What Goes in Must Come Out

 Matthew 15: 10-19

10 And he called the people to him and said to them, “Hear and understand: 11 it is not what goes into the mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of the mouth; this defiles a person.” 12 Then the disciples came and said to him, “Do you know that the Pharisees were offended when they heard this saying?” 13 He answered, “Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be rooted up. 14 Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.” 15 But Peter said to him, “Explain the parable to us.” 16 And he said, “Are you also still without understanding? 17 Do you not see that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is expelled? 18 But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 20 These are what defile a person. But to eat with unwashed hands does not defile anyone.”

I read these words and I honestly have to wonder... why couldn't the disciples understand this teaching?   To me it seems so obvious.

What goes in must come out. 

Makes sense right? 

I am reading a book right now in which one of the characters is a severely obese man.  He died. His wife and children are both thin and loved this man whole-heartedly.  He loved deeply his wife said.  He hated that he was fat, but he loved eating too much. She continued talking about how much he hated his love of eating but was unsuccessful in figuring out how not to eat so much.  So what he ate... came out.. in excess fat.   In someways, I struggle with the same thing!  I do love food dearly... so this passage reminds me that I need to do better. 

But that's not where this passage stops.   Jesus is just using it to make the point.  What does in must come out. 

If what is coming out is foul... what does that say for what it going in? 

The way a person speaks and lives out their lives shows what is going into their lives, or perhaps more clearly, it shows what they are focusing on. What their heart is sending out comes out of one's mouth.  As Jesus puts it: For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. 

It's a fight isn't it? To be mindful of those evil thoughts and more.  

This is my fight too!

I'll admit that I had to fight against that today. It caught me off guard how long I considered it.  I saw a coat I liked at Talize but was rather unimpressed with the price.  YES.. it was a fair amount for a good quality used coat, but it's been an expensive month and I felt like I couldn't catch a break.  I consider swapping out price tags!   Can you believe it?  Would have been easy enough...but I caught those way-ward thoughts. And I did not let them come to fruition. 

WHY?  Why did I stop myself?  1. I don't want to be a thief and 2. I had just read about planning out my day.   Would that be something I would want to plan????  NOT!!!!   It's not something I would want to be known for either. 

As I left Talize I thought about how God blessed me with letting me find this coat.  I need a good work outside with the rabbits coats as my old $5 coat from years ago.  AND if I stopped and thought about it... of course the price of coats would go up in 10 years wouldn't they?

What Does one do?

The only way you can fight what's in our hearts is by filling our hearts with something else!  That's it. Just as we can fight what we put in our mouths... so if we like to eat we food we just need to switch it out for lower calorie food and eat more slowly.  :) 

If we want to change what fills our heart we need to provide some competition so to speak.  We are naturally filled with sin and working (as believers) to be filled more with the things of God allows those things to come out of our hearts instead. 

How does one invite more impact from God?  Daily devotions, attending a faithful church where God's word is preached, reading books of faith, having friends who love God, and taking the time to see God in the things of life.   

What do you pull out of this passage? 

To Have Dominion

 Today's passage is from Genesis 1:28-31 and reads as follows from the ESV

28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

God blessed Adam and Eve when he first created them.  For some reason I read those words and I wonder.... did they recognize the importance... or perhaps the wonder of being blessed by God?   

I know that my life is fairly good.  God has richly blessed me in many ways. And you know what?   I often fail to recognize it.  I just take my life for granted in WAY too many ways.   I don't stop to seriously consider what if my fellow died?  What if something horrible happened to my lad?  What if our house burned down?   I just blithely go along not seeing God's richest blessings upon my life.   I need to stop doing that. 

But what else does God say in this passage?

The first people are to be fruitful and multiply.  There's a huge world to populate!  Within that command there is also the addendums of "subdue it, have dominion over it". 

He is also very clear.   All plants... tree, green plants, any plant with seed...it's ours to eat.  All the animals could eat them too! 

So why then do we eat meat?   This is not a vegetarian/vegan/meat-eaters debate.  It's a solid question of why?  The short answer is sin.  Sin changed everything, more profoundly I think that we can even imagine.  Plants don't do enough anymore for us, and for many many animals that walk upon the earth.. plants simply aren't enough.  Look at the obligate carnivores like cats!  I wonder sometimes what cats were like before the fall of mankind.  Because I can't imagine my Lizzy being a plant-eater.... Benji maybe cause he literally eats whatever I put in front of him.  :)   But Lizzy is a bit more discerning.... she likes meat!  And her body (as is Benji's) is designed to eat meat.  So it just shows how sin affects on the cellular level doesn't it? 

All that is as it is.  My mind just can't conceive of a pre-sin world and what it would have looked like.  I do know that one day God says, the lion will lie down with the lamb, in peace.  Rather cool eh?

In the meantime... we're to fill the earth and subdue it.   We are to have dominion over it.  Dominion is like to rule you know?  Which means you are higher in authority, in a position to subdue. 

There are lots of ways to subdue you know?

You can beat something into submission or one manipulate and coerce into obedience/submission.  A person can show the benefits in a relationship to make a mutually beneficial status.

For instance lately on my facebook video feed these videos of people working with horses pop up.  People who take the time to listen to their horse (some of them rather scary dangerous) and by doing so, they are able to transform that horse into a gentled animal.  A horse that has been subdued without force.  Its very amazing to see the change in that animals' demeanor.   It doesn't change the fact that the horse is owned by a person, or at the very least under the control (or dominion) of someone. But the relationship is not one of fear, but of cooperation. 

Is that how we are to have dominion?   Do we take a forceful determined approach?  This is what I want and I'll get it however I want?  Or does one take the time to seriously look at the world around us and say, okay, to get to point A, I'll need to do a number of things to get to where I want.  It might take longer, but will be better in the long run for not only the earth but the people using it?  

I think too often we'd rather cut a path straight through a mountain instead of working with the landscape around us, instead of trying to accommodate the animals who share our space.   

Or I think about me and my bunnies.  Did you know there are as many different ways to raise rabbits as there are people raising them?  There are commonalities of course, but in the end, each person makes their rabbit herd work for them.   Some like a colony style, others like individual habitats for each rabbit, and yet others do a combination.  Various feeding styles, watering systems, and out-buildings (or lack thereof) make for some interesting discussions on rabbit boards.   Yet we all have one purpose right?  To make our rabbits comfortable so they want to provide an end product that suits our needs.  This I think is part of the "to have dominion" that God talks about.  

These are just some of my thought processes today.  They've meandered around a bit, but I think I have a deeper understanding of this passage now eh? 

How about you?  What strikes you in this passage?   How do you see the directive to "“Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion"?

Numbering our Days

Psalm 90:9-12

 For all our days pass away under your wrath;

    we bring our years to an end like a sigh.
10 The years of our life are seventy,
    or even by reason of strength eighty;
yet their span is but toil and trouble;
    they are soon gone, and we fly away.
11 Who considers the power of your anger,
    and your wrath according to the fear of you?

12 So teach us to number our days
    that we may get a heart of wisdom.

What does it mean to number our days?

I've been pondering this verse over the course of the day.  The devotional I read with this basically said we need to be thoughtful about our days, reminiscing over the day spent and thinking through how you can make improvements.  Through doing that, you gain wisdom.  I can see the value in this viewpoint.  Learning from your mistakes is an excellent way to gain wisdom. 

But I think about the whole wisdom aspect from the book of Proverbs, about how wisdom is gained through a relationship with God and understanding his word.  

So then I'm thinking about how our lives are like a sigh.  A bit of a breath and then we are gone, and God himself wants us to make the most of them.

So shouldn't numbering our days mean more than just being reflective and trying to change based on our history?   Shouldn't numbering our days mean we should be intentional about what we do?  What we learn?  How we act?  Looking forward to a longer-term picture? Being intentional about spending actual time with God? 

It's so easy to just let things slide you know?  To forget to pray before a meal, to promise to pray for a friend and then forgetting, and to watch TV, or youtube, or whatever and not follow up with family and friends.  To think that volunteering somewhere covers for all the slights that you do in life.   So just perhaps we need to be deliberate about looking at what we do with our days.  Deliberate about not wasting our moment of breath. 

I'm listening to a book right now about a young man with a goal... he wants to save his brother.  To do so he'll have to meet a number of challenges... none of them easy, so he's taking time to think about what his next move should be.  Who should he get to know who can help him in his quest?  What books and course of study does he need to take?  

So when I read these words from Psalms I can see this young man clearly in my mind.  Carefully planning out his days even though he knows there will be blips in his journey.  Can he work hard enough to overcome those blips?

What about me?  Do I look to the future?  I know my end goal is glory with Christ in heaven.  I know that.  And sometimes I am too complacent about it...and at others a bit of a doubting Thomas... but really, I know that's my goal.  So maybe I should be more deliberate about working out my faith eh?   To spend more time with God and to read so more books like Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund. Perhaps I need to do something more... and that will require some thought... deliberate thought, a planning out of my days. 

Can't say I'm feeling up for the challenge today.  Tired and all that after a busy day.  But tomorrow.... that I can plan out.  Time for a verse or four in the morning.  A chance to ponder and write.   Time with my fellow and boy.   It's enough for a start eh?

The Significance of a Lamb

 Starting up this blog again as a way to keep track of thoughts.

Scripture today: 

Luke 2:8-14

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. 10 And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying,

14 “Glory to God in the highest,

and on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!”

So the other day, while browsing facebook, I saw a meme talking about how in Old Testament times lambs that were unblemished would be wrapped up and placed in a manger for safe keeping.

So when the shepherds heard about a baby all swaddled up and laying in a manger they would immediately grasp the significance of this.

I have to admit to some skepticism. Would they be amazed at a baby lying swaddled in a manger? Would they immediately have that connotation of an unblemished lamb? Or would their amazement simply have been due to angels having visited them. Being told not to be afraid and to head off to see a newborn baby? Wouldn't that fact alone supercede any other thoughts? Angels came! Angels, terrifying creations of God himself, came to visit humble shepherds out doing their job.

These scary beings told them to go see a baby. Not only that... after the angels told them this a whole host of heavenly beings came praising God audibly. This was not an everyday occurrence for these shepherds. One would think that would be enough to get them off their butts and heading to town to see this baby, this sign from God of a Saviour born to them.

Perhaps those three events together... the angels coming, the heavenly beings praising God, and the baby lying like a swaddled unblemished lamb would put it all into perspective. But the baby alone? That I don't know. Mind... I'm not living in Old Testament times so I don't know exactly how immediately that significance would be grasped.

It did add an extra element of understanding to me though. That those small details show God's glory all the more.

Makes me wonder.... what small details in my life show God's glory?

I'm typing this on a new laptop. My old one died rather spectacularly. So I have a new laptop, and my hubster got my old one to work well enough for HIS needs. So in essence, we both got a new laptop for the price of one. He's needed a new one for a while so it's good that he has one now eh? God at work... if one looks for it eh?

So what small details in your life have shown you God's Glory lately?

2 Corinthians 3:17-21 - day by day

2 Corinthians 3:17-21 (ESV)
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.

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.

Have you ever seriously read the beginning of this chapter?   Where Paul is SO confident in the work he is doing in the Spirit that he sees the Corinthians church as a letter of recommendation?  "You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all."  I read that and it was like wow... what kinds of letters of recommendation do I have in my life?   Where is my confidence in the work that I do?   Do I even have that confidence that Paul has?  Paul is very clear though, his confidence is confidence not in himself but in the work that GOD himself does.    i have to admit it,... I struggle with that.   Though I am getting better!   The more I learn to trust God more deeply, the more I learn to be confident in the work that God is doing in my life and in my family and in my community.   It feels like a painfully show process though.

As I went on through the chapter, reading to get to the verses of the day it became abundantly clear to me why reading verses in context helps make sense of them.   Today's verses talk about God being spirit, and in the spirit of the Lord there is freedom and we can come with unveiled faces to behold the glory of the Lord and that God is transforming us.

Now the whole unveiled faces thing would NOT have made an impact on me if I hadn't just read through Pauls explanation of the difference in how we can approach God and how MOSES had to approach God.  Moses needed to veil his face before the Glory of God, but we don't need to.   We have a boldness that Moses didn't have, but we are functioning under a different revelation.For if there was glory in the ministry of condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory.  We live under righteousness.Not death, not condemnation...but under righteousness...that's what Christ's death did for us.     And through it, God is transforming me.   His Spirit moves within me causes me to be someone different than I was years ago.   Isn't that cool?   He is the one helping me to grow and to change, to see more of him than I used to.  

Just consider these verses 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. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.  The veil is removed!   God has given us so much more.    Get to know him folks, see that there is so much more to life than what you've known before.  :)

What does Chuck have to say about these verses?  um.. well.. he talked about his marriage and reaching the stage of transcendent love.   Which didn't resonate with me AT ALL.  it was like what in the world does this have to do with the passage?   ah... Just made a realization... we talking on different passages.. I HATE MY EYES getting old.   I was SUPPOSED to look at 2 Corinthians 5:17-21!17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 18 All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; 19 that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. 20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21  For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.    Chucks' words still don't resonate with me in regards to this passage beyond the fact that the Lordship of Christ in their marriage was a pivotal part.

Prayer... when is it important

The other day hubby and I were talking, and he mentioned how he hasn't been sleeping well lately, so I asked him if he'd prayed about it.   His response was that it wasn't a matter of prayer as nothing was bugging him, it was just a pattern he's gotten into lately of not sleeping through the night.

I have to admit to feeling bothered by that.

God has been ramming down my throat lately about the need to trust him more implicitly with EVERYTHING in my life.  He reminds that I often fail to pray about homeschooling, about the rabbits, about my tiredness, about my lack of exercise or willpower with food, my fear of appearing foolish to my friends or neighbours about my growing concern to love them better and to show them God more clearly in my actions and words. 

So when it comes to something as fundamental as our ability to sleep (which affects our relations with family, our ability to work well and clearly) it's like why isn't that a matter to bring before God?

Just because you can't track down why you are in an unhealthy pattern of sleep, doesn't mean that God doesn't want us to talk to him about it.

Even as I write these words I can feel myself convicted of all the times I have taken that same approach, God won't care if I don't talk to him about that.  If I just continue to go my own way and lean on my own understanding of a situation.  But that's not what God wants of me.

he wants me to trust in him, to lean on him, to not just see my own wisdom.

Proverbs 3 tells us

⁵  Trust in the Lord with all your heart,
    and do not lean on your own understanding.
⁶ In all your ways acknowledge him,
    and he will make straight your paths.
⁷  Be not wise in your own eyes;
     fear the Lord, and turn away from evil.
⁸ It will be healing to your flesh
    and refreshment to your bones.

The more I see God, the less I fret.

What in your life causes you to fret?   
How can you learn to lean more on God and less on yourself?
Talk to God more, trust yourself less.

Day by Day - Nehemiah 1-6

day by day by Charles Swindoll

Nehemiah 1-6

before we get into my take on these chapters I would like to take a moment to point out what Mr. Swindoll had to say.

He points out this is a section that should be required reading for all leaders.

1. Nehemiah had a passion for the project
2. He had an unswerving confidence in God.
3. He had the ability to motivate others
4. He was resilient and patient through opposition
5. He had a practical, balanced grip on reality
6. He had a willingness tow work hard and remain unselfish
7. He had the discipline to finish  the job.

Good points, good things for those in leadership, or contemplating leadership to consider.

When I read through this section of the bible I was struck by Nehemiah's humbleness before God evidenced in his prayer.

  ⁵ And I said, “O Lord God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, ⁶  let your ear be attentive and your eyes open, to hear the prayer of your servant that I now pray before you day and night for the people of Israel your servants, confessing the sins of the people of Israel, which we have sinned against you. Even I and my father's house have sinned. ⁷  We have acted very corruptly against you and have not kept the commandments, the statutes, and the rules that you commanded your servant Moses. ⁸ Remember the word that you commanded your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the peoples, ⁹  but if you return to me and keep my commandments and do them, though your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there I will gather them and bring them to the place that I have chosen, to make my name dwell there.’ ¹⁰  They are your servants and your people, whom you have redeemed by your great power and by your strong hand. ¹¹ O Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of your servant, and to the prayer of your servants who delight to fear your name, and give success to your servant today, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.”

Nehemiah hears of the sad state of the temple in Jerusalem and his first thought is to confess the sins of the people to God.    He praises God for being who he is and then says Oh God...Forgive us your wayward people.   I read these words and I stand convicted.   how Often I KNOW that I am in the wrong and I don't want to admit it.   And yet this passage calls me to so much more.   It calls me all the more to trust in God.   To acknowledge him in all my ways.

Having talked with God about the matter he went before the king and asked permission to rebuild the temple.   That permission was given.  Throughout the whole process though, Nehemiah talked with God.    He prayerfully gathered up the workers needed, he dealt with the opposition, and he set to work.   They were threatened while doing so, so they prayed to God, set a guard and got the job done.   Throughout it all Nehemiah took the time to correct bad things the people were doing.   And so Nehemiah did everything in 52 days, talking with God the whole time.

Makes me think of how little I give of my day to God, how little I fail to talk to him about everything, and how often my prayers seem so dutiful.   May my prayers and conversations with  God be heartfelt and humble, and a good way to show how much he does indeed mean to me.

How much does God mean to you?   Do you know him personally?   Does God really matter to you in your daily life?   Email if you have questions, please. :)  I'd love to help you know him better.

Christian Carnival

this week's christian carnival in random order.

What Constitutes a "Real University?" is given to us by Chris over at American Church History. 

I watched Bill Maher a few times many years ago, so I did not actually watch the show under discussion. Maher, an evangelical atheist, complained about Mitt Romney giving a talk at Liberty University because "a) he's a liar and b) Liberty University isn't really a university." Maher is at some level a comedian, but on another level his speech is often hate-filled toward those he disagrees with. He complains about people of faith who want to spread their ideas and beliefs, yet he does not shy away from sharing his ideas and beliefs.

The Olympic Flame presented by Ridge of Ridge's Blog.

 When I looked at how strategic and important these people believe the Olympic flame is, how carefully they treat it, I began to think how flippant I am about the Holy Spirit."

The Slipping Value of Life shows up via Russ homed at Thinking in Christ. 

If an alien dropped into one of the super zips today, what would he think about the value we place on life?

 Blood and Death comes to us by way of Greg at InFaith's Mission Blog. 

While we were studying the life of King David in the Old Testament at Bible club, one girl said to me, “Why are there so many killings and so much blood in these stories?”
Indeed, nearly every story had someone dying a violent death: Goliath and other Philistines, Saul and his sons, Eli’s sons, Amalekites and their king, Uriah the Hittite, Uzzah who touched the Ark of the Covenant, and others that we did not even mention in the stories. I replied, “These are not myths or fairy tales. They are real history. We are telling you truth here, not make believe.” 

Prayers for Meetings is presented by Michael at Prayers for Special Help. 

Here is a collection of prayers for meetings that I've put together. It is good to have a few prayers prepared if you're hosting a prayer group, bible study, or church get together.

Then sings my soul is brought to us by Charis at Charis: Subject to Change.   

It's a simple message really; Love the Lord, love your neighbour.

Safe Church given by Diane at Crossroads. 

 Maybe we should look at the old legalism, but do it with a new spirit to make church safer.

 How to Be Prepared for an Insurance Claim shown to us by Jocelin at One Money Design.   

Follow these tips to help you be prepared in case you need to file a claim with your home or auto insurance. You can start by making sure you have a...

 Waiting for the Clouds to Move by Dan at keyboard theologians.  

"While I was reading Robinson I did find some of my efforts to enjoy the sun being thwarted by clouds."

Should Parents Pay Children an Allowance? by Jason at One Money Design. 

My wife and I have started to get more serious about teaching our children principles of stewardship by providing opportunities for them to earn money and use give, save spend banks.

THE ALCHEMIST: REAL OR FOOL’S GOLD? submitted by Paul over at Paul Kuritz: Opinions. 

Does Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist belong in the Christian literary canon?

 Windows of Wisdom: Proverbs 10:1-6 by Annette at Fish and Cans.

 Back and forth sayings.   I like these.  :)  Shows the differences between actions and hearts and how they have an affect.