Category Archives: Bible

Thankful Thursday ~ God’s Response to Repentance

Today I am reminded of God’s response to our repentance and for this I am so thankful…

Lamentations 3: 22-23 ~ “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”

Micah 7: 18-19 ~ “Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You do not stay angry long but delight to show mercy. You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea.”

2 Corinthians 12:9 ~ “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

I John 1:9 ~ “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

I am also thankful to be in my home in Washington for a month to spend some extended time with my children and to get things ready for our Christmas celebrations. I love this time of year. Blessings on all of you.

For more Thankful Thursday Posts head on over to Laurel’s.

Life in the Northwest ~

Life for me in the Northwest is very different from Southern California. In Southern California it is a lot simpler. I have myself and Dear to take care of and a very compact one bedroom condo. No yard, no plants, no children. I will be in the Northwest with my children and my house and yard until New Year’s Day! I will miss Dear and our companionship for 25 days! Yikes. I will be quite busy here though. Already this Monday morning I have a second load of wash in. The dishwasher is running. I have my list of last minute items to buy for Dear to take back to California before his 6 PM flight today. All of this happened before dawn. I was able to step outside and take the picture of this glorious sky that God created for us to enjoy this morning.

Before Dear returns to Washington on December 21st I hope to have finally memorized the following verses that have given my brain such a workout! Good ole Apostle Paul and his run on sentences. This section that I was suppose to memorize for my Bible Study in Southern California has been the most difficult for me, but I am determined to get my brain to remember it. I dare you to memorize it too….

II Peter 1:2-4 (ESV)

“May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.”

 Have a wonderful Monday, I’m off and running….

Ryle on “Victory”

Well I just finished Faithfulness and Holiness  ~ The witness of J.C. Ryle by J.I. Packer. The quote I’d like to share is in the section where Packer is writing a survey of Ryle. This quote is from the chapter titled “A Great Legacy”. In this quote Ryle is dealing with Christ’s promises in Revelation 2 and 3 to those who overcome.  This is his treatment of Victory in a believers life.

“If you would prove you are born again and going to heaven, you must be a victorious soldier of Christ. If you would make it clear that you have any title to Christ’s precious promises, you must fight the good fight in Christ’s cause, and in that fight you must conquer.

Victory is the only satisfactory evidence that you have a saving religion. You like good sermons perhaps. You respect the Bible, and read it occasionally. You say your prayers night and morning. You have family prayers, and give to religious societies. I thank God for this. It is all very good. But how goes the battle?… Are you overcoming the passions, tempers and lusts of your own heart? Are you resisting the devil and making him flee from you? How is it in this matter? You must either rule or serve sin and the devil and the world. There is no middle course. You must either conquer or be lost.

I know well it is a hard battle that you have to fight, and I want you to know it , too… You must make up your mind to a daily struggle if you would reach heaven…Sin, the world and the devil must be actually mortified, resisted and overcome.

This is the road that the saints of old have trodden…Moses…overcame the love of pleasure…Micaiah…overcame the love of ease…Daniel…overcame the fear of death…Matthew…overcame the love of money…Peter and John…overcame the fear of man…When Saul the Pharisee gave up all his prospects of preferment among the Jews, and preached that very Jesus whom he had once persecuted, this was overcoming: he overcame the love of man’s praise.

The same kind of thing which these men did you must also do if you would be saved. They were men of like passions with yourself, and yet they overcame. They had as many trials as you can possibly have, and yet they overcame. They fought. They wrestled. They struggled. You must do the same.

What was the secret of their victory? Their faith. They believed on Jesus and, believing, were made strong…and….were held up. In all thier battle, they kept their eyes on Jesus, and he never left them nor forsook them. “They overcame by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony” and so may you (Rev. 12:11).”

Thankful Thursday ~ Post #500!!

I’ve been trying to be more disciplined these days and I have set out each morning to walk along the paths of my neighborhood. I’ve put on some “storing up for the winter” weight and because the prospects of eating less over the next month are miniscule I decided I needed to add activity to my day. This has been good and walking alone in the morning hours affords me time to talk with God and to try to memorize my verses for Bible Study. I was struck by all the beautiful paths that I have to walk in and it made me think and be thankful of the way God has led me along the one and only path to Him through His Son Jesus. I am so happy that my 500th post lands on Thankful Thursday. I am truly thankful for how God has led me on His path and that He continues to lead me. So take a walk with me and be thankful for how He leads us in this life we live…

Psalm 119: 105 ~ “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.”

Psalm 25:4 ~ “Make me know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths.

Psalm 16:11 ~ “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”

Proverbs 10:17 ~ “Whoever heeds instruction is on the path to life, but he who rejects reproof leads other astray.”

Isaiah 30: 20-21 ~ “And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher. And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”

Proverbs 4:18 ~ “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day.”

Psalm 119:35 ~ “Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it.”

Proverbs 3:5,6 ~ “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him and he will make your paths straight.”

Psalm 121 ~

“I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come? My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life. The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forever more.”

For more Thankful Thursday posts click here. Thank you Crystal for hosting…

Tuesday In Other Words ~

“Love is beautiful, but it is also terrible–terrible in its determination to allow nothing blemished or unworthy to remain in the beloved.”~ Hannah Hurnard ~

Here’s where I went with this quote.

God is love ~

I John 4: 7-10 ~ “Beloved, let us love one another for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

God disciplines those He loves ~

Hebrews 12: 5-14 ~ “And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline? If you are left without discipline, in which all have participated, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Besides this, we have had eartly fathers who disciplined us and we respected them. Shall we not much more be subject to the Father of spirits and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as it seemed best to them, but he disciplines us for our good, that we may share his holiness. For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Therefore lift your drooping hands and strengthen your weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but rather be healed. Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord.”

Because God is Love in the purest form and His son resides in us we are disciplined so that we can reflect His image to the world and to glorify Him. God’s plan to save us because of His love for us involved the terrible pain of His son on the cross. When we receive this sacrifice for us we become children of God.  As children of God we need to accept the fact that we will suffer in order to be conformed to the image of God. His Firstborn suffered we will suffer, too.

For more In Other Words visit Bonnie at Ink it Blog.

Wave Upon Wave ~ Grace

“Out of His fullness we receive, and grace for grace, — like wave upon wave.”

 

Ephesians 1: 22, 23 ~ “And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.”

2:7-9 ~ “…so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

3:17-19 ~…”so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith – that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowlege, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

4:7 ~ “But grace was given to each of us according to the measure of Christ’s gift.”

Colossians 1:19,20 ~ For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”

2:9,10 ~ “For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in him, who is the head of all rule and authority.”

Hebrews 4:16 ~ “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Today I am very thankful for His fullness, that He is in me, and for the grace I receive from Him like wave upon wave…

If you’d like to read some Thankful Thursday posts around bloggy world click here.

Quote from – Horatius Bonar, Light and Truth in The Life and Works of Horatius Bonar on CD-Rom (LUX publications: 2004), pp. 744-745.

ht: Of First Importance , for the Bonar quote.

Tuesday In Other Words…

“In our lives the darkest times, the days that are bleak and black, add depth to every other experience. Like the dark bits of color in a mosaic, they add the contrast and shadows that give beauty to the whole, but they are just a small part of the big picture.”~ Amy Grant~
Mosaic: Pieces of My Life so Far
 

 Romans 8: 18-25 (ESV)

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it , in hope that the creation itself will be set free from it bondage to decay and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. For in this hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope. For who hopes for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait with patience.”

I am looking forward to seeing the big picture of our lives when we meet Christ face to face in Glory. I can only hope that what happens to me on this earth and my reaction to it will be something that glorifies Christ. For sure I do not and can not see the whole picture. My hope is getting to my final home with something to offer Christ. I hope that when I do suffer it’s for the sake of Christ and his glory and not from my own stubborness and stupidity.

For more In Other Words click on Extravagant Grace.

Thankful Thursday~ Spiritual Blessings in Christ

This is an amazing passage of how much we are blessed in Christ Jesus. What amazing blessings to be thankful for. Hopefully as the years go on I’ll understand it more and more and be more thankful.

Ephesians 1: 3-10 (ESV)

Blessed be the God and Father of or Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love he predestined us for adoption through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight making known to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ as a plan for the fullness of time to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth.”

For more Thankful Thursday click here.

In Other Words Tuesday ~ Oct. 30

“The Word of God well understood and religiously obeyed is the shortest route to spiritual perfection.  And we must not select a few favorite passages to the exclusion of others. Nothing less than a whole Bible can make a whole Christian.” ~ A.W. Towzer ~

I really don’t have anything profound to share as I consider this quote. It was suggested to me that the very shortest route to spiritual perfection for a believer saved by grace would be death, but I digress….

A suggestion that I do have that is helping me in a profound way this year is my Bible reading strategy. I’ve read the Bible through a couple of times and this year it was suggested to me to take a different approach to my Bible reading. This year I started with the shortest books of the Bible progressing up to the longer books and I read each book 20 times before I move on. First I just read it straight through. Then further into my 20 times I begin to dissect and break down each paragraph or chapter to get a deeper understanding of what is being revealed. I have found that with this approach I can remember themes in a book better. It helps me get the big picture. We can rely on the Holy Spirit to teach us and to guide us into all truth. For me spiritual growth has not been short or quick. It has taken years of plugging along for me to get to where I am today, which is no where near perfection. I thank God that He is the one that brings me along by His grace to spiritual growth in Him. I want to be ready and willing to receive His grace and his teaching and respond in obedience and perseverance. This reading the Bible approach I’ve started in 2007 will probably not be completed till I die 🙂

Be encouraged to keep moving forward in your walk with the Lord. Ask Him to teach you and lead you in your Bible reading and studying. Each day is a new day with the Lord. Open his word and enjoy it and Him.

To see more In Other Words click here.