Hannah's House

I studied Hannah this week, she was Elkanah's wife. She had a problem. It was him and his other wife! Her name is Peninnah. She already had sons and daughters , and Hannah didnt have any. But they would go up to Shiloh to the tabernacle to worship and offer sacrifices and Elkanah gave sacrifices for Peninnah and sons and daughters but he gave a double portion to Hannah. But Peninnah provoked her about her barreness, and irritated her to know end, till she wept. Elkanah loved her that is why the double portion but he thought his love for her should be enough. The evils of polygamy cause havoc in the home, no doubt about that. But Hannah could not change her circumstance in her home. But when she went up to Shiloh after worship she went to pray at the temple( tabernacle) and her lips moved in tearful petition before the Lord and Eli the Priest thought she was drunk but that was not the case. She asked the Lord for a male child and vowed to give him back to the Lord. This was such a desire of hers and she did it in a most reverant way. When she was done praying she wiped her tears and rested in the Lord trusting Him with her dearest petition to Him.The Lord answered her prayer and Samuel( because he was from the Lord) she then praises the Lord with such a praiseworthy grateful from the heart prayer that exalts the Lord and shows who she is, later we find out the Lord blesses her with 3 boys and 2 girls, Hannah has her own home.
Her husband had the wrong thought process....he should never have married two women, because there is consequences to that ( like Leah and Rachel) and he also thought he was kind of macho like why was she crying about not having children( Dont I mean more to you than 10 sons) he just didnt get it. But Hannah vowed before the Lord, kept her vow and gave Samuel to Eli to be in the temple and serve the Lord. He was a priest, prophet , judge for Israel and served Saul the first king and David as well. In Gods goodness, in His most Sovereign plan He chose to use the circumstances of Hannahs house to bring someone to faithfully serve Him because Eli and his sons were on there way out as Samuel prophetically tells them. They had not been obedient to the Lord.
Gods ways are not our ways...He does what He pleases for His purposes...and along the way He blesses and disciplines us for our good and for His glory.
Whats the problem in your house? What do you grieve over? When has God led you into a time of dissapointment before granting your hearts desire? How can we be encourged by Hannah? What is your experience of Gods faithfulness in your life? When did God " remember" you? What prayer will you record how the Lord dealt with you? How will you pass it on?


My heart rejoices in the Lord
In the Lord my horn is lifted up
My mouth boasts over my enemies
for I delight in Your deliverance
There is no one holy like the Lord
there is no one besides You
there is no Rock like our God....


What will my prayer be? A song in my heart( praise, gratefulness, attitude of worship) what will it be?

Redemption and Ruth

Have been studying the book of Ruth, I have really studied maybe in depth 3 or so times but each time I go back to study I find and grasp more deeper truth than before. What an awesome story that points to our own Redeemer and our own redemption. To redeem means to buy back. We are Gods but we are at enmity ( or enemies of God) because in His grace HE sent His own Son to buy us back for Himself.
The story of Ruth is a love story, a commitment, a redemptive story. Its the whole story , the whole package and a story and type that points to Christ as our Savior ( Our Redeemer)
It starts out with Elimelech and Noami take their two sons Mahlon and Chilion to Moab because of a famine in the land. In 10 years Elimelech dies, the boys marry Ruth and Orpah, the boys Mahlon andChilion die and the women all head back to Bethlehem because Naomi hears that the Lord is giving bread to Israel. At some point Naomi tells the gals of the hardship it might be , they being foreign women and all. She tells them to go back to their homes( mothers house) and she repeats that they need to turn back. Orpah cries and then leaves but Ruth clings to Naomi her mom in law. She is so attached that she makes a commitment vow or covenant with Naomi ( which is sometimes used is marriage ceremonies which is great) Where you go I go, I will be with you and your people, I will follow you and Your God and I will always be with you until death part us. Cool. Naomi was settled then they get into town and the people ask" Is this Naomi? I dont think they recognized her because of what had aged her in those 10 years. She said the Lord Almighty has dealt bitterly with me. She wanted to be called Mara instead meaning bitter. But really in all that she understood it was God dealing with her in bitter circumstances. She acknoweledged it was from the hand of God, but she understood her circumtances and went with it. She knew God would somehow provide. She had left with a husband and boys and she came back empty. But we will soon see she left Moab empty and will be filled up.
So she teaches Ruth and Ruth ends up in a relative( close) of Naomis field gleaning in the field for barley, its the harvest and the widows, orphans and foreigners are provided for this way in Israel. It was the law. As she is out there Boaz ( He is strength) notices her asks about her, tells them to leave some extra for her and she provides for Naomi and herself. Boaz finds her character to be humble, hard working, caring, gracious, merciful, and obedient to the law. Next we see Naomi telling Ruth to clean up, put her best dress on and to get over after Boaz eats and lies down to lift the cover from his feet and lie down at his feet. He asks " whats up" and she says she has come to ask protection under his wings so to speak,( proposal of marriage) but he wanting to do the right thing cannot redeem her until he oks it with the closer relative than he. So he goes to the gate where the men sit as witnesses and ask the closer relative to redeem Naomis land and then redeem Ruth. This close relative could not do it so Boaz redeems Naomi and Elimelech land agrees to marry Ruth and have a child to raise up in Ruth and Mahlons name( any other children born would be in Boazs name) At the end of the story we see Naomi with her grandson born to her dead son Mahlon on her breast and all the women naming him Obed( servant) the Lord has blessed Ruth and Boaz but also Naomi and they are redeemed to a new life under the wings of Israel and God. Its a story about a family in the line of Christ but also a story of redemption. Boaz is a type of Christ, he has all the character traits of Christ and she is the Proverbs 31 woman! Her character also points to Christ.
This is such a meaningful story of relationship, salvation, sanctification, and even glorification. Though I cant write all I want in this blog I am overjoyed in the message of this book, and all the richness of the Old Testament. About the kinsman redeemer, the law, and the grace shown. I could go on and on but studying this somewhat in depth gives me such a great persepctive of my life and who God is. It points to such a Soveriegn God with a Soveriegn plan for our lives and He is truly in every detail of it and brings about purpose and pleasure, even from the most bitterness of circumstances.
Blessed Be the Name of the Lord...My Redeemer Lives!

Marriage for 35 years

I dont know where to start. Its been a wonderful journey being married to the best and greatest man in the world. He represents before me a great example of a godly man. He chooses to always do things Gods way and without ever thinkning otherwise. He makes me happy because of that relationship that he has with the Lord but also because of the relationship he as with me and that we have with the Lord. Its always been our foundation in our marriage ..the arch that supports our very being. We learned this early in our marriage that the Lord would always be the Rock we ran to, in good times bad times and ugly times. We did have times that were tough, we had times of great peace, sweetness, happiness, fun, but trying to remember each and every circumstances seems trivial with trying to point out the richness of our relationship.
I lean on Mark alot, always have, he supports me emotionally, spiritually, physically and is my best friend someone I can tell anything to. Within that relationship is the special bond that God created for us which has always from day one been sacred, we have protected our marriage by always getting on our knees always for all things, not just when we were hurting or there was stuff going on. The Lord has been the one to keep us sanctified within this union. I am grateful to the Lord for this and I am grateful to Mark too for his great commitment to me in this life. Its sometimes a very hard journey when life throws many roadblocks along the way, but its in these times we depend on the Lord for teaching us what we must know as His people. I know that 35 years is a milestone and possibly many more years to go but I am grateful for those 35 years to Mark and mostly to the Lord how He has shown His goodness to us.
My husband is patient , kind , good, thoughtful, dependent, strong, dedicated, diligent and most of all loving, I could never ask for more than that . I love him with all my heart and desire to be a better wife to him everyday. Happy # 35 Mark!!! June 22,2008
So many memories, when we left the church hand in hand with the biggest smiles on the planet in the back of the old cadilac.....I knew that my life would be full...and it is because you are in it.
I love you!

God Sovereign Reign

Heard a really great message this week about Gods Sovereignty. It really impressed upon my heart the need to let things be according to Gods will and not my own. We so think we control our lives when in realitiy He is in His perfect will brining about His perfect purposes in our lives. Its about our sancitification, about our holiness about our maturity. Its about our willingness to let Him be completely in control of all things. Yes he works together with my will as it turns toward His will that is perfect and even in the sin He brings about good for His purpose. Even when I sin, when I totally mess up , HE brings about good from it, even if its to teach or discipline or grow from it. But in His love and goodness and gracious lovingkindess, and patience with me He brings about more purity in my heart to overshadow all the darkness that sometimes enters there. He holds me perfectly in His hands, He has the whole world in His hands and His purposes are above knowing because He is infinite and all knowing and Sovereign in all the affairs of men, nations, leaders, and especially in the hearts of His people. I am grateful that He is my God, the same God of Abraham , Isaac and Jacob( and Joseph) who was a great example of that Sovereign reign in their lives as well and the story told which is His story about Himself in the lives of people. Holy Be Thy name Oh Lord.

Passionate Purging

You have heard of purging your sin? Meaning to confess, repent and trust the Lord with your heart and life? Well I think that what is in your heart is who you really are. I have been contemplating the undisciplined areas of my life and giving them to the Lord to help me change my thinking and my poor patterns or habits that clutter my life. I am Shedding, decluttering, and redirecting, and I am working on real organizing in my life. I have started purging the unneccessary things in my life, and in my house. I realize we have to much stuff( really unwanted stuff ) after 35 years of marriage. Its amazing all the stuff we just accumlate and dont take much thought as its pushed back into the very back of the closet... Its like that book " My heart Christs Home"... there are closets and drawers I wouldnt want anyone to enter. Its not only disorganized but has " old stuff I never use" or "will never use". I am dissappointed in myself as to not be disciplined in this area. I came across a secular article that though its really alot of physco babble it made sense. It was a book by Julie Morgenstern" When Orgainzing isnt Enough" Shed your stuff, change your life! Sounds like an awesome Bible study to me!
S H E D
separate treasures...
heave the trash
embrace your identity
drive yourself forward

The challenge was to see if you could get your stuff down to 100 things you really need! I dont think I can but I took the challenge to begin and to try and make changes.
Like sin in my life...purging it is the key, I need to be separated in my heart to Christ, because He is my treasure, I need to heave ho the sin( trash) that does not benefit me, I need to embrace my life in Christ and my identity in Him. I need to drive forward in hope looking forward to my life with Him in eternity.
If I keep my focus on what is important and recognize that as the Holy Spirit changes my heart to be holy, that I can also change and redirect my clutter in my home as well.
What is the benefit of recognizing this about myself do you think? Well, its an undisciplined area I need change in, and in the long run, I will not feel that I am living in clutter that someone else will have to clean up after me later when I am in heaven, and I think it serves a purpose of how I feel about my home and how I maneuver around it . Temporary as it may be in this life it is still important because it reflects what is in my heart( its an attitude of I dont care when I clutter and am disoraganized) and that does not seem honoring to my Lord. If I allow Him to make changes in me, and in my life I must be willing to make the outward changes as well that reflect what He is doing inside me.
For instance, if we let the yard go outside and never trimmed the bushes or mowed the lawn or let the weeds grow up , it reflects an attitude of not caring, not caring that its been let go and not caring if the neighbors are mad which does not send a very Christlike message to them either. The same as the inside and the clutter within...it reflects a heart condition, a lack of discipline or even laziness maybe in my case. Thats not what I want..its time to change it and with the Lord enabling me to do the right thing I am challenged to move forward representing Him with my very best. I am ready to SHED...ready to declutter, to redirect, and to take back my closets and my space, without looking back. Can I acheive 100 items to live with only? I doubt it but it sure would be nice!

Put it to rest

I went to a church event tonite, I had gone thru a program called partners, sort of a gospel, fundamentals of the faith program. One of the chapters talked Biblically how a church is set up, but the church is not set up like one of the chapters in the program outlines. So I asked the asst pastor about that chapter and he said they have elders its just all the paid staff pastors. They are not accountable to the congregation. They dont have a consititution, they arent set up for member ship and I think they should take that chapter out due to integrity of the church. My question to myself is am I being so hard nosed about it and is it an essential issue. I guess not really because each church is free to set up there own way as long as their is elders of some kind. My issue is that they are all paid staff making decisions for the church and no congregational input or accountablity. It seems that there could be a conflict in decision making. I know that the asst pastor is a marketing guy who pushes the church that direction of programs and programs and programs. Nothing wrong with that I suppose but its just market driven and I struggle with that so much. Seeker friendly, yes, nothing wrong with that either but it just needs to stay with the right emphasis. Anyway, I guess I did not agree but I didnt say so, doctrinely I dont think the church is set up like it should be. But is that not the responisblity of the staff> I think so. I dont think its compromising for myself if the staff runs like they think so. I need to let it go and pray the Lord will work it through the right way. Lord help me put it to rest and rest in YOu and make you the focus and center of my worship and not be so easily distracted by trivial things that bother me so. I need to let it go and put it to rest, and rest in YOu alone. Thank you Lord that know all about it.

Forgiveness

The question came up in a blog discusion " What if I cant forgive myself?" is that biblical? In doing a little searching about that no where did I find in the bible that we need to do that. Mainly because Christ does the forgiving and also took the sin on Himself on our behalf 2 cor.5:21 and many more verses that support that. Because of all the self help books and the Dr. Dobson psyscho babble we are always talking about self esteem but really the biggest problem comes from pride or the need for flattery or consoling words as a salve for the hurt that guilt has caused to their pride.
I came across an article that helped me understand this about forgiveness. by Jay Adams
he writes:
The problem is not self-forgiveness. Their expressed agaony stems from the very fact that, in the worst way, they want to forgive themselves. They want to put it all behind them, they want to bury it once and for all..... The problem is that people who talk this way recognize something more needs to be done. forgiveness is just the beginning; it clears away the guilt. They recognize that they are still the same persons who did the wrong--- that though they are forgiven, they have not changed. Without being able to articulate it, and using instead the jargon they have heard all around them , they are crying out for the change that will assure them they will never do anything like it again. When as a counselor, I help them to deal with the problems in their lives that led to the wrong, in such a way that they lead a more biblical lifestyle, I then ask" Are you still having trouble forgiving yourself? Invariably , they say no.
unquote
I again think forgiveness is strictly due to the Savior and its to the cross I run and to the cross I cling because He has gained forgiveness for me through His precious blood.
2 cor 2;10-11

Forgiveness restores joy like nothing else can

2 Cor2:7
Ps 51
Ezek:18:23,32, 33:11
Lam 3:33
Isa: 4:23 cf, Matt 12:20
Isa 57:15-19 God delights to revive and uplift the heart of the contrite
And fulness of joy 1 john 1:4
Gal 5:22

Forgiveness affirms love
Forgiveness proves obedience
Frogiveness revitalizes fellowship
Forgiveness thwarts Satan

it is essential....forgiveness....to the cross I cling!