Repost: His Word Is Enough

My Bible reading today included Matthew chapter 8.  There are multiple examples in this chapter of Jesus performing miracles by touching someone, while other times He just spoke.  I wrote about this in February of 2019 and decided to repost it today:

Along with studying women of the Bible, I am reading one chapter in the Bible each day.  I read Proverbs with its 31 chapters in January.  This month I'm reading Matthew which has 28 chapters.

While reading Matthew chapter 8 on Friday, I was amazed at the many times Jesus healed or delivered with just His Word.  He touched people, but He also just spoke.

Verse 3 He touched a leper and healed him
Verse 13 He spoke the word to the Centurion and his servant was healed.
Verse 15 He touched Peter's mother-in-law and healed her.
Verse 16 He cast out spirits with His word.
Verse 26 He rebuked the winds and sea and there was a great calm.
Verse 32 He spoke the word and evil spirits came out of two men.

It continues in chapter 9:
Verse 2 He spoke to the one sick of palsy and he arose.
Verse 20 The woman with the issue of blood touched Him and in verse 22 Jesus told her that her faith had made her whole.
Verse 25 He took Jairus' daughter by the hand and she arose
Verse 29 He touched the eyes of two blind men and their eyes were opened

I've been thinking on this and wondering why Jesus chose to touch some and not others.  I think it's a beautiful example of what happens in our lives today.  Sometimes we can feel His presence so strongly.  It's a beautiful, almost indescribable feeling.  It mends broken places in us.  But there are other times we can't feel a thing.  We may see others being touched, but our own spirit feels dry and empty.  It's in those times that we need to turn to His Word.  We need to search the scriptures for the answer to our problem.  We can't rely solely on feelings.

The last couple of days we were in Hawaii it was very rainy.  But after the rain out comes the sun and with it rainbows.  We don't see rainbows often in California, but they are in abundance in Hawaii.  I am always awed when I see them.  They are a reminder of God's promise.  Others may use them for different purposes, but rainbows will always be God's reminder that He keeps His Word.

Just as we were taxiing down the runway on January 31st, I snapped shots of this beauty.  I'm thankful that even when I can't feel it, God is always faithful and His Word is true.

Standing on the Promises

Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
 Standing on the promises of God.

Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I now can see
Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;
Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I shall not fall,
Listening every moment to the Spirit’s call.
Resting in my Savior as my All in all,
Standing on the promises of God.

Stroke of Midnight

Where were you last night when 2013 turned into 2014? Is that where you’d wanted to be?

 
I could not pass up this post.  Not because we did something exciting on New Year's Eve, but because it reminded me of where we were when the calendar turned to 2014!  We were finishing our first year on Oahu.  Our lease would be up on February 7, 2014, so we decided to stay through the holidays. I did a photo a day challenge that December and my final photo was of my running watch after a three mile run.

I remember that New Year's Eve.  We were living in Discovery Bay.  I'm pretty sure we did not stay up until midnight because the next day I wrote about getting up for an early morning run.  I was, however, exactly where I wanted to be because Les and I were together.

On January 1, 2014 I wrote a post called "Great Peace."  You can read the entire post here, but I just wanted to share a little today:

"Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them."  Psalm 119:65

 

How can we have great peace when we are being bombarded?  One commentator put it remarkably well:

Great peace have they -  They have great calmness of mind. They are not troubled and anxious. They believe and feel that all things are well-ordered by thee, and will be conducted to the best result. They, therefore, calmly leave all with thee. As a matter of fact, the friends of God have peace and calmness in their minds, even amidst the troubles, the disappointments, and the reverses of life. The love of God is the best - the only - way to secure permanent peace in the soul.
Which love thy law - It is the love of law, and the belief that the law of God is in accordance with justice, that gives peace to their minds. God’s government is a government of law, and therefore it is loved.
And nothing shall offend them - “They shall have no stumbling-block.” Hebrew, “And to them no stumbling,” or stumbling-block. The meaning here is, that they would not fall into sin; they would be kept safe; they would be preserved from the power of temptation. The meaning is not, as it would seem to be in our version, that nothing would pain, grieve, or irritate them; but, as above, that as long as they were obedient to the law, and disposed to obey it, they would be safe from the power of temptation.

Seven years later, I still believe that great peace is possible!

30 Days of Thanks, Day 20: Daily

The Bible is meant to be bread for our daily use, not just cake for special occasions.

- Mom's Bible

 

I am so thankful that I can read the Bible for myself.  The International Bible Society has an interesting article titled, "How was the Bible distributed before the printing press was invented in 1455?"  It gives history of how the Bible was copied by hand for centuries.  I found these points very interesting:

While many translations were made, a church council in Toulouse, France, in 1229 forbade anyone who was not a priest from owning a Bible. Nevertheless, “underground” translation and circulation of the Bible continued.

 

Because of the huge size of complete Bibles, they were divided into several volumes, and each was very costly. Only the rich and the universities could afford them. Into this situation came a great revolutionary named John Wycliffe, whose central doctrine was, “Every Christian ought to study this book because it is the whole truth!”  

Today we are pretty casual about this great treasure, so readily available to us. We do well to stop for a moment to realize that we can actually hold in our hands the precious revelation of God Himself. It costs us less than an hour’s wage, rather than a year’s salary, as it once did. The temptation now is to treat the ancient word casually as well. But from this ink and paper springs the ageless gospel of hope for this life and the life to come. It is our priceless heritage.

 

I have owned my own Bible since I was a child.  I've had many Bibles through the years.  I cherish them. I can't imagine not having God's Word available to me.  I do my best to make it the first thing I read every morning.  May we always be thankful for this great treasure!

30 Days of Thanks, Day 13: Faded

 Isaiah 40:8 says, "The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever."

 

Our memories will fade over time.  Pain, fear, frustration, grief - it does fade eventually.  Joy, excitement, anticipation - those fade as well.  Everything we've experienced in 2020 will someday fade as a flower.

No matter what tomorrow brings, God's word will stand.  No matter who is in power, someday they will fade, but God's word will never fade.  I wrote a post in October 2010 called, "Thy Word Have I Hid."  I wrote about a sword drill we had during Bible study:

Les and I both remember our Sunday school teachers drilling into us "What will you do if your Bible is taken away?" This was during the Cold War (see, I really am old!) and the threat of communism was real. Thank you, Sunday school teachers for all those memory verses you put into me!

I also included several quotes from Mom's Bible:

Other books were given for our Information. The Bible was given for our Transformation.

One who uses the Bible as his guide never loses his sense of direction.

The devil is not afraid of the Bible that has dust on it.

The Bible is meant to be Bread for our daily use;
not just cake for special occasions.

I'm so thankful for God's word.  It is still relevant to our lives today.  Everything we need we can find in that beautiful old book!

May the Face of God Shine Upon You

I got a call last Monday from my dear Tennessee friend, Lori Long.  She was just calling to check in and we enjoyed catching up.  Before long our phones were on speaker as Les and Doug joined the conversation.  As we were saying goodbye, Les said, "the Lord bless you and keep you."  I piped in with "and make His face to shine upon you!"  Les looked at me a little questioning.  "It's in the Bible!" was my response.  Not only is it in the Bible, it was part of my Bible reading this morning.

Numbers 6:22-27 says:
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them,
The LORD bless thee, and keep thee:
The LORD make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee:
The LORD lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. 
And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel; and I will bless them. 

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible says:
The priestly blessing is appointed as a solemn form to be used by the priests exclusively, and in this function their office as it were culminates. God Himself provides a formula, through which from time to time, as His people by obedience place themselves in true and right relationship to Him, the authorized mediators may pronounce and communicate His special blessing to them. It was a Jewish tradition that this blessing was given at the close of the daily sacrifice.
The structure of the blessing is remarkable. It is rhythmical, consists of three distinct parts, and mounts by gradual stages to that peace which forms the last and most consummate gift which God can give His people.

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee - The second clause here, as in the other three verses, defines more closely the general tenor of the preceding one. The singular number, which is observed throughout, indicates that the blessing is conferred on Israel “collectively.”

Make his face shine - This is an enhancement of the preceding benediction. “The face of God” imports not merely God’s good will in general, but His active and special regard. With the “face” or “eye" of the Lord accordingly is connected alike the judicial visitation of the wicked, and His mercies to the righteous.

Lift up his countenance upon thee - especially direct His thought and care toward thee. Through such loving providence alone could the peace of God in which the blessing closes be given.

Put my name upon the children of Israel -  pronounce My Sacred Name over them in blessing them. God will give effect to the benediction pronounced by the priests.

I especially like the Pulpit Commentary on verse 25:
The Lord make his face shine upon thee. The "face" of God is his personality as turned towards man, or else turned away from him. His face hidden or turned away is despair and death; His face turned against man is destruction and death; His face turned upon man in love and mercy is life and salvation. It is to the soul of man what the blessed sun of heaven is to his body.

It may be raining or snowing where you are today.  The world as a whole seems gloomy and dark.  But the face of God still shines.  In the darkest times and darkest places, let His face shine on you!

Repost: ABC Verses

I was searching my blog for something else this morning when I happened on this post from August 2008.  My blog was only a month old at the time.  I'm still in awe that Mom found all these verses without a computer!

Mom loved children and she loved the Word of God. So when she was teaching pre-Kindergarten at the Christian school she came up with a unique way to combine learning letters and learning the Word of God. I found five pages of hand written verses - A through Z. If I remember correctly, the goal was to learn all the verses by the end of the year, quoting them out loud.

It should also be noted that Mom never had a computer or any type of Bible software. She found these verses the old fashioned way - by reading Mom's Bible!!

A - Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: Matthew 7:7

B - But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. John 4:23

C - Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. I Peter 5:7

D - Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart. Psalm 37:4

E - Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts. Proverbs 21:2

F - For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16

G - Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart.

H - Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: Deuteronomy 6:4

I - I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. Psalm 122:1

J - Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. Matthew 22:37

K - Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Psalm 100:3

L - Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD. Psalm 150:6

M - My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. Psalm 121:2

N - Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. Philippians 4:11

O - One Lord, one faith, one baptism, One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all. Ephesians 4:5, 6

P - Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Proverbs 4:26

Q - Quench not the Spirit. I Thessalonians 5:19

R - Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Philippians 4:4

S - Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. Psalm 96:2

T - Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble. James 2:19

U - Use hospitality one to another without grudging. I Peter 4:9

V - Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein. Mark 10:15

W - We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; I Thessalonians 1:2

X - Exalt ye the LORD our God, and worship at his footstool; for he is holy. Psalm 99:5

Y - Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. I John 4:4

Z - Zacchaeus, make haste, and come down; for to day I must abide at thy house. Luke 19:5

His Word Is Enough

Along with studying women of the Bible, I am reading one chapter in the Bible each day.  I read Proverbs with its 31 chapters in January.  This month I'm reading Matthew which has 28 chapters.

While reading Matthew chapter 8 on Friday, I was amazed at the many times Jesus healed or delivered with just His Word.  He touched people, but He also just spoke.

Verse 3 He touched a leper and healed him
Verse 13 He spoke the word to the Centurion and his servant was healed.
Verse 15 He touched Peter's mother-in-law and healed her.
Verse 16 He cast out spirits with His word.
Verse 26 He rebuked the winds and sea and there was a great calm.
Verse 32 He spoke the word and evil spirits came out of two men.

It continues in chapter 9:
Verse 2 He spoke to the one sick of palsy and he arose.
Verse 20 The woman with the issue of blood touched Him and in verse 22 Jesus told her that her faith had made her whole.
Verse 25 He took Jairus' daughter by the hand and she arose
Verse 29 He touched the eyes of two blind men and their eyes were opened

I've been thinking on this and wondering why Jesus chose to touch some and not others.  I think it's a beautiful example of what happens in our lives today.  Sometimes we can feel His presence so strongly.  It's a beautiful, almost indescribable feeling.  It mends broken places in us.  But there are other times we can't feel a thing.  We may see others being touched, but our own spirit feels dry and empty.  It's in those times that we need to turn to His Word.  We need to search the scriptures for the answer to our problem.  We can't rely solely on feelings.

The last couple of days we were in Hawaii it was very rainy.  But after the rain out comes the sun and with it rainbows.  We don't see rainbows often in California, but they are in abundance in Hawaii.  I am always awed when I see them.  They are a reminder of God's promise.  Others may use them for different purposes, but rainbows will always be God's reminder that He keeps His Word.

Just as we were taxiing down the runway on January 31st, I snapped shots of this beauty.  I'm thankful that even when I can't feel it, God is always faithful and His Word is true.

Standing on the Promises

Standing on the promises of Christ my King,
Through eternal ages let His praises ring,
Glory in the highest, I will shout and sing,
 Standing on the promises of God.

Standing, standing,
Standing on the promises of God my Savior;
Standing, standing,
I’m standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises that cannot fail,
When the howling storms of doubt and fear assail,
By the living Word of God I shall prevail,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I now can see
Perfect, present cleansing in the blood for me;
Standing in the liberty where Christ makes free,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises of Christ the Lord,
Bound to Him eternally by love’s strong cord,
Overcoming daily with the Spirit’s sword,
Standing on the promises of God.

Standing on the promises I shall not fall,
List’ning every moment to the Spirit’s call.
Resting in my Savior as my All in all,
Standing on the promises of God.

Let's Make a Deal

I'm continuing my reading in Judges.  Yesterday morning I read chapters 10 and 11.  Chapter 11 contains a very disturbing story:

And Jephthah vowed a vow unto the LORD, and said, If thou shalt without fail deliver the children of Ammon into mine hands,
Then it shall be, that whatsoever cometh forth of the doors of my house to meet me, when I return in peace from the children of Ammon, shall surely be the LORD'S, and I will offer it up for a burnt offering.
So Jephthah passed over unto the children of Ammon to fight against them; and the LORD delivered them into his hands.

And Jephthah came to Mizpeh unto his house, and, behold, his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels and with dances: and she was his only child; beside her he had neither son nor daughter.

I read many commentaries on this story.  They all agreed that this was a vow that Jephthah never should have made.  Since he only had one child, a daughter, the chances of it being either his wife or daughter who came out the door first were pretty high.  I don't know if he had servants, but he probably didn't have a pet dog!  Human sacrifice was never acceptable in God's eyes.

A few weeks ago I posted "Overtaken" and talked about all the promises God made about blessings.  These blessings don't come when we vow a vow.  They come because of obedience. "And it shall come to pass, if thou shalt hearken diligently unto the voice of the Lord thy God, to observe and to do all his commandments which I command thee this day, that the Lord thy God will set thee on high above all nations of the earth."

I Samuel 15:22 says, "And Samuel said, Hath the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."   God isn't a vending machine ~ "If I put this much in, God will drop what I want out."  He's not a genie in a bottle.  God is sovereign.  He reigns.  We need to have faith, but we also need to trust the outcome to Him.

We like to quote Romans 8:28, "And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose."  But we sometimes forget about His purpose.  We must live according to His Word and trust that all things, all good things, all bad things, all hard things, all things will work together for good.  We might not see the good today, but the only deal we can make with God is to hearken diligently to His voice, observe and do His commandments.  He'll keep His end of the deal when we do our part!

The Rock Never Trembled

My devotional on Thursday morning included a short story about a ship that crashed against the rocks in England.  A fifteen year old sailor swam to safety on an offshore rock.  He climbed up and waited all night until he was rescued the next morning.  A reporter interviewed him and commented, "You must have been shaking all night as you clung to that rock."  "Yes," the young sailor replied, "I trembled all night with fear and cold, but the rock never trembled once."

I love the image that paints!  I've been thinking about it since Thursday.  There were a lot of ways I could have gone, but really, there's nothing that can be added.  It just simply is.  No matter the storms that come, the Rock never trembles. 

"The Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower."  (Psalm 18:2)

Fear Not

My Bible reading today came from Proverbs chapter 1, Matthew chapter 10, and Genesis chapter 25.  These passages all talk about fear.  The devotional was about unhealthy fear.  The Greek word commonly used in the New Testament is phobos - from which we get the word phobia.  This is unhealthy fear.  They called it False Evidence Appearing Real.  Unhealthy fears can paralyze us in life. 

I wrote in December 2012 about the curse that came upon mankind as a result of sin.  In Genesis 3:16 the first use of the word "sorrow" is not the same as the second usage.  The second word "sorrow" in the Hebrew is as we would expect - "pain," but the first "sorrow" is actually "worrisomeness."  The curse was twofold - both physical and mental.  I believe as long as we are in this life, we will have to fight this battle of the mind.

In Matthew chapter 6, Jesus says repeatedly "take no thought."  Matthew Henry's commentary says this, "It is the repeated command of the Lord Jesus to his disciples, that they should not divide and pull in pieces their own minds with care about the world. The thought here forbidden is, 1. A disquieting, tormenting thought, which hurries the mind hither and thither, and hangs it in suspense; which disturbs our joy in God, and is a damp upon our hope in him; which breaks the sleep, and hinders our enjoyment of ourselves, of our friends, and of what God has given us. 2. A distrustful, unbelieving thought. God has promised to provide for those that are his all things needful for life."

Isaiah chapter 43:1-7 says:

But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.
When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
For I am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee.
Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been honourable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee, and people for thy life.
Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and gather thee from the west;
I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the earth;
Even every one that is called by my name: for I have created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him.

We will all battle fear, but that is the key - battle!  Don't let fear win.  We have a Redeemer Who is with us.  We are precious in His sight and are greatly loved by Him.  Fear Not!

The One Thing Everyone Needs

I received an email from MyFitnessPal yesterday with a link to an article - "The 1 Thing Everyone Needs to Lose Weight Successfully."  I was curious, because if there was really just one thing that made weight loss successful, none of us would ever be overweight!  The "one thing" wasn't just one thing - but it was the one thing that was unique to the individual when this happens:

You’re going to struggle. You’re going to have bad days. You’re going to eat more than you planned on eating, and you’re going to feel like doing nothing sometimes. It’s not a matter of “if.” It’s “when.” 

When that happens, the author created a fall back plan.  The ONE thing "you are 100% confident you can do, no matter what. It can be a nutrition habit like eating protein at every meal or an easy, 15- to 20-minute workout that moves you toward your goal but requires as much thought as brushing your teeth."  You are still moving towards your goal even after a setback.

Examples of the one thing were:

• 100 kettlebell swings
• eat a vegetable at every meal
• a 20-minute jog or bike ride
• replace one caloric drink with water
• a long walk
• split your dinner out into two meals

I've had my share of setbacks with my weight through the years and I think these are excellent ideas.  But I think this concept is something we can use at Christians in our journey.

You’re going to struggle. You’re going to have bad days. You’re going to be hurt by others, and you’re going to feel like doing nothing sometimes. It’s not a matter of “if.” It’s “when.” 

The ONE Thing we all need is God's Word.  I decided to list some of the one things that come to my mind when facing various situations in life, because life is constantly changing we need more than one verse to get us through.  I am not looking them up or giving references, they won't be perfect quotations, because I want to list things that are deeply rooted:

• David encouraged himself in the Lord.  This is my #1 go to.  I can always turn to God for encouragement.  When others walk away and I'm all alone, I can still encourage myself in the Lord.  He has always been faithful and that will never change.
• Great peace have they which love thy law and nothing shall offend them.
• I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me.
• For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.  God is on our side!  He wants us to be saved.  He gave everything to make this possible.  He isn't sitting up in heaven hoping we'll fail.
• Psalm 73.  This entire Psalm is so helpful to me.  The Psalmist struggled when he saw the prosperity of the wicked, several verses he talked about his despair... until he went into the house of God.  Tough times are not times to stay home from church!
• It is of your mercies that we are not consumed, they are new every morning.  Great is thy faithfulness.
• Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.  There are so many times when a song speaks what my heart needs.

This list could go on and on, but you get the idea!  What's your one thing?

Three Steps To Receiving the Word

Pastor de Sagun from the Big Island preached Sunday night at New Life Pentecostal.  He asked Pastor McGriffin to pray before the message.   There were three things that Pastor McGriffin prayed at the end of his prayer:

God give us:
Ears to a hear,
A heart to receive, and
Willingness to obey 

I had never heard that before, but it is exactly what we need to do when the Word of God preached.  Many have ears to hear, and some even have a heart to receive.  But a willingness to obey is the difference maker for our lives.

We're going to Bible study tonight and I'm taking my Bible, hearing ears, a receiving heart and a spirit of willing obedience!

Marriage Enrichment Retreat

Here are some of the notes I took during our retreat.

Friday night, Bro. Gleason:

A wedding is a snapshot.  A marriage is a movie.  So many focus on the wedding instead of preparing for a lifetime.  Couples either grow together or apart.  There is a problem when one of the couple is only seen in the snapshot.

Don't focus on finding the right person, focus on becoming the right person.  Marriage isn't about you, it's about the person you married.  It's not about taking, it's about giving.  {This is when he talked about change in the pocket.}

Marriage is about Love, Trust and Commitment.  The most important is commitment.

It is not possible to love God and not love your husband or wife.  There are 15 verses in the New Testament the tell us to "love one another."  There are many others that talk about how to treat "one another."

Saturday morning, Bro. Gleason:

I Timothy 3:1-5 says, "This is a true saying, if a man desire the office of a bishop, he desireth a good work. A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach; Not given to wine, no striker, not greedy of filthy lucre; but patient, not a brawler, not covetous; One that ruleth well his own house, having his children in subjection with all gravity; (For if a man know not how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of the church of God?)"

These verses are not just to those who are in the office of a bishop - they are the qualifications for someone who is used by God.  Leading a family is a proving ground for being used of God.

Even the most shy person has the potential to impact ten thousand people in their lifetime.

Bro. Gleason talked about his parents and how they raised four children and kept a marriage together for over 50 years:

• They modeled the behavior of Jesus Christ - everywhere.  Not just at church, but in the home, in the car, on the job.  Everywhere.
• They had dinner together as a family.
• They had family prayer every Saturday morning after breakfast.  No one was going anywhere until they had family prayer.

When Bro. Gleason's father was dying, they gathered as a family.  They didn't waste time apologizing for past hurts - those had already been taken care of.  There was peace and blessings from their patriarch.

Saturday morning, Sis. Gleason - "The Blessing of Giving Honor"

We dishonor with our words and actions.  If a wife fails to submit, she reverses God's order.  Submission is not a dictatorship.  The opposite of a submissive wife is a dominant wife.  A submissive wife builds up her husband and his leadership.

Helpmeet is your other self.  You complete each other.  There are designated roles for each spouse, we were created as a team with different roles.

In Genesis when Noah and his family entered the ark they went in Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons' wives.  When it was time to leave the ark, God said in Genesis 8:16 "Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons' wives with thee."  But in verse 18 we see that "Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him."

Our priority must be God first, husband/wife second, and children third.  By having his sons go second, Noah did not honor his wife as they left the ark.

1 Chronicles 16:27 says, "Glory and honour are in his presence."  Make the home a place for God's presence.

Ways to honor the family:
Have dinner together.  Set the table with flowers and nice dishes, have soft music playing.  This lets the family know they are special.
Have prayer together.
Celebrate birthdays.
Take vacations together.
Have family gatherings.
Have a tradition that belongs to your family.
Guard your time together - phones need to be off, especially at the dinner table!

Saturday evening - Banquet and Fellowship
We enjoyed a fun time of fellowship and a delicious Hawaiian meal of Kalua pork, teriyaki chicken, rice, purple sweet potatoes and veggies.

A number of door prizes were given out during the retreat - Les and I won a gift card to Ruby Tuesday - Date Night!

Bro. Gleason had several questions that were turned in.  He said the best book on marriage is the Bible.  Many of the questions were "Why does my husband... ?"  "It's a guy thing!"  We are created differently - men are like waffles, women are like spaghetti!

This was a wonderful time.  I believe every couple in attendance (35 couples total) went home blessed and ready to make their marriage better than ever.  I, for one, want to keep putting change in Les' pockets!

The Ultimate Battle

I enjoyed the holidays, but I sure did miss mid-week Bible Study!  We had a special New Years service on Saturday night, but hadn't had our Tuesday night service in a few weeks.  Pastor McGriffin started a new series about The Ultimate Battle - The Battle of the Mind.

Philippians 2:3-8 "Let nothing be done through strife or vainglory; but in lowliness of mind let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:  But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:  And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross."

To win the battle of the mind we need to develop and maintain the mind of Christ.  We are bombarded daily - it's a territorial battle that is never ending.  Developing the mind of Christ will allow us to have a daily God consciousness.  God won't force you down the right path.  He will nudge you, and when you're thinking is like His you will follow His path.

Whoever controls the mind, controls the body.  The fiery darts (Ephesians 6:16) are not targeted at your feet, they are targeted at your mind.  Satan is a master at making himself sound good.  No truth comes out of Satan's mouth.

How can you tell the difference between truth and a lie?  Know what the Book says!  Be a student of the Word. If all you get is what comes from the pulpit, you will not win the battle of the mind.  You have to get into the Word for yourself.

The mind of Christ will never deviate from His Word.  If your thought process does not line up to the Word, that means your thoughts are being controlled by the enemy.  When your thoughts are controlled by Satan, you will be led in the wrong direction, away from God.  God will always take you to a higher place.  The devil never leads you up - he always brings you down.  Any path away from God is a path downward.

You have to be on guard. Guard your mind.  Put up signs, build a fence around your mind, don't let the devil influence your thinking.  2 Peter 1:13 says, "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind."

God does not intend for you to be happy and victorious only at church.  It's easy to shout and smile when everyone else is.  God wants you to be full of peace, full of love, full of joy - all the time!  God wants us to enjoy our salvation, to rejoice in the Lord always!

Too many Christians who don't have a clue how to enjoy Jesus.  Many live with a "dos and don'ts" mentality, always looking for a list of what to do and not do.  There are clear principles in God's Word, when they are in your heart you will have true joy.   Jesus in Matthew 11:30 said "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." When you live for God hard, it is easy.  When you live for God easy, it is hard.

When the battle of the mind is on, and you're losing, you must go back to what you use to be.  When you're losing the battle your spiritual perceptiveness is not what is use to be.  When you give up the battle of the mind it is called backsliding.

When you are walking with Christ daily and you start slipping, you will know it.  When the old man is resurrected you need to re-gird your mind. When the children of Israel were told to gird themselves, that meant they secured their clothing so they would be ready to escape or move quickly.  Clothes left ungirded hindered movement and were dangerous.

If your mind is scattered, not under control, you cannot move swiftly in the Spirit.  To gird up is to take control of your mind.  You can gird up your mind.  You have to learn to control your thought life.  The enemy is committed to telling you things that tear down your mind.  He wants to sow seeds of doubt.  He tried it with Jesus, he will try it with you.

The way to gird your mind is to understand what causes it to be un-girded.

1. Pleasure Seeking.  Only living from one experience to the next.  You will never find enough fun.
2. Worldly Entertainment.
3. Aimless and Frivolous Reading.
4. Bad Associations - A person who has lost their fear of judgment and God will do everything in their power to make sin look good.  They have no conviction.  Find someone who is spiritually edifying to associate with.
5. Neglected Bibles - the Bible is God's thoughts on paper.  When you read God's Word, you are going to think about what God wants you to think about.  When the Word of God loses its appeal, you are putting yourself in a position for the enemy to play with your mind.
6. Neglected Prayer Life.  If you're not a praying person, you shouldn't be making any major decisions.  A neglected prayer life is an open door to the mind.
7. Careless Church Attendance - coming to church puts you in a better position to win the battle of the mind.

How to gird your mind:

1. Have a High and Determined Purpose in Life.  Know where you're going and concentrate on that goal.
2. Quick Decisions to do the Right Thing - lingering in decisions is a sign of an un-girded mind.
3. Love for the Truth - we will sleep better when we go to sleep with God's thoughts.
4. Have a Prayer Life - we cannot do it on our own.  Through God's Spirit we can pull down thoughts (2 Corinthians 10:3-5) and gird up the loins of our minds.

I do have the ability - through Christ - to win the battle for the mind!

Great Peace

Hau'oli Makahiki Hou!  That's a lot more fun to say than Happy New Year!  I hope you're starting this year off right.  I went for an early morning run.  I have found the perfect place for running prayer - Tantalus Mountain.  It's very distracting and busy when I run in Waikiki and around Diamond Head, but when I head to the mountain, it's peaceful.  I enjoyed a good run and a great talk with Jesus this morning.  I think running is a great time to hear from God - I'm too out of breath to do much talking.

I began a new Bible Reading plan this morning.  It has readings from the Old and New Testament, Psalms and Proverbs each day.  I didn't read my Bible all the way through last year and have every intention of doing it this year!

For the last couple of days, I have thought about a verse for 2014.  I asked God about it.  I don't expect Him to reveal what 2014 will hold, but this verse has been rolling in my brain and I thought I'd study it out a bit:

"Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them."  Psalm 119:65

We don't have to look far to find things that offend us.  Open up your favorite news website or newspaper.  This world is full of offensive things.  Jesus said "offences will come."  It's unavoidable.  When you walk through the door of your place of employment, or your school, or your church, you are walking into a place where you may be offended.  Relationships end because one party has offended the other.  Lawsuits occur because of offences.

How can we have great peace when we are being bombarded?  One commentator put it remarkably well:

Great peace have they -  They have great calmness of mind. They are not troubled and anxious. They believe and feel that all things are well-ordered by thee, and will be conducted to the best result. They, therefore, calmly leave all with thee. As a matter of fact, the friends of God have peace and calmness in their minds, even amidst the troubles, the disappointments, and the reverses of life. The love of God is the best - the only - way to secure permanent peace in the soul.
Which love thy law - It is the love of law, and the belief that the law of God is in accordance with justice, that gives peace to their minds. God’s government is a government of law, and therefore it is loved.
And nothing shall offend them - “They shall have no stumbling-block.” Hebrew, “And to them no stumbling,” or stumbling-block. The meaning here is, that they would not fall into sin; they would be kept safe; they would be preserved from the power of temptation. The meaning is not, as it would seem to be in our version, that nothing would pain, grieve, or irritate them; but, as above, that as long as they were obedient to the law, and disposed to obey it, they would be safe from the power of temptation.

My number one goal for 2014 is to:

Love His Law, so that
I will have Great Calmness of Mind;
Leaving it All in God's Hands,
I will be Kept Safe, and
Nothing will Cause Me to Stumble!

Rainbow Reminder

"I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth." Genesis 9:13

I never get tired of seeing rainbows.  We had a quick storm that blew through this morning and the result was this beautiful rainbow!  God never breaks His promise.  "And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth."  Genesis 9:16.

I have seen more rainbows in the past nine months than I have in years.  I think it's God's way of reminding me that He knows where I am.  This has been a year of change, uncertainty, sorrow, joy, and adventure.  But God's peace has been with me and His bow in the cloud reminds me of an everlasting covenant that He will not break.

Romans 8:35-39 "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.  Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.  For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,  Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Has a storm blown through your life recently?  You can KNOW that God hasn't forgotten you, He knows right where you are.  The clouds will break, the sun will shine again, and you'll see His bow in the cloud.

Hawaii District Family Camp

Friday night we were privileged to attend the last night of camp at the Pu'u Kahea Conference Center.  Getting through Friday night traffic on Oahu is a lot like Los Angeles, but it was worth it!  Service was held in the Meeting Tent, with a wonderful breeze blowing in.

The children had service in the Upper Room, but sang a song at the beginning of service.  If I remember correctly, at least five received the Holy Ghost for the first time during camp!

The ocean breeze felt great, but "suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind" and God's Spirit was in that place!  We were singing "Whose Report Will You Believe?"  The song leader told everyone to hold up their Bibles - that is the report to believe!  God's Spirit moved in an incredible way!

Bro. Jeff Morgan preached an amazing message entitled "The Power of God's Word in Your Mouth."  When WE speak His Word, powerful things happen.  Great things are going to happen when we speak His word with confidence, knowing that whatsoever we bind on earth is bound in heaven, and whatsoever we loose on earth is loosed in heaven!  Mountains will move when we speak.  They were created by the spoken word of God, so when we speak His Word, even the mountains recognize it!

Bro. Morgan told the Hawaii district, "You are no longer immature Christians, but Sons of God!  It's time for great things to happen in the Hawaiian Islands."