was comparing the glory of the Law (think Ten Commandments written on stone tablets given to Moses on Mt. Sinai) with the glory of the ministry of the Spirit (Who writes God’s laws on our hearts).  When Moses came down from the mountain, his face shone,  so he put a veil over his face in order that the Israelites would not see it, and it was fading, too. Now look at verses 11 to 15

 For if what was being brought to an end came with glory, much more will what is permanent have glory.12 Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 

We see that the “old covenant” is also referring to what God gave Moses on Mt. Sinai, and that it was to be brought to an end; it was not permanent.  It had some glory, but nothing like what was to come.  Then Paul speaks of the Israelites of his own day, saying even at his time a veil was on their hearts when they read the old covenant, because the only way to lift the veil was through Christ.  Then we have verse 16:

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.

Turning to Christ and beholding His glory without a veil over our hearts/faces, we become transformed into His glory from one degree of that glory to another.  It is permanent glory!  It is from one degree to another degree, a process, though.  Verse 6 in chapter 4 helps explain more:

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

We see God’s glory in Jesus.  So, we keep our focus on Him.  We live for Him.  The glory we find is not our glory, but Jesus’ glory!  Because we have this “treasure in jars of clay”(verse 7), it shows the power of God, not our power. Yet, there is a “weight of glory” we will receive.  C. S. Lewis has a very good talk you could look up by the same name.  He describes it so much better than I could.  This “weight of glory” prepared for us is eternal and it is beyond comparison (verse 17).

As we keep our gaze on Jesus, His Spirit is transforming us into His likeness, and then there is this “weight of glory” awaiting us.  Our glory will be hearing the Father say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” as He sees Jesus in us and shining out of us.

That’s what I have been thinking about.  I hope it blesses you as it has blessed me!

 

Fun Interview

As I mentioned in my last post, I have written a little article in The Biblical Herbal e-magazine. Our editor and chief decided she would like to interview each of the contributors to the magazine.  It was my turn this week.  I tried not to get too stressed about it all, but whenever I need to do new things on the computer, I sort of over think it and make it much more difficult than it really is.  Before we went live, Tamra prayed for us both and the computer technologies.  I was thankful to see it work at all, but it is a little jerky and it embarrassingly stops when I am making a silly face, which is often. 🙂 Here is the link to it if any of you might be interested.  I think if you just listen to it, it will be more pleasant, but you can watch it if you like.

interview

After 2 Years, I am Back With More Adventures!

Now that our youngest has graduated from high school and will be beginning her junior year in college, I have found some time to write and share about the new adventures the Lord has brought my way. The most recent excitement for me has been being invited to write an article for a new e-magazine, The Biblical Herbal Magazine.  I never dreamed I would be invited to do so, but I filled out the application and I guess they thought I could at least give a beginner’s perspective.  This magazine has informative, accurate, well-documented articles relating to using, growing and finding healing, God-made, herbs.  If you have been longing for a Christian perspective on herbalism, as I have, you will be happy to have found this resource.  The first issue came out in  the spring of this year.  Now I find myself with the great privilege of writing a short article on culinary herbs for the summer issue!  As I read the wonderful articles the other contributors wrote, I was so humbled!  They really know their stuff!  Please give it a read.  I know you will enjoy it and be all the wiser for reading it.  In my next post, I will share more herb information, and how the Lord is teaching me new and wonderful things about Himself through His Creation.

Joy, A New Adventure

We just brought home our new puppy!  Already the Lord is teaching me lessons about His amazing creativity and sense of humor!

True Compassion

“a bruised reed He will not break,
and a smoldering wick He will not quench,
until He brings justice to victory;” Matthew 12:20

I have been thinking about this verse a lot lately.  In context, this verse comes right after the religious leaders had come to Jesus and asked why His disciples broke the Sabbath by picking and eating grain.  Jesus reminded them that David had taken bread from the temple and eaten it and the priests ate bread on the Sabbath from the temple and were innocent. He said, “And if you had known what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the guiltless.” Matthew 12:7  Right after that He went into their synagogue where a man with a withered hand was and it was the Sabbath.  The religious leaders asked Him if it was lawful to heal on the Sabbath.  He said to them, “Which one of you who has a sheep, if it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will not take hold of it and lift it out?  Of how much more value is a man than a sheep! So it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”Matthew 12:11-12  Even though that was a wonderful answer, the leaders did not like it and looked for a way to destroy Jesus.
He healed the man, also. Then Jesus went on to other places and Matthew writes that this whole situation with the Pharisees was a fulfillment of Isaiah’s prophecy of Jesus, which I partially quoted at the beginning of this post.

Now that we have the context, I will share my thoughts about the particular verse I quoted. Please check the scripture yourself and do not take my words as God’s words- they are just my thoughts.  I am struck by the true compassion of Jesus here and pray He will, by His Spirit, help me have that kind of compassion. His compassion is in such contrast to the Pharisees’ obsession with following the law (not God’s Law, but man’s traditions).  He defends His disciples, who were hungry and picking grain to eat.  He heals a poor man with a withered hand (who, by the way, because he was not “whole”, he could not worship in the temple) and compares that act as like one who helps his helpless animal out on the Sabbath.

We are surrounded by people who are “bruised reeds” and “smoldering wicks”.  I want to be like Jesus and not break or quench them, but rather lead them out of their misery by doing and saying what will help them most.  There are so many people just in our churches who are so fragile and bruised from life’s “stuff”, not to mention the hurting and weary people outside our churches who are longing for someone’s compassion, tenderness and help.  May I, and others who know Jesus as Lord and Savior, share Him and His true compassion and truth with those who long to hear the good news of the Gospel.  May we tenderly, carefully help them see all that Jesus has for those who seek Him with their whole heart. May we see through the “traditions of man”,  be kind, be gentle, but also speak the truth in a loving way to those who are waiting for someone to hear their cry and help them.

Finishing Well

Here we are, ready to ring in a new year, and I have not had time to write since April of this year!  Adventures in life continue!  Today, however, there is an unusual stretch of uninterrupted (except for the cat climbing the back of my chair and getting between the keyboard and the screen) time to think and write down some thoughts for the ending of this year and the beginning of 2014.

I have been thinking about what it looks like to finish this mortal Christian life well, and then be ushered in to the immortal, everlasting life with our Lord and Savior. We do not know specifically when or how that will happen, but we do know generally, as believers, what will take place.  1 Corinthians 15:42-58 speaks of what will happen to our mortal bodies when the trumpet blows.  Whether we have fallen asleep (died) or are still alive when the trumpet blows, we will all be changed from perishable, mortals to imperishable immortals!  Wow!  That’s something to think about!

How do we stay ready for the sounding of the trumpet?  I want to be like one of the 5 wise virgins in the parable Jesus told to encourage us to be ready for His (the Bridegroom) return to take His bride (the church) home to His Father. (Matthew 25:1-13)  Keeping oil in our lamps and extra on hand is the admonition.  What does that mean? Not to try to make it say anything it is not really saying, we at least know it means the 5 wise virgins planned for the possible delay of the bridegroom by keeping extra oil on hand for their lamps. They were waiting for something they knew would take place, but just not exactly when it would take place. We, too, know Jesus will return to take us home (as He said in John 14:2-3).  We live by faith that He will keep His Word. We do not know the exact time His return will happen, we just know it will happen.  Thankfully, He gave us some hints as to what we were to watch for as the time drew near.  I may write about that more later, but for now I will stick to what we are to be doing as we wait.

Maybe we should ask ourselves what we would like Jesus to see us doing when He comes to take us home.  That might be a good way to know what we should be doing to finish well before He returns.  Also, we might ask what we want to be as His people when He comes for us.  I know “doing” and “being”  go hand in hand, but sometimes we get so busy doing things, that we lose sight of who we are being.  Even worse, we might even become people we don’t want to be, because we are doing things that we are not called or equipped to do. I am writing this for myself, of course, but if it helps you, I am glad.  Prayer for God’s help to know where He wants us is essential, I believe.  He is faithful to His Word and will hear our cry and answer us.  He will not call us to anything He does not equip us to do, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be difficulties, persecution, hardships, etc. He already told us those things would happen to His followers, but we can be of good cheer, because He has overcome this world.  He is with us in and through all difficulties.  Therefore, I challenge you and myself to face the coming year with an attitude of excitement and anticipation at what He wants us to do and be.   And, who knows, He may be coming for His Bride in 2014! So let’s finish this year well and welcome in the coming year with joy!

Forgiveness

Please go to the Precept blog website to see and read an excellent post about 5 myths we tend to believe about forgiveness!  See the sidebar for the address.

Know What the Bible Says!

If you do not know what the Bible says, how will you ever know if someone is misquoting or mishandling it?  Why should we be concerned about this matter?  Do we not have pastors, theologians, and teachers to help us out here?  Sadly, those people have often been the ones misquoting and mishandling the Word of God!  They are, however, fulfilling what Jesus, and then the apostles, warned us about:

“And Jesus answered and said to them, ‘See to it that no one misleads you.For many will come in My name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will mislead many.'(Matt. 24:4-5)

“I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.”(Acts 20:29-30)

“Now I urge you, brethren, keep your eye on those who cause dissensions and hindrances contrary to the teaching which you learned, and turn away from them.For such men are slaves, not of our Lord Christ but of their own appetites; and by their smooth and flattering speech they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.”(Rom. 16:17-18)

There are many, many more warnings in Scripture about those who would come from within the “church” and deceive those not careful about keeping the Word of God foremost in their thoughts.  You will not be deceived with flattering words if you know Scripture.  May we not be listed among the “unsuspecting” and so be led astray from the Truth ( for God’s Word is Truth – John 17:17)!

I beg you, therefore, take the time to know the whole counsel of God’s Word for yourself.  Make the study of His Word one of your top priorities.  Ask yourself if it is important enough, and hopefully it is, to you to know what the Bible says from start to finish.  Please do not depend on anyone else to tell you what is says.  Find out for yourself!  If you  are not sure where to start, I suggest starting with learning the inductive method of study (you will never study anything the same way after you learn this method).   Precept Ministries (www.precept.org) has tons of free helps for you and a blog to follow for help, too.  Basically they teach you how to slow down and really observe the text of Scripture to see what it says first, before trying to interpret it, because without thorough observation, accurate interpretation is impossible, and without accurate interpretation, how can we correctly apply God’s Word to our lives and help others do the same? As Paul said to Timothy,

“Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth.” (2 Tim. 2:15)

Let us be people who accurately handle God’s Word so we will not be numbered with those who will be deceived, especially as we are living in the Last Days when many will go astray and have their ears tickled by false doctrines!  Listen to your pastors and teachers, but also always verify what they say with what the Scripture says.  Let Scripture be your plumbline, not a person, or a church, or a book, or any other form of teachings.  Then you will be guarded from being led astray.

 

 

I’m Back!

Although I do not have many followers of this blog, for those of you who do follow it, you  may have been wondering where I have been.  I have been “doing life”. 🙂  Life can become so busy and take so much out of a person that writing a blog needs to be put on the back burner for awhile.  That is what I needed to do.  Now I am feeling like I should continue with where I left off in January.  In my last post I encouraged you to be ready for Christ’s return, first and foremost.

Today I want to re-emphasize the importance of knowing you are ready for Christ’s return.  Do you know Him?  Do you love Him?  Do you long to be with Him forever? Do you begin each day with the thought, ” He may come for me today!”?  When you think of His return, are you excited and joyful, or are you hoping it won’t happen “quite yet’?  If you are hoping He holds off coming for a little while longer, what is the reason behind that hope?  Are there loved ones who still don’t KNOW Him, even though they may know OF Him?  Do you have “things” you need to do first before He comes to take you home?  Depending on your answers to all those questions, you will probably know whether or not you are truly ready for that great and glorious day.

But THAT DAY will come, because God always keeps His promises.  Oh that we would be waiting expectantly and eagerly to see Him face to face!

“But of THAT DAY and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone.” (Matt. 24:36)

“Be on guard, so that your hearts will not be weighted down with dissipation and drunkenness and the worries of life, and THAT DAY will not come on you suddenly like a trap;” (Luke 21:34)

“in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on THAT DAY; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing. (2 Tim. 4:8)

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord.  Therefore comfort one another with these words. (1 Thess. 4:16-18)

Please read those references one more time and think about them.  May the Lord stir your heart to be ready for His return!

Are You Ready?

People often ask me, “Are you ready for…?”  In the past month, it may have been for Christmas or New Years celebrations.  In January, it might be for winter storms or maybe a vacation to some sunny, warm spot.  Are you ready?  Getting ready could mean many things to the person in the midst of it, but we all know it means preparing for the expected and the unexpected.  Preparations will, of course, depend on the situation being prepared for.  To me, the most important event and destination to be prepared for is Jesus’ return and  then being with Him forever.  Hopefully, all who read this blog are prepared for Him.  If not, please read my first posts of this blog.  It is a matter of eternal significance!

If we are ready for Jesus’ return and are looking forward to it with eager anticipation, then we need to help others get ready, too!  Share the Good News of salvation with all who will listen!  Time is running out.  One day will be the last day before His return.  Will He find us faithful?  Are we ready to see Him face to face?

Since we are living in a broken, sinful world, things are not perfect.  People “go crazy”, the weather is unpredictable (even for meteorologists), disasters happen, the earth shakes.  How have you prepared?  Most people want to be ready, but their lives just get so busy with immediate issues to deal with, they just don’t have time to think of storing water and food, candles, batteries, etc.  In fact, most people don’t want to even think about it because they superstitiously think it will cause a  bad thing to happen if they do.  Hopefully that is not you.  We have people depending on us.  Let us be proactive in our preparations for emergency situations that are likely to occur in our area.  At least begin thinking of some worst-case scenarios and then work backward at how you might be ready for them.  Check out my website learntothrivedeb.shelfreliance.com and click on “products”, then on “Emergency Supplies”.  That will take you to an emergency planner video to watch and also give you a place to purchase some supplies.  It is a great place to start your preparations.  It will one day be too late to get ready.  Please begin now!