My apologies

Sorry folks that I haven't been around much.

why haven't I?

1. I've had sick bunnies for the past bit, that's been eating up some of my time and energy.

2. It's summer...I've other things to do. :)

3. Been tired....just ever so tired...need to get to bed on time, need to stop being busy, need to....oh so many things. :)

4. this week's been VBS for the boy child which means leaving EARLY in the morning (for him 9 a.m. is early takes him a good hour to get going usually)

Anyways, next week we're on holidays. Hopefully will prove to be more restful for Jim. We'll be in the T.O. area, seeing sites, relaxing, visiting friends hopefully. Should be fun, but means I won't be here either.

Thinking I'll put Hebrews on hold. Got an interesting book from Jim's mom which has captured my interest. Think I'll be sharing my thoughts on it, and hopefully getting feedback from you all about it as well.

Cheers!

Something new for the boy to watch

Justin apparently loves this.



I just think...ACK!!! he's doing this on a road with cars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This post will make 1003

Hmm.... I didn't realize it until today.

I've made 1000 posts on this blog.

Cool. :)

I've learned lots.
Met some interesting people.

Just cool.

Quietness

It was fun last night.....

Jim worked on the car.

Called me out of the backyard. Annette, come listen.

I came out, I said What? I don't hear anything.

The car is running.

It was! It was quiet...VERY quiet. I actually had to double check that it was running.

Yahoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Power of Christ's Word

Okay, today we start one of the bigger books of the New Testament. I have to admit, I'm feeling a bit daunted. Summer time is always the hardest time for me to stay regular with devotions. So much to do, schedules are all different and it's hard sometimes to keep it all balanced. So starting Hebrews in the summer means having to try somehow to keep focused on a big book! :) But hey, we'll give her a go and comments are always welcome throughout. Let's see what we can learn.

Paul is thought to be the writer even though nothing explicitly states it. It was part of early church history and that shouldn't be discounted.

There is no particular audience it seems to me that it was directed toward. Just to believers to help them grow in their faith and understand more of God. Though there is a subscript at the end that says it was written to the "Hebrews". Just which church, or which people is still a subject for debate. So it was written to Jewish believers of the Christian faith. It's good to have that for context.

So it's a book for scholars and historians to debate, but it is also a book, that as part of the inspired word of God, is there for us to learn from.

I do know that it starts differently than all the other books we've done so far. This is a chapter that shows how Christ is superior to other messengers from God: prophets and angels.

1Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.

How's that for a sermon start? :)

The author gives us a bit of a history about how God has been working.
First through prophets.
Now through his son.

Who is his son?

• appointed to be heir
• heir to all things
• through his son, God created the world
• he is the radiance of God's glory
  
• is exactly the same as God in his nature
• he upholds the universe by the word of his power
• made purification for our sins
• Sits on the right hand of Majesty
• is Superior to angels since the name he inherited is greater than theirs.

Does that all make sense to me the first time I read it? No. :)
We know the Christ Jesus our Lord is God's son. This fact itself makes Christ better than the prophets. Then he talks about what God has done through his son, and what his son controls. None of the prophets can match this. In this first section he also starts to talk about how Jesus is better than the angels as well.

Here's what Matthew Henry has to say (courtesy of e-sword):

The glory of his office, and that in three respects: - [1.] God hath appointed him to be heir of all things. As God, he was equal to the Father; but, as God - man and Mediator, he was appointed by the Father to be the heir of all things, the sovereign Lord of all, the absolute disposer, director, and governor of all persons and of all things, Psa_2:6, Psa_2:7. All power in heaven and earth is given to him; all judgment is committed to him, Mat_28:18; Joh_5:22. [2.] By him God made the worlds, both visible and invisible, the heavens and the earth; not as an instrumental cause, but as his essential word and wisdom. By him he made the old creation, by him he makes the new creature, and by him he rules and governs both. [3.] He upholds all things by the word of his power: he keeps the world from dissolving. By him all things consist. The weight of the whole creation is laid upon Christ: he supports the whole and all the parts. When, upon the apostasy, the world was breaking to pieces under the wrath and curse of God, the Son of God, undertaking the work of redemption, bound it up again, and established it by his almighty power and goodness. None of the ancient prophets sustained such an office as this, none was sufficient for it.

Christ's word alone runs the world.
Can you imagine it? I can't even really conceive of it. To have that kind of power that YOUR WORD ALONE runs things? I can see in a company a boss man having that final authority, but we're talking the world and all it's complexities. Here rain, there sun, then we'll give an earthquake there, and over there smooth seas. We'll manage the animals, the people, the plants and so on and so forth. It's a huge undertaking, and Christ speaks, and so the world is.

I need to sit with that for a while. I"ll be back hopefully Monday. :) lots to think about here.

Philemon closes

The last time we met we learned that Paul was making a hard request of Philemon. To take back into his household, or at least into his group of people, a runaway slave who had been discontent and useless to him. He was being asked to take Paul's word that Onesimus was a completely different person.

I think it would be hard to do. I would have so many reservations about it. But at the same time, Paul was so eminently respected in the Christian world, Philemon might have been happy to obey this request of Paul's.

Today we come to the last couple of verses:

21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.

23 Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, 24and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.

25 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.

Paul was confident that Philemon would be obedient to this asking, and even do more than he asked. Makes me wonder if Paul expected Philemon to not just welcome Onesimus back but if he hoped that Philemon would once again make Onesimus part of his household. But those are just wonderings. :)

We should as believers welcome new believers into our lives, our households, our churches. Not drive them away because of what used to bes. But to see them as the useful people they now are. Useful to God himself.

The last two verses are standard closings for Paul. He extends greetings and prays a blessing on him. "the grace of the Lord be with your spirit."

Making Progress

Yesterday was a good productive day around here.

Got laundry done, got the cold storage cleaned out and I got the garage cleaned out. Three big jobs....assisted by a boy who had a nap in the afternoon.

I even had time to podge a cat box with Justin. :) Justin kept saying 'podging fun' 'painting mom?' and when we were done "these painting (the sticks) need be kept safe" "i put them here mom for little while". He happily went to bed not even having ice cream! :) A pudding cup was good tonight.

Jim went to the dentist, and then did some visiting, did some good research for sermons, and mostly fixed the muffler on my car. A gasket decided to break so Jim took the opportunity to take it all off, fix the gasket and then re-weld the previously broken part so it will hold better.

I was beat so went up to bed at 1030, only to be kept awake by banging in the kitchen. Came down this morning to a cleaned up kitchen. Wow...isn't my hubby helpful?

Today my plans are to clean out the walk in closet, and tackle the book room. If I have time I'll put up a couple shelves in the walk in closet so we have more places to put things up off the floor. Might even toss out some old shoes. :) One never knows what one finds when closets are tidied. Maybe I'll vacuum the whole main floor too, but not until the closet is cleaned, no point doing it twice! :)

Anyways, off to take the dog for a short walk, she bunged up her leg again yesterday and wasn't weight-bearing on it at all yesterday and hobbling throughout the night. So just a potty walk for her. Then to medicate the bunnies and get on with the day. Oh...first I'll finish off Philemon though. :)

What of Onesimus?

Today we come to the main reason for Paul's letter to Philemon.

8Accordingly, though I am bold enough in Christ to command you to do what is required, 9yet for love’s sake I prefer to appeal to you—I, Paul, an old man and now a prisoner also for Christ Jesus— 10I appeal to you for my child, Onesimus, whose father I became in my imprisonment. 11(Formerly he was useless to you, but now he is indeed useful to you and to me.) 12I am sending him back to you, sending my very heart. 13I would have been glad to keep him with me, in order that he might serve me on your behalf during my imprisonment for the gospel, 14but I preferred to do nothing without your consent in order that your goodness might not be by compulsion but of your own accord. 15For this perhaps is why he was parted from you for a while, that you might have him back forever, 16 no longer as a slave but more than a slave, as a beloved brother—especially to me, but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord.

17So if you consider me your partner, receive him as you would receive me. 18If he has wronged you at all, or owes you anything, charge that to my account. 19 I, Paul, write this with my own hand: I will repay it—to say nothing of your owing me even your own self. 20Yes, brother, I want some benefit from you in the Lord. Refresh my heart in Christ.

21 Confident of your obedience, I write to you, knowing that you will do even more than I say. 22At the same time, prepare a guest room for me, for I am hoping that through your prayers I will be graciously given to you.

There is a man named Onesimus.

This is a man known to Philemon, a man Philemon deemed as useless. This man has become a useful person to Paul and as such, Paul is wanting to send him back to Philemon, not as a slave, but as a useful person. He is asking Philemon's permission to do so, but as he asks he removes Philemon's possible reasons to say no.

• Onesimus is no longer useless
• Paul will repay anything Onesimus owes
• He can be greeted (and therefore treated) as if he were Paul himself
• He is a brother in Christ
• Paul thinks of him dearly, like a father would a son.

So what to do with Onesimus?

We don't know from the letter what Philemon's response was.
But we can catch gleanings of what it should be.
Onesimus was once not a believer. But now he is. He is much loved by Paul. He is a brother in Christ. He should be greeted as one. He is a useful person now, not just a useless slave who was discontented and then ran away. Onesimus is returning to Philemon as a useful, contented man, a brother in Christ.
My guess is the Philemon said okay. :)
This I'm also thinking is what our response should be to wayward ones.
To welcome them as brothers in Christ when they become believers.
To not hold their pasts against them, but to see them for who they are now.

b- day post

for those interested. My birthday post can be found here.

Praise to God

A couple of days ago we started into Philemon. here are the next few verses:

4 I thank my God always when I remember you in my prayers, 5because I hear of your love and of the faith that you have toward the Lord Jesus and for all the saints, 6and I pray that the sharing of your faith may become effective for the full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for the sake of Christ. 7For I have derived much joy and comfort from your love, my brother, because the hearts of the saints have been refreshed through you.

If I were Philemon, I would be so encouraged in my ministry to hear these words from Paul. To know that someone is praying for me regularly, to know that my faith walk is being seen in a good light, and to know that my faith brings joy and comfort to someone else. That would be SO very encouraging.

Philemon just sounds like a fellow whose been pastoring his people well. And Paul's prayer is that Philemon learn to share his faith more effectively so that more may have full knowledge of every good thing that is in us for Christ's sake.

I have to look at how Paul prays for Philemon....he prays thanking God for Philemon's ministry. He doesn't thank Philemon, he gives the praise where it is due, he thanks God. God is the one who enables Philemon to engage in his ministry. God is the one who makes it all possible.

Paul praises God for the faith and love Philemon has for

• God
• for the saints

Paul praises God for Philemon's witness.
He prays the God will enable Philemon to be a more effective witness.

Philemon refreshes the hearts of those around him. Hmm.....have to admit, I like the sound of that. Someone who refreshes hearts in their ministry. Someone who brings joy and comfort as they minister. Sounds pretty good doesn't it?

And Paul is going to ask this man, his family and his church to do a difficult thing.
After reading what Philemon is like, I wonder if it was a difficult thing for him to do?

Either way, he was a man God was using well for ministry. May God also so use me well for ministry.

A Mighty Deacon

A Mighty Deacon

(to the tune of “A Mighty Fortress”)

A mighty deacon is our man;
He does what others think he can.
Qualifications he doth meet.
Electing him they thinketh sweet.
And so they cast their vote;
They do not rock the boat.
Their craft and pow’r are great:
Quorum! Electorate!
That deacon look is in his eye.

Did he is his own strength confide,
That deacon would be freakin’.
But what’s a deacon spozed to do?
His job is what we’re tweakin’.
Dost ask what tasks they be?
Might they be two? Or three?
How shall he play the game?
From age to age the same:
With deacon look there in his eye.

And though this world with deacons filled
Should threaten to undo us,
We will not fear, for votes have willed:
Electing deacons to us.
If you’re a deacon, deek!
If you’re a beacon, beak!
Let goods and kindred go,
And rationale also.
The deacon is forever.

This made me laugh. You can learn the whole story of it's creation here.

My man makes a little boy smile

see this toy?
When we bought yard-saleing on Saturday it was missing an important part.
We oft had cries of "it not working!" "help me!"

Then My Man... YES MY MAN all.....
made this:
Now we have a boy who does this, without any help what so ever. :)

He's happy. He's not crying for help (whining actually). Life is quieter and happier in our household. Isn't my man cool? :)

And now we have Philemon

Having finished off the book of Titus this past week, we now get a chance to look at Philemon. It's a small book in the new testament, the smallest I think in the whole bible. Even so, I will probably take three days to do it. :) Here are the opening verses to this little book.

1Paul, a prisoner for Christ Jesus, and Timothy our brother,

To Philemon our beloved fellow worker 2and Apphia our sister and Archippus our fellow soldier, and the church in your house:

3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

We know that Paul wrote this book. He was the most prolific writer in the New Testament. Timothy joins him in the writing of this letter.

This letter is one of encouragement and appeal. and is written to Philemon, Apphia and Archippus, and the church that Philemon has meeting in his house.

They extend greeting of grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Do note that Paul calls himself a prisoner for Christ. It shows a more familiar tone with Philemon. It will make his plea to Philemon more tender and "do this for family" tone-ish. (hope that made sense). Credit Jamieson, Fawcett and Brown for helping me to see that (from e-sword). But Paul isn't trying to bossy, he's trying to sound helpful and teaching and encouraging of Philemon and his church. He's asking Philemon to do something that may be difficult for him to do. The fact that Timothy joins Paul in this plea puts some added pressure on Philemon to respond positively to the request.

The People's New Testament tells me that Apphia is Philemon's wife and Archippus may be their son.

So Philemon is a letter written privately to Philemon, his family and his church. As we read this letter we will see that it is a plea for Philemon to accept a wayward servant back into his household who has been converted to Christianity. This would not be an easy thing to ask of Philemon, but Paul asks it. It shows us how we are supposed to react to our wayward brothers and sisters. When they come back to Christ we should welcome them.

Hmmm... Let's look forward to learning more shall we? :)

Wordle

Three posts from my blog.


I had to do this a bit different since the html code thing they gave me didn't work. So I used gimp after taking a screen shot. I am so glad my hubby knows computer stuff so very well. :)

Today the first of August

Did you know that in 7 days I will 43 years old. Sounds a bit old to me. One of the girls at work (Subway, I work there Fridays 11-2:30) said, whoa...you're old! I didn't take it poorly..... after all, she's just barely 16, and young 16 at that. :) Ah..how perspectives change.

Today was a good day DESPITE my watch stopping on me this morning and almost making me late for work. But I wasn't...at least according the computer and radio. Max at work sets the clock there 5 minutes early. I find it rather irritating.

I got a lot done. I got the bricks power washed. Now to find a place to stack them.

I got the front AND back lawns mowed. Most of the mess cleaned up in the backyard. Played with Justin too (after he got up from his nap). Yes...he napped today! I got home from work to find him laying on top his dad napping. Jim had this look of...I need to get this boy child moved now! :) I helped. :)

Got my household money sorted out for the month and went shopping with the whole family. We're slowly replacing the stuff that we lost in the fridge melt down.

Justin was fairly well-behaved tonight. His default behaviour is to scream and whine when he decides that something must be done and must be done now. it gets a bit old and tiresome on the ears. But he is learning that I respond better if he asks in a nicer tone of voice. He is very helpful with the bunnies and likes to try new things. Yesterday I moved all the bunnies around so tonight he was saying things like "red...what you doing here?" "Mommy, buttons in wrong cage!!!!" "Hi sweetheart, what you doing here?" and so on and so forth. Learned that I need to fix one of the cages as in YESTERDAY should have fixed it as he pinched his little behind between two pieces of wood. NOT fun.

Jim, my sweet man, has gotten most of the work done in replacing the seals in the rear axles.

And that's about it. The buggy went to bed at 1000, I'm going to bed as soon as I'm done with the blog for the night.

Talk at yah later! :)

The end of Titus

Today we come to the last few words in Paul's letter to Titus.

When I send Artemas or Tychicus to you, do your best to come to me at Nicopolis, for I have decided to spend the winter there. 13Do your best to speed Zenas the lawyer and Apollos on their way; see that they lack nothing. 14And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

15All who are with me send greetings to you. Greet those who love us in the faith.

Grace be with you all.

Paul has done what he could to help Titus pastor the Cretan church. Now he comes to his closing greetings. He lets Titus know that he'll be wintering over in Nicopolis and that he plans to send Artemas or Tychicus to him. He would like Titus to come if he is able. He urges Titus to help Zenas and Apollos, to send them on their way quickly with all that they need.

He once again urges Titus to help the Cretans learn to devote themselves to good works. To not be unfruitful. To help those who need the help.

He greets everyone and then extends grace to them as well.

I have to admit, sometimes I really like the New Testament way of signing off on letters. To give final greetings at the end. It ends a letter with love expressed clearly to the recipient. But well-crafted letters do that now-a-days too! Just in a different format. I remember once when my brother Fred was in College that he sent home a letter written in NewT style and it just seemed funny at the time. :) Just a different way of writing and helping folks.

Let me do as Paul says....devote myself to good works.
With that said, I'll be off! :)

My Crazy Squash Plant

I've learned what it is! It's a buttercup squash!

I figured it out!
Justin says :
"we gonna eat that mom??"
"That a squash?"
"It of butter?"

I'll have to take a pic and show you just how invasive it is being. :)

BBC's top 100

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you love. (these in red)
4) Strike out the books you have no intention of ever reading, or were forced to read at school and hated. (don't know how to do this, so I highlighted in green those I will NEVER read again)
5) Reprint this list in your own blog.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 The Harry Potter Series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma- Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding (why is this on the list?)
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

Have to admit, many sound familiar but I didn't bold them as I can't remember if I've read them or not. :) Yes, poor memory...but also bad headache and I read LOTS AND LOTS of books. :)

Devote yourself to Good Works

Do you remember yesterday how we are to be passionate to do good works?
Today Paul tells us to be ready for every good work.

1Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, 2 to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. 3For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. 4But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 8The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people. 9But avoid foolish controversies, genealogies, dissensions, and quarrels about the law, for they are unprofitable and worthless. 10As for a person who stirs up division, after warning him once and then twice, have nothing more to do with him, 11knowing that such a person is warped and sinful; he is self-condemned.

Paul says to us this is who you once were. This is who Christ redeemed you to be. Therefore give up those old ways, don't be divisive and troublesome, be ready to do good works. Devote yourself to such things.

The more we know the truth of this:

4But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

the more we will know that we must devote ourselves to good works. to be passionate about them. So make good works a point! As Paul says "These things are excellent and profitable for people". Don't we all want to do what is good for us in the long run? Paul makes it clear what is good for believers...to seek out, to be passionate about doing what is good. We don't do it to be saved, we do it to show who Christ is and what he has done for us. That's it. And seeing as Christ saved us from our own ickiness....isn't that enough?

To be Zealous......

Today we get to finish off the rest of Titus 2.

11For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, 12training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, 13 waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.

15Declare these things; exhort and rebuke with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

Paul had just given us a list of how we are supposed to be.

Now it seems he tells us why we are supposed to be like that. "for the grace of God has appeared, bring salvation for all people". Neat huh? God's grace showed up. God's grace brought salvation for us. God's grace lest anyone not know who that is, is Christ Jesus our Lord.

Paul just finished enumerating who all those people are young and old, male and free, no distinctions about Jew or gentile. Servants, slaves etc. all are included. Credit Matthew Henry for making sure I was aware of that. :)

And what happened when this grace of God appeared?
We found ourselves being trained to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions.
We found ourselves being trained to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives.
We remain waiting for his return, when the glory of God will return. Christ gave himself for us. He came to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify a people for himself.

And we are to be zealous to do good works. hmm....think on that for a spell. Are you as a believer, am I as a believer zealous to do good works. To be zealous is to be full of enthusiasm or eagerness; passionate; excited. I have to admit, I'm not always like this when it comes to doing good works. I do them because they have to be done...and sometimes have that attitude. But God wants our attitude to be one of eagerness, one of excitement. That brings to mind thoughts of the eagerness of a child to eat ice cream in the park. :) How much fun it would be, how much joy it would bring. This is the attitude we are to have. God is raising us up to be like that, Christ is purifying for himself a people with this kind of attitude.

Let me then, Let us then, cultivate it. Let us be a people eager to do good works.

Paul closes this chapter with an exhortation to Titus to declare all these truths to the people, to continue to exhort and rebuke with authority. To not let himself be ignored. To be a man of God leading his people. Hmm.....kinda like Paul is urging Titus to remain zealous in his position of pastor to the Cretan church. :)