The Duggar Family

The Duggar family just had their 18th child.  This is an amazing family that believes in procreation just as God commanded.  The verses in Psalm 127:3-5 says, “Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.   Like arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s youth.  Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.”

In this article about the Duggar family, there were 5 comments dealing with having so many children. I find it sad that our culture is such that anyone who does something contrary to the “cultural norm” they get castigated!  Our culture will die down if people don’t start having more than “their share” of children.  Children would not be a “pain in the neck” if we taught them according to Scripture.  There is a right and wrong way of raising our children and the wrong way is to be concerned about the child’s self-image.  I have told my children many times that I don’t care about their self-image but I do care about their image in God’s eyes!

On the other side of the coin, there are many ladies who truly desire to have children and cannot do so.  To these ladies I would encourage to look into the possibility of adoption.  Many times those children who have no one are overlooked and unloved.  Remember, Ladies, that we, who are true believers in the Lord, are adopted into God’s family.  James 1:27 tells us, “True religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, to keep himself unspotted from the world and to visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction.”  What better way to visit the fatherless by taking them into your home and bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord?  They need godly, loving  parents just like our natural born children do and even more so because they have no one!

If you go to Adoption 3:16 you will read about families that have adopted and ways they can help to bring you through the hard times based on God’s Word.   Whether you end up with a huge family through natural birth or through adoption remember that the “fruit of the womb is God’s reward!”

Charles Spurgeon

Morning And Evening

“I came not to send peace on the earth, but a sword.” Matt. 10:34

“The Christian will be sure to make enemies.  It will be one of his objects to make none; but if to do the right, and to believe the true, should cause him to lose every earthly friend, he will count it but a small loss, since his great Friend in heaven will be yet more friendly, and reveal Himself to him more graciously than ever.  O ye who have taken up His cross, know ye not what your Master said?  ‘I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.’

“Christ is the great Peacemaker; but before peace, He brings war.  Where the light cometh, the darkness must  retire.  Where truth is, the lie must flee; or, if it abideth, there must be a stern conflict, for the truth cannot and will not lower it’s standard, and the lie must be trodden under foot.  If you follow Christ, you shall have all the dogs of the world yelping at your heels.  If you would live so as to stand the test of the last tribunal, depend upon it the world will not speak well of you.  He who has the friendship of the world is an enemy  to God; but if you are true and faithul to the Most Hight, men will resent your unflinching fidelity, since it is a testimony against their iniquities.

“Fearless of all consequences, you must do the right.  You will need the courage of a lion unhesitatingly to pursue a course which shall turn your best friend into your fiercest foe; but for the love of Jesus you must thus be courageous.  For the truth’s sake to hazard reputation and affection, is such a deed that to do it constantly you will need a degree of moral principle which only the Spirit of God can work in you; yet turn not your back like a coward, but play the man.  Follow right manfully in your Master’s steps, for He has traversed this rough way before you.  Better a brief warfare and eternal rest, than false peace and everlasting torment.”

This is definitely true because when you take a stand for truth you will see many turn away from you.  You will see sometimes even your best friend turn on you!  This has happened to us before and I expect it will happen again.  When a person is no longer willing to do what is right in God’s eyes then they will turn on their best friend if that friend is still doing what is right in God’s eyes.  In the end, the peace that comes from doing what is right is a whole lot better then the guilt that comes from following your own path.

As we see the New Year come in let us, as true believers, seek to do what is right according to the Word of God with His help and not in our own strength!

Psalm 119:1-8

1.) ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the LORD!

2.)  Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, Who seek Him with the whole heart!

3.) They also do no iniquity; They walk in His ways.

4.) You have commanded us To keep Your precepts diligently.

5.) Oh, that my ways were directed To keep Your statutes!

6.) Then I would not be ashamed, When I look into all Your commandments.

7.) I will praise You with uprightness of heart, When I learn Your righteous judgments.

8.) I will keep Your statutes; Oh, do not forsake me utterly!

O Little Town of Bethlehem

This is sung British style and very beautifully sung!  A thanks to dickensxmas 2008.

O Come O Come, Emmanuel!

Another beautiful traditional Christmas song that I love to hear and not just at Christmas time!  This was put out by gppkoq on youtube.

Mary’s Little Lamb

Christmas is coming upon us soon and I thought I would post a beautiful Christmas poem that epitomized what Christ’s birth was REALLY about. Christ wasn’t born at this time of the year but we can still celebrate His birth and His death at this time of year. This poem was written by Marv and Marbeth Rosenthal who started Zion’s Hope. They also have a magazine called Zion’s Fire.

MARY HAD A LITTLE LAMB
by Marv & Marbeth Rosenthal
found on Zion Hope, Inc.

Mary had the little Lamb,
who lived before His birth;
Self-existent Son of God,
from Heaven He came to Earth.
(Micah 5:2)

Mary had the little Lamb;
see Him in yonder stall –
Virgin-born Son of God,
to save man from the Fall.
(Isaiah 7:14)

Mary had the little Lamb,
obedient Son of God;
Everywhere the Father led,
His feet were sure to tread.
(John 6:38)

Mary had the little Lamb,
crucified on the tree
The rejected Son of God,
He died to set men free.
(1 Peter 1:18)

Mary had the little Lamb –
men placed Him in the grave,
Thinking they were done with Him;
to death He was no slave! (Mat. 28:6)

Mary had the little Lamb,
ascended now is He;
All work on Earth is ended,
our Advocate to be.
(Hebrews 4:14-16)

Mary had the little Lamb –
mystery to behold!
From the Lamb of Calvary,
a Lion will unfold.
(Revelation 5: 5,6)

When the Day Star comes again,
of this be very sure:
It won’t be Lamb-like silence,
but with the Lion’s roar.
(Ps. 2:12; Rev. 19:11-16)

Copies of this poem may be used without written permission from the authors.

Angels We Have Heard On High!

This is a beautiful rendition of “Angels We Have Heard On High.”  Thanks Defending Contending for posting it on your blog!

Abiding in Christ – Memorization (Part 3)

In our previous post, we spoke about 5 different things that will help us to abide in Christ.  Remember that this is not a list of 5 things if you follow then you will become the best Christian there is.  You can do every one of these things and if your attitude stinks then you will be in disobedience to God.  There must be that desire to truly serve the Lord, there must be the Holy Spirit that convicts the heart over sin and puts the desire to serve the Lord.  In Revelation 3:14-19, the Lord is talking to the church at Laodicea.  He tells them, “I know your works and they are neither hot nor cold.  I could wish you were cold or hot so then because you are lukewarm and not cold or hot, I will vomit you out of my mouth…”  Have you ever tried lukewarm or tepid tea?  I have and it’s not very nice.  I know when I make up tea for my husband and he lets it sit there, it eventually becomes tepid.  He won’t take a drink of it until he has placed it in the microwave to heat it up.  If we feel that way about our drinks how must the Lord feel about our service for Him?

The five things we are discussing in this series of posts are:

1. Meditation of Scripture
2. Memorization of Scripture
3. Reading Scripture
4. Praying
5. Obedience to what has been learned

In this part we will discuss Memorization of Scripture.  There are 3 things that memorizing Scripture helps within our lives.

1. Memorizing keeps us from sinning against God.  Psalm 119:11 says, “Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against You.” (See also Psalm 37:31.)   Memorizing also enables us to be convicted in our hearts while we are in the midst of sinning.  Many times the Holy Spirit gently reminds us that what we are doing is wrong while we are in the middle of sinning.
2. Memorizing Scripture is what we are expected to do as true believers.  Deut. 6:6 tells us, “And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.” (See also Deut. 11:18-20; Prov. 3:3.)
3. Memorizing Scripture should be our delight because we are showing God that we truly desire to serve Him.  Rom. 7:22 shares with us, “For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man.” (See also Psalm 40:8; 119:16, 24, 47, 98.)  The Lord told the disciples that if they loved Him they would keep His commandments.  The only way we can delight in memorizing Scripture is if we love the Lord.  The people we love are the people we will try to please!
4. Memorizing Scripture will also help us in times of persecution.  2 Tim. 3:12 makes it very clear, “Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (See also Philippians 1:28-29; 1 Thess. 3:3.)  There is persecution coming our way and the only way we will be ready for it is to hide God’s Word in our hearts.  Let us make sure we have shored up Scripture within our hearts in case we lose our Bibles just like our suffering brothers and sisters in other countries have lost their Bibles.

Memorizing is very important.  Sisters, let us continue abiding in Christ no matter what others say, think or do so that we will be able to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant!  Enter into the joy of your Lord!”  Amen and amen!

Abiding in Christ – Meditation (Part 2)

In Part 1, we began looking at what it meant to abide in Christ.  We talked about what it meant to abide.  This is the example I used:

“For instance, how many of you have contact lenses or know of someone that has contact lenses? Have you ever seen them lose one (or lost one yourself)? I don’t wear any but I have seen contact wearers do this very thing.

“Don’t move anyone! I dropped my contact lens and it’s down here somewhere!” and they search intently (and stooped down) for that contact lens until they find it. This is exactly what we are supposed to be doing! We are supposed to search intently, look within the ‘law of liberty’ or what we know as the Bible.”

I also posted 3 different ways of abiding in Christ that dealt only with Scripture.  We will discuss these three plus more in our posts on “Abiding in Christ”.  The different ways of abiding in Christ are:

1. Meditation of Scripture
2. Memorization of Scripture
3. Reading Scripture
4. Prayer
5. Obedience to what is learned through Scripture (obedience to Christ)
   

You cannot just take one or two of these and expect (or hope) that your life will be changed.  They work in conjunction with one another and MUST be put into practice or you won’t change!  This is not an either/or, take your pick decision!  So many ladies try to pick and choose what they want to do or not do and find that they are stagnating in their Christian life then wonder how come nothing is changing.

In today’s society, the “‘in-thing” is to meditate.  A lot of times we’re told by the “experts” that we can calm ourselves down by “yoga and meditation”.  The Bible is very clear that meditation is important within our lives but not the “world’s” kind of meditation. 

Psalm 1:1-2 shares with us, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.  But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate DAY AND NIGHT.” (emphasis mine)

First, let’s look at verse 1 to see what we should NOT be doing.  The verse says that the man that walks NOT in the counsel of the ungodly is blessed.  This means to be continual, to be conversant, exercise self, be wont to haunt in the advice, purpose or counsel of the morally wrong, actively bad person, or the guilty.  If you are continually following the advice of someone who isn’t saved or isn’t making a habit of following the Lord in every area of life then you are not going to be blessed.  If you notice in the previous sentence, I did say making a habit of following the Lord.  This person is not perfect but desires to do what is right in every area of their lives.  If you are not following the advice of that kind of person then you will NOT be blessed and not only that, you will begin to go further downhill.

The next part of that verse says, “…nor standeth in the way of sinners…” What can we see happening in this person’s life?  They are going from WALKING to STANDING.  The word stand means to abide, stand firm, continue, dwell.  The person that is NOT blessed is now abiding in the course of life or mode of action of one that is accounted guilty or of a criminal.

The third part of the verse finishes with, “… nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” This person that is not blessed started off by following the counsel of either an unsaved person or a person who wasn’t striving to serve the Lord in every area of their lives.  They began abiding in a course of life (within their own lives) with one who is accounted guilty or a criminal.  They then began SITTING.  This word means to settle, to marry, to dwell, or to remain.  They are no longer walking or standing but they have decided that this is the place they want to stay.  What kind of place is it?  It’s deriding, making fun of, or mocking.  Have you seen the person that mocks other people?  They didn’t start off that way but they certainly ended that way.

“But this is too harsh,” you might argue with me.  “Just because a person isn’t trying to follow the Lord in every area of life doesn’t mean that there’s something wrong with their advice!  I’m sure they can have very good advice at times!  You are judging others on your preferences or opinions!”

Am I?  Remember the previous post on Romans 12:1-2?

Let’s take a look at the next verse and see what it says!

“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night.”

Whose delight is in the law of the Lord?  The man that is blessed who is not doing all these things.  His desire, his purpose, his pleasure is in the law of the Lord and in his (the Lord’s) law he meditates (murmurs, ponders, imagines, studies, speaks, talks) day (daily or in the day time) and night (at night time or figuratively – during adversity).

Now, we can see fully what is happening.  Here is the man that is blessed:  he doesn’t continually haunt himself in the advice of a person who is morally wrong , he doesn’t stand firm in the mode of action of one who is accounted guilty, and he doesn’t marry himself to the dwelling place of being a mocker.  No, this person’s purpose in life is in the law of the Lord and in that law he ponders when life is easy (or daytime) and when there is adversity (night time).

Have you ever watched someone go from being open and teachable to hardening themselves to what the Lord has to say?  I have watched it many times in ladies I thought were my friends, in relatives and, even at times, have seen it in my own life.  Verse 1 is a good example of the person who desired to serve the Lord but bit by bit followed the wrong advice and eventually ended up in the mocker’s chair.  Regardless of what is going on in your life now, there is always time for repentance and a turning back to the Lord.  Let us desire to meditate in the Word of God so we will be the blessed one of the Lord!

Romans 12:1-2

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice; holy, acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service; And be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” Rom. 12:1-2.

Before we go any further with our “Older Women Teaching Younger Women” series I just wanted to address the important issues of our hearts as women.

In chapter 11, Paul was talking about how the Gentiles had been grafted into the olive tree due to the disobedience of the Jews.  He continued on toward the end of the chapter by saying, “Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God!   How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!  For who has known the mind of the LORD?  Or who has become His counselor?  Or who has first given to Him And it shall be repaid to him?  For of Him and through Him and to Him are all things, to whom be glory forever.   Amen.”

So because of these things, Paul told the Romans, “I beg of you; therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God that you provide your bodies a living sacrifice.” In looking up this part of the verse I felt it would be important to find out what the actual meaning of it was.  The word living is also used to mean a “lifetime”.  Paul began by pleading with the Romans to make sure that they were willing to make this a lifetime effort of sacrifice.  Remember that Christ died for us and the sacrifice He gave is far superior to any sacrifice we could ever give even if it was a sacrifice for eternity.

He continues on by sharing how we can present our bodies in this lifetime as a sacrifice.  The first part of the equation is that we are to be holy.   We are to make sure that we are pure, morally blameless, consecrated.  This means that even if we are called ‘prudes’ because we don’t watch the filthy programs on tv or read the dirty books then that is what must be done.  On the other hand, let’s examine how it affects the heart.  Before a person ever picks up the dirty books to read them or watches the filthy programs something has happened within the heart.  That person has been thinking and meditating on things they shouldn’t be.  It’s easy to get caught up within the mind and heart on those things that are contrary to the Word of God.  We are to guard our hearts with all diligence for out of it spring the issues of life.  There’s a little chorus that I’ve been teaching my youngest called “Oh, Be Careful!”  It goes something like this:

Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see!
Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see!
For the Father up above is looking down in love,
So be careful, little eyes, what you see!

The other verses are , little ears, little mouth, little mind, little heart, little hands, and little feet.  It is so important for us to remember that our heavenly Father is watching us and we need to keep our focus on Him in every area of life.

Paul goes on with “acceptable unto God.”  This second part of how we need to present ourselves to God says much about how our Christian life should be run.   How can our lives be ‘well-pleasing, fully agreeable, and accepted’ in God’s eyes?  The only way for that to be done is through obedience to the Word of God!

Why should we do this?  Because this is “our reasonable service.”  This is rational (“logical”) ministration of God (i.e.) worship.  1 Cor. 6:20 tells us, “For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” There is a reason that our rational ministrations of God (or worship) should be done and this is because we belong to God.  If you are a true believer then there should be that desire to worship God in HIS prescribed way with your total heart and in every area of life!  (Here are some more verses that also give you understanding why we should be doing things God’s way! 1 Cor. 7:23; Rom. 6:13, 16, 19; Gal. 3:13; 1Pt. 1:18-19)

Verse two says, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable will of God.”

We should not be fashioning ourselves according to this age or the way the world does things.  There should be a metamorphosis or transformation by the renovation of our intellect (i.e. mind) and understanding.  We are not changing due to our emotions or our experiences!   These things are good but we cannot put our faith in these things since even these can trick us.  No, our intellect and understanding should be looking at what the Bible says and we should be changing according to what the Word of God says.

This is so we can “prove” God’s will and how are we going to do that?  We do this by testing, discerning, and examining.  There are several other verses that use this word to encourage us to prove.  In 2 Cor. 8:8, Paul wants to prove the sincerity of the love of the Corinthian church.  In 2 Cor. 13:5, he tells the Corinthians to examine themselves whether they are in the faith and they need to prove their own selves.  In Gal. 6:4, Paul  tells the Galatians that every man should prove his own work.  Paul speaks to the Thessalonians in 1 Thess. 5:21 to remind them to prove all things and hold fast that which is good.  It is important for us to remember that everything that pertains to life and godliness is revealed in His word.

2 Pt. 1:2-12 states, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,  as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue,  by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.   But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love.  For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.  For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.  Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.   For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.”

So what are we going to prove?  We will prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will of God!  If it’s contrary to the Word of God then you’d better not do it, no matter how emphatically your feelings tell you that you have peace to do it!  How gracious God is to do such a work in our lives and to transform us from a worldling to a child of God.  He  transformed us spiritually as well mentally and emotionally.  Praise His holy name for all that He has done in and through us!