Over the Thanksgiving break, I'm diving into as much of Isaiah as I can in 5 days. What's crazy is that in my research this morning, I found an interpretation that was just introduced to me last night at growth group.
One friend brought up the idea that many verses in the Bible can and are used out of context but with seemingly good intentions. For example, many people use Jeremiah 29:11 as a source of comfort, when contextually speaking, it was written for Israel, as God's promise of blessing to Israel. I wondered though, due to God's character and fulfillment through Jesus, if that promise of blessing could still apply to us, as God's adopted children? Life and life abundantly right? Hmmm...
So how do we read the Bible? Personally? Historically? Literally? All of the above? Hmmm...
For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Thursday, November 13, 2008
To Write Love on Her Arms
Today is the national awareness day for To Write Love on Her Arms. TWLOHA is a non-profit organization that raises awareness on depression, suicide prevention, addiction, among many other issues faced by so many people today. I love this organization because it offers the only Eternal Hope there is while also recognizing that our Eternal Hope has also provided present-day hope through the Church, counselors, modern medicine, and other treatments for mental illnesses. For more info, check out: www.twloha.com
In honor of TWLOHA Day, my growth group had a fabulous time writing love on our arms.
"She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: 'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me.'" Genesis 16:13
In honor of TWLOHA Day, my growth group had a fabulous time writing love on our arms.
"She gave this name to the LORD who spoke to her: 'You are the God who sees me,' for she said, 'I have now seen the One who sees me.'" Genesis 16:13
Monday, November 3, 2008
A few things I love...
1. Autumn. Most of my life, I've been a Spring girl - with all the flowers and rain and baby animals, but Autumn '08 is really turning me into an Autumn girl. Have you seen the trees lately?? I actually see leaves in colors besides green and brown. Love it!
2. Hope.
3. Not being sick!!!
4. Jesus. He's just so good to me.
5. I would end there, but 4's just a weird number on which to end a list, so I'll add a 5th love: My cat. I know I mostly just complain about the guy because, good grief, he mostly just drives me crazy! But awww, Charlie is just so darn cute. I wish I could figure out how to post a pic so you could see his cute face. Ah, I heart Charles.
"When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed." Psalm 126:1
2. Hope.
3. Not being sick!!!
4. Jesus. He's just so good to me.
5. I would end there, but 4's just a weird number on which to end a list, so I'll add a 5th love: My cat. I know I mostly just complain about the guy because, good grief, he mostly just drives me crazy! But awww, Charlie is just so darn cute. I wish I could figure out how to post a pic so you could see his cute face. Ah, I heart Charles.
"When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion, we were like men who dreamed." Psalm 126:1
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Friday, October 10, 2008
You are NOT going to believe this...
I challenged myself - due to a long story - to read the Bible in 90 days.... I'm on like 190 now... Yeah, not sticking to the plan. I have a (legitimate) reason though! It's just that the details are insane. I'm all for knowing details about some things - like maybe people, relationships, and other girly things. :) But buildings?? Minute structural commands... 1 cubit high here, 2 cubits wide there.... not so interesting.
Confession: I gave God a hard time about that. "Why must I know all this?? Good grief! It's taking me way too long to focus and get through this..." (Don't worry - my pride is now obliterated by the Great I AM.)
A month later or so, I get my answer. And I am fascinated. No, deeper, I mean, deeply enthralled by this God of ours. I'm probably the last one to get this info, but a refresher course is always good for the soul. So y'all, GET THIS:
God gave Moses so many details on how to build the Tabernacle so as to copy what He saw in Heaven!!! Not only that, but the Ark of the Covenant foreshadowed what Jesus' tomb would look like when He was buried! (Exodus 25, Hebrews 8:5, John 20:10-12) How incredible is that!? Oh y'all, isn't that beautiful?? Our God is intentional. He has a purpose for everything - even when we are blinded by the details of the journey towards accomplishing that purpose.
"Whom God did set forth a mercy seat, through faith in His blood..." Romans 3:25 (YLT)
Confession: I gave God a hard time about that. "Why must I know all this?? Good grief! It's taking me way too long to focus and get through this..." (Don't worry - my pride is now obliterated by the Great I AM.)
A month later or so, I get my answer. And I am fascinated. No, deeper, I mean, deeply enthralled by this God of ours. I'm probably the last one to get this info, but a refresher course is always good for the soul. So y'all, GET THIS:
God gave Moses so many details on how to build the Tabernacle so as to copy what He saw in Heaven!!! Not only that, but the Ark of the Covenant foreshadowed what Jesus' tomb would look like when He was buried! (Exodus 25, Hebrews 8:5, John 20:10-12) How incredible is that!? Oh y'all, isn't that beautiful?? Our God is intentional. He has a purpose for everything - even when we are blinded by the details of the journey towards accomplishing that purpose.
"Whom God did set forth a mercy seat, through faith in His blood..." Romans 3:25 (YLT)
Thursday, September 25, 2008
His hands
I have a thing with hands. I'm pretty sure I always have. I notice people's finger nails - probably with more of a jealous eye than anything. It's true, I confess, I'm totally jealous of pretty nails. Somewhere along the way, I've just destroyed mine. But anyway, let's move on... My thing with hands: My grandmommy has the most beautiful hands, so does my mom. They'll be totally embarrassed when they read this, but ladies, it's true. You do have beautiful hands.
His hands have been on my mind lately. Shane and Shane sing a gorgeous song, check it out: "Before the Throne of God Above." This is my current anthem. They sing, "My name is graven on His hands..." And that is where it started: my fascination with His hands. The line comes from Isaiah 49:16, one of my most favorite sentences in the entire Word of God:
His hands have been on my mind lately. Shane and Shane sing a gorgeous song, check it out: "Before the Throne of God Above." This is my current anthem. They sing, "My name is graven on His hands..." And that is where it started: my fascination with His hands. The line comes from Isaiah 49:16, one of my most favorite sentences in the entire Word of God:
"See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands..."
As a part of the New Covenant, I can rest assured (thanks to Ephesians 3:6) that while Isaiah gave those words to the Israelites, God gave them to us. My name is written, no, engraved, on His hands.
Back in the day, Hebrews would engrave a symbol of their city on their hands as a sign of devotion to their land (Exodus 13:9). He has written my name on His hands as a sign of His devotion to me. I find it even more awe-inspiring that these very hands, that have my name engraved on them, have also been pierced by nails because of my sin. How much more deserving is He of my devotion!
May His Name be forever engraved on my hands.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. "
Psalm 19:1
Back in the day, Hebrews would engrave a symbol of their city on their hands as a sign of devotion to their land (Exodus 13:9). He has written my name on His hands as a sign of His devotion to me. I find it even more awe-inspiring that these very hands, that have my name engraved on them, have also been pierced by nails because of my sin. How much more deserving is He of my devotion!
May His Name be forever engraved on my hands.
"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. "
Psalm 19:1
Sunday, September 14, 2008
My Enduma (The Re-do)
** I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago, titled "Don't be the one without proper attire!," but my heart has been unsettled with it, so I'm calling for a re-do. :) **
I'm in love. It's true. I'm madly in love. After reading the Parable of the Wedding Banquet in Matthew 22, I fell in love with Jesus all over again. I truly felt like His beautiful Bride, but not because of anything I've done. It's all Him, I tell you!
I'm pretty sure I hadn't ever really read this parable. I didn't remember it at all. In fact, I was highly shocked the first time I read it! I had my own ideas about how the King would treat one of His guests... and then the King had His own ideas!
Here's Stephanie's brief summary of the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, just in case you were like me and hadn't read it:
The king's son is getting married, so the king invites "all those who had been invited" and was rejected - even after a 2nd invitation! He destroys all those people for mistreating his servants who were sent with the invitations, and then the king sends out an invitation to anyone the servants could find. The servants gather all the people in from the streets and escort them to the wedding banquet. The king came in to see all the people and noticed one man not wearing wedding clothes. After questioning the man, who was speechless, the king had him thrown into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
In Stephanie World, when I first read about the king finding the man without wedding clothes, I got really excited. I thought, "Oh wow, the king is going to take him under his wing and give him new clothes, and just really give him the royal treatment!!" And then I continued reading..... And found that instead the man was actually thrown out into utter darkness...?!!! Ok, so not exactly a happy ending. What gives?? My God is not mean, so I had to do some research.
Turns out that what I found swept me off my feet! Since the servants had gathered people straight in from the streets, no one had proper wedding clothes. If proper attire was expected of them, it had to be provided for them, which is where the king comes in: He provided the wedding clothes. He had to! He mentioned to his first invitees that "everything is ready" (vs. 4) for the wedding banquet which leads me to this idea that He was the provider of the proper attire. The Greek word used for "clothes" in these verses is transliterated "enduma" which means an "outer garment." The fact that it's an outer garment is awesome because that means the guests' own stained, tattered and torn street clothes were covered by this beautiful enduma, fit for a wedding, given to them by the king himself. Oh, I love that!
This symbolism Jesus uses here sings to my heart, y'all! As you know, we are all invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. (I am giddy just thinking about that day! I just really can't wait!!) In order to attend this Feast, though, we must be covered by Our Enduma, Jesus Christ. And I love how He covers us so my God will not be able to see these tattered, old clothes I've been wearing all these years! Oh, how great is our God!
"Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
'Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.'"
Revelation 19:6-8
I'm in love. It's true. I'm madly in love. After reading the Parable of the Wedding Banquet in Matthew 22, I fell in love with Jesus all over again. I truly felt like His beautiful Bride, but not because of anything I've done. It's all Him, I tell you!
I'm pretty sure I hadn't ever really read this parable. I didn't remember it at all. In fact, I was highly shocked the first time I read it! I had my own ideas about how the King would treat one of His guests... and then the King had His own ideas!
Here's Stephanie's brief summary of the Parable of the Wedding Banquet, just in case you were like me and hadn't read it:
The king's son is getting married, so the king invites "all those who had been invited" and was rejected - even after a 2nd invitation! He destroys all those people for mistreating his servants who were sent with the invitations, and then the king sends out an invitation to anyone the servants could find. The servants gather all the people in from the streets and escort them to the wedding banquet. The king came in to see all the people and noticed one man not wearing wedding clothes. After questioning the man, who was speechless, the king had him thrown into the darkness where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
In Stephanie World, when I first read about the king finding the man without wedding clothes, I got really excited. I thought, "Oh wow, the king is going to take him under his wing and give him new clothes, and just really give him the royal treatment!!" And then I continued reading..... And found that instead the man was actually thrown out into utter darkness...?!!! Ok, so not exactly a happy ending. What gives?? My God is not mean, so I had to do some research.
Turns out that what I found swept me off my feet! Since the servants had gathered people straight in from the streets, no one had proper wedding clothes. If proper attire was expected of them, it had to be provided for them, which is where the king comes in: He provided the wedding clothes. He had to! He mentioned to his first invitees that "everything is ready" (vs. 4) for the wedding banquet which leads me to this idea that He was the provider of the proper attire. The Greek word used for "clothes" in these verses is transliterated "enduma" which means an "outer garment." The fact that it's an outer garment is awesome because that means the guests' own stained, tattered and torn street clothes were covered by this beautiful enduma, fit for a wedding, given to them by the king himself. Oh, I love that!
This symbolism Jesus uses here sings to my heart, y'all! As you know, we are all invited to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb. (I am giddy just thinking about that day! I just really can't wait!!) In order to attend this Feast, though, we must be covered by Our Enduma, Jesus Christ. And I love how He covers us so my God will not be able to see these tattered, old clothes I've been wearing all these years! Oh, how great is our God!
"Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
'Hallelujah!
For our Lord God Almighty reigns.
Let us rejoice and be glad
and give him glory!
For the wedding of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready.
Fine linen, bright and clean,
was given her to wear.'"
Revelation 19:6-8
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