Compelled by Love

2 Corinthians 5:14-15

For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.

Good morning Zebras,

Last night at Bible study we discussed the first seven verses of Revelation chapter 2 where Jesus is talking to the church at Ephesus. They had done a lot of good things, probably more good things than most of the modern American churches and yet Jesus' judgment against them was extremely severe. He tells them: If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place. Basically, if you do not repent and change I am going to take you out.

So what had they done wrong? Only one thing. They had left their first love.

This morning I woke up thinking about it.

The love of God is what the Christian faith is based upon and that is why it is so important.

Christ was so compelled by love that He lived His entire life without sin. Because one sin would have disqualified Him from what He was sent to do. One angry word, one angry thought, one slip of the tongue and we would all be lost.

Do we have that type of love?

Are we so compelled by the love of Christ that we would do anything for Him? Or maybe not do something? Do we have the mindset of Paul who writes: To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak; I have become all things to all men, so that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel, so that I may become a fellow partaker of it.

I don't, not yet, but I want to.

Love,
Jill

Backup Plan

Proverbs 3:5-7

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.

Good morning Zebras,

Yesterday Katherine got home from camp. While she was gone I did a little research into colleges that she is interested in attending. One of those colleges is Moody Bible Institute. It was recommended by Mike Sexton, the Awana missionary in our area, because it is near Awana headquarters and because it trains kids for full time Christian service.

Since Katherine is passionate about Awana and is considering missions as her life work it seemed like a good fit.

What I found out when I researched Moody is it is a great fit for those kids who are confident that God is calling them into full time ministry work. But it is a bad fit for kids who are not sure because the ONLY thing that Moody teaches, as far as I could tell, was Christian service.

They do not offer majors in business, English, computers, premed or pre-law. They do not even offer a credentialing program for teachers. They do not offer anything that the world would pay for. All they offer is training to serve God. And no backup plan if serving God doesn't work out.

That struck me as sort of scary. But why should it. Does God really need a backup plan?

Obviously He doesn't. But too often we live as if He does.

One of the great benefits of fearing the Lord is realizing how very powerful He is and learning to believe that He is more than capable to take care of EVERYTHING that concerns us.

Have a great weekend little Zebras, hopefully I'll talk to you Monday.

Love,
Jill

Building the Wall

John 9:4

As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.

Good morning Zebras,

The last lesson I have the privilege of teaching next week at camp is about Nehemiah. Nehemiah is the last of the historical books of the Old Testament. It tells the story of Nehemiah a man burden by God with the task of rebuilding the walls around Jerusalem.

Israel had been taken into captivity, because of their unfaithfulness, and after seventy years they were finally being allowed to return to Jerusalem. However, the wall that had protected the city had been destroyed so the city was not safe and not many Israelites were returning. Those that had were in great trouble and distress.

When Nehemiah heard this he sat down and wept and after praying and fasting he sought permission from his boss, the Persian king, to go and rebuild the wall.

And because the gracious hand of my God was upon me, the king granted my requests.

So Nehemiah went and the wall was rebuilt in fifty-two days.

As I was reading the story I thought about the state of God’s church and the purpose of walls. Walls were built to keep out the enemy, to protect the people and to keep them safe. And I had to wonder if my personal wall of faith was well built.

I don’t know if every city has an emergency warning system, but we do. It is a siren, much like the ones from WWII that were used during air raids, and last night it went off.

When I heard it my first thought was, “This is it.”

Of course it wasn’t otherwise I wouldn’t be writing to you, but for just a moment I thought God was coming back and it was all over.

This morning as I was praying about how to make a story about an old man rebuilding a wall 2500 years ago exciting to high school girls God reminded me of the siren.

There will come a day when it will be over. God will come and that will be it. It will be too late for any last minute repairs.

Ephesians 6:13 Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.

Love,
Jill

Aware of His Presence

James 1:5-6a

If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him. But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt

Good morning Zebras,

With the kids gone to camp the moodles (mutt-poodles) are sleeping with Gary and me. I thought I would like it, but it is actually disturbing my sleep. They are not content to sleep at the foot of the bed like the dogs on TV. So every time I move I have to take them into consideration.

All night long I was aware of their presence.

And that’s how it should be with God. Not in a bad, big-brother-looking-over-your-shoulder-going-to-hit you-with-a-lightning-bolt-if-you-misbehave way. But in a God-is-always-with-you-watching-over-you- taking-care-of-you-guiding-you-to-make-the-right -decisions way.

Thursday’s lesson next week at camp will be about Ruth, a young Gentile woman who through a serious of correct choices ended up being in the lineage of Jesus.

I’m sure if you had asked her she would never have imagined that was her destiny, I mean she wasn’t even Jewish. But she just obeyed everyday what she was asked to do and God guided her path.

And the same is true of us.

We have no idea what God has planned for us. But He does.

Jeremiah 29:11 11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

And although it would be nice if He told us what the plans were, He doesn’t .He just guides us daily to make the decisions that keep us going in the right direction.

God loves you little Zebras and He has plans for you-never forget that or get discouraged, just obey, trusting God for the outcome.

Love,
Jill

Living in a Fish

Jonah 2:8-9

"Those who cling to worthless idols forfeit the grace that could be theirs. But I, with a song of thanksgiving, will sacrifice to you. What I have vowed I will make good. Salvation comes from the LORD."

Good morning Zebras,

Wednesday's lesson at camp is about Jonah. Another famous story that we all know.

Jonah was a Jewish prophet who was told by God to go to the city of Nineveh and tell the Gentiles who lived there to repent. But Jonah didn't want to go to Nineveh so he went by boat to Tarshish instead. The Lord caused a great wind to come upon the ship forcing the sailors to reluctantly throw Jonah overboard where God had conveniently provided a large fish to swallow him. After three days in the belly of the fish Johan changed his mind and agreed to go to Nineveh and the Lord commanded the fish to vomit Jonah out on dry land.

There is more to the story, this is only the first two chapters, and I encourage you to read it if you haven't in awhile but this is the part that always seems to capture every one's attention because nobody wants to end up in the belly of a whale.

But maybe we are already there. We have just decorated it so nicely we don't notice.

This morning I was praying about how to make such a well known story alive and relevant to high school girls. I mean they are teenagers. God hasn't told them to go to Nineveh. He probably hasn't given them any great thing to do that they have refused.

And then God spoke.

God's discipline does not just apply to the great tasks in life it applies to the small ones as well. And just because He hasn't thrown any of us in a fish doesn't mean He isn't dealing with our disobedience.

Love,
Jill

Have Faith

2 Timothy 1:12b

Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day.

Good morning Zebras,

Every day at camp the kids are given a verse to memorize that ties in with the Bible lesson. This is Tuesday's verse and the lesson it relates to is the story of Daniel.

We all know about Daniel. Taken into captivity as a young man he refused to defile himself with the king's food either because it had been sacrificed to idols or because it was not prepared to the the dietary laws that God required of the Jewish people. Later he refused to bow down and worship the king and he was thrown into a lion's den.

Both times God went before Daniel and protected him. But the question remains: How could Daniel be so brave?

The answer is in today's verse.

Daniel knew who he believed in. He knew God. He knew what God expected of His people and did it. He knew obeying God was WAY more important than obeying the king. He didn't make a big deal about it, he didn't demand that everyone around him do it, he just did what he knew he was supposed to do and let God do the rest.

Love,
Jill

Role Models

Philippians 3:17

Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

Good morning Zebras,

I am getting ready to go to camp next week where I will be teaching the high school girls so that is where my energy is focused but I didn't want to you to think I have forgotten about you so I decided just to share with you what I will be sharing with the girls.

The series I will be teaching is called "Men and Women of God."

The first lesson is about, idols, role models, examples and heroes with the following goals: to see the value of studying the lives of men and women of God, to make students want to learn more about the people whose lives God approved and to evaluate their heroes by God's standards with the overall aim of inspiring students to approach Bible study with enthusiasm.

In 1992, someone calculated how a typical lifespan of 70 years is spent. Here is the estimate:
Sleep - 23 years
Work - 16 years
Television - 8 years
Eating - 6 years
Travel - 6 years
Leisure - 4.5 years
Illness - 4 years
Dressing - 2 years
Religion - 0.5 years
And this was before Facebook, Twitter and "texting."

So how exciting is Bible study and trying to live a life pleasing to God compared to all the world has to offer?

The honest answer is VERY, I just hope I can get them to see it.

Love,
Jill

Looking at Snakes

John 16:33

(Jesus speaking)"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."

Good afternoon Zebras,

Tuesday night in Bible study we started the book of Revelations and I have already learned something.

Many of you probably know the story of the snakes in the desert. (Numbers 21:4-9) Israel had been complaining against God again so He brought venomous snakes to attack them. Of course once they were surrounded by snakes they cried out to God for help. So God took pity on them and told Moses to take a snake and hang it on a pole and everyone who looked at it would be saved.

This is often referred to as a picture of salvation, and it is. John 3:13-15 explains it very clearly. Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the desert, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.

But what struck me on Tuesday was that this isn't just a picture of salvation, it is a picture of the victorious Christian life.

The Israelites prayed for God to take away the snakes but He didn't. He left them, but He gave them a way to overcome. They were surrounded by snakes and they had to have enough faith to look up to be healed.

Each of us everyday is surrounded by snakes. There are communal snakes like the economy and world politics but there are also individual snakes known only to us.

If we look down at our snakes they will bite us and eventually overwhelm us robbing us of our joy. But if we look up at Christ we will gain strength and hope.

If you don't believe me try it for yourself. Have a half hour conversation about all the snakes in your life and then have a half hour conversation about God and see which one makes you feel better.

Love,
Jill

Thinking Truth

Philippians 4:8-9

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.

Good morning Zebras,

You might have noticed that I didn't write yesterday. God did not give me access to a computer so, as my sister said, I got a day off. But this morning I have a computer available and something God wants me to share so here goes.

Saturday at our Zebra meeting Dawn, my sister, said she hadn't looked at the verses about fearing God until right before the meeting but that she "had thought about it all month." Tuesday on the phone she told that "thinking" about the fear of God was why she was depressed.

My sister will tell you that she and I had different childhoods and I would agree. Neither one of them were good, but they weren't the same. When she thinks of "fear" and "father" she has a lot of bad memories. But God is not like our father and He is not defined by our experiences, He is defined by His Word.

All of us have past experiences that are bad and we all believe things that are not true. But the only way to correct wrong thinking is to replace it with truth. And the only way to do that is to read the Word of God.

Thinking about what you already know about a situation without making sure that it is true is a mistake. It will only depress you. What Dawn should have done, and she agrees, is to read what God says about fear and think about that.

Love,
Jill

P.S. If you would like to join a discussion on this topic please go to the Zebra Ministires Facebook page and click on the discussion tab. If you are not able to make a comment send a friend request to Jill Getchell so that I can accept you.

Church of Man

Hebrews 12:14

Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

Good morning Zebras,

Last night at dinner Gary, my husband, asked me if I had heard of the "Church of Man." I hadn't but this morning I was prompted to look it up.

The slogan for the Church of Man is "Be More, Be Human" and their objective is to find the least common denominator from all the humanities' varied culture to arrive at a basic system of acceptable behavior, understanding and mortality.

Although, that is not at all Biblical, I think, if we are honest with ourselves, we would agree that it is a frighteningly accurate description of the current state of God's church - at least in America.

God has called us to be Holy because He is Holy, to be set apart, consecrated for service, and separate from the world. But that is not what I see.

I see a church that blends in so well with the world that it is hard to tell the believers from the nonbelievers.

And why is that?

I think it is because we have not been taking God seriously.

One of the best by-products of my study on fearing God is an increased desire to take God seriously, and the motivation to deal with habitual sins in my life that I have previously ignored.

For example no one on the planet can frustrate me faster than my son Nick. I love him to death, but for some reason he has the ability to push my buttons and because of that I often lose my temper with him.

Until recently I felt that as long as I was "in the right" it was okay to yell at him. Last week God showed me I was wrong. Yelling at Nick, for any reason, is sin. Period. And I need to stop. because sin, any sin, no matter how "small" is repulsive to God.

God does not call us to look to ourselves and establish a moral code, He calls us to look to Him and live up to the code He has already established - holiness.

Love,
Jill

Not So Bad

Romans 5:6-8

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Good morning Zebras,

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.

I have so many things to write to you, I don't know where to start. What I really wish is that we could all get together for coffee and just chat about what God is teaching us, but since that is not possible I will have to settle for this.

As you know for the last month I have been pursuing what it means to fear the Lord because once I saw all the blessing attached to that command I wanted to get it right.

The first thing I realized was to really fear God I needed to have a better understanding of who He is. So I started just thinking about who God is and Holy came to mind.

God is, above all things Holy. The adjective holy is used to describe God's name more often in the Old Testament than all the other qualifying adjectives put together.

But why is that important?

I think it is important for a couple of reasons. First, since God is holy, there is nothing in Him that is evil. Everything about God is pure and perfect. So I can be confident that everything He does is pure and perfect.

And second when we see how holy God really is, we understand how unholy we are.

Gary, my husband, once told me that I didn't really understand how "bad" I was in God's eyes. And he was right. I mean I'm not a murder, I haven't done anything "really" wrong. I think most people would say I am basically a "good" person. But not by God's standard.

By God's standard I am so far from good I can't even get there. And that's the point.

Love,
Jill

Join Us On Facebook

Good morning Zebras,

I have been asked in the past to join Facebook and I have always declined. With my personality I knew it could easily become a snare.

A couple of weeks ago a Zebra sister was over and she asked me when was I going to join Facebook.

"Never" was my reply.

And then because she knows me too well, she said "You will when God asks you to." and laughed.

"God will never ask me to join Facebook." I assured her.

But He did. So I am writing to let you know that Zebras is now on Facebook.

Hopefully this will help fulfill what I believe is God's vision for Zebras: to unite all God's women in a single goal; to love, honor and serve Jesus Christ. To give them a sense of being part of something bigger than themselves and the strength and support to grow in their faith.

Sort of a watering hole for the herd.

Then because I wanted to make sure that this was God's plan and not mine I started praying. I prayed that if this s what God really wants from Zebras He would do something to confirm it. I prayed to meet a Zebra I didn't know from Iowa, someone who was encouraged by this Internet ministry.

Today at church I met a Zebra from Nebraska. I figured that was close enough.

Love,
Jill

Personal Responsibility

Hebrews 12:4

In your struggle against sin, you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.

Good morning Zebras,

Take your faith seriously. God will not be mocked.

We are fools to think that we can accept God’s free gift of salvation and continue to live anyway we want. We are foolish to not take our sins more seriously.

Yesterday when I was walking I noticed that many of the cars who passed me did not stop at the stop sign. There were a few “California stops” but there were some people who didn’t even slow down.

“Heck,” I thought “compared to these people, I am a model driver.”

But then God reminded me the standard is not what other people do, but what the law says.

The same is true of our Christian walk. It does not matter if you are better than every single Christian and nonChristian you know. That is not the standard. The standard is Christ.

And there we all fall short.

Nick and I got into a discussion the other day about whether or not he was really trying in school. He thinks he is I think he could do better. I told him he was deluding himself if he thinks he is giving it his all and that he needed to take personal responsibility for his actions and not pretend he is trying harder than he is.

Then God had the same chat with me.

I went downstairs and opened my book to this passage: We must face the fact that we have a personal responsibility for our walk of holiness. One Sunday our pastor in his sermon said words to this effect. “You can put away that habit that has mastered you if you truly desire to do so.” Because he was referring to a particular habit which was no problem to me, I quickly agreed with him. But then the Holy Spirit said to me. “And you can put away the sinful habits that plague you if you will accept your personality responsibility for them.” Acknowledging that I did have this responsibility turned out to be a milestone for me in my own pursuit of holiness.”

Love,
Jill

What if...

Genesis 22:12

"Do not lay a hand on the boy," he said. "Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son."

Good morning Zebras,

Have you ever played the “What if” game?

What if God asked you to give up ALL your money, would you do it? What If God asked you to give up ALL your time, would you do it? What if God asked you to give up your children or grandchildren would you do it?

I think the way we answer these questions shows whether or not we fear God.

The most common response I hear is “God would never ask that.”

But I disagree; I think that is exactly what God is asking. But what I think really doesn't matter, so I’ll just let you read what Jesus’ thinks:

Luke 14:25-35
The Cost of Being a Disciple

Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them He said: "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters—yes, even his own life—he cannot be my disciple. And anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

"Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and is not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and was not able to finish.'

"Or suppose a king is about to go to war against another king. Will he not first sit down and consider whether he is able with ten thousand men to oppose the one coming against him with twenty thousand? If he is not able, he will send a delegation while the other is still a long way off and will ask for terms of peace.In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.

"Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile; it is thrown out.

"He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Following God was never supposed to be easy, we’ve just made it that way.

Love,
Jill

God is Faithful

Joshua 23:14-16

"Now I am about to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the LORD your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed. 15 But just as every good promise of the LORD your God has come true, so the LORD will bring on you all the evil he has threatened, until he has destroyed you from this good land he has given you. 16 If you violate the covenant of the LORD your God, which he commanded you, and go and serve other gods and bow down to them, the LORD's anger will burn against you, and you will quickly perish from the good land he has given you."

Good morning Zebras,

I got up this morning and I felt like I had lost a good friend. Every morning for the past seven weeks I have spent part of my quiet time with Joshua and the Israelites. But last night the Bible study ended so this morning I woke up with a feeling of loss.

I have done seventeen in-depth Bible studies over the last ten years, six with Bible Study Fellowship and eleven with Precepts, and I have to say this study of Joshua was one of the most application rich studies I have done.

Every book in the Bible is written for a specific purpose, which is one reason why it is important to do book studies as well as topical ones. God has a purpose for each book and when you study it in-depth you really get to see it.

Some books state their purpose within the text. The Gospel of John comes to mind because John tells us: But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

Other books are a little more difficult to figure out. I mean who would guess that Philippians, the book written by Paul in prison is the book written to show us that joy comes only from serving God.

My Bible states that the purpose of Joshua is:”to give the history of Israel’s conquest of the Promised Land,” and it does, but it does so much more.

Last night we all agreed a major theme of Joshua is: God is faithful.

The Israelites had waited for over six hundred years to take possession of the Promised Land. During that time God had made a lot of promises and in Joshua He fulfilled them all. He gave them the exact land He had promised Abraham, a land filled with good things they did not provide, and He went before them in battle defeating their enemies eventually giving them rest on all sides. He did everything He said He was going to do.

And that is the way God is. God cannot promise something and not do it. He is not like us. He cannot lie, so if He says it is going to happen, it is going to happen, the good and the bad.

To me that is both comforting and exciting and also a little scary but mainly a HUGE motivator to learn His Word and obey.

Love,
Jill

Run to God

Proverbs 18:10

The name of the LORD is a strong tower, the righteous run to it and are safe.

Good morning Zebras,

Joshua, my sweet little five pound dog isn’t feeling too well this morning. He didn’t eat breakfast and his tummy is making very unusual sounds.

I am sure he will be better soon, but for right now he feels rather crummy and because of that he doesn’t want to leave my side.

Young children do the same thing. When they are sick or injured they run to someone they love. They believe that we will be able to “make it better.”

God, our Father, wants us to do that with Him.

So why don’t we?

I think one reason is we want our problem solved our way and our way might not be God’s way. But I think the other reason is that we really don’t have faith in God’s ability to solve the situation.

Unlike a child or a dog that has blind faith we look at our problem and we look at God and the problem seems bigger. So even though we may “give it to Him” we continue to worry because our view of God is too small.

“One of our problems” according to Jerry Bridges in The Joy of Fearing God “us that we tend to think God is like us-or perhaps like us only more so. We have some power, but we know God has more. We have some wisdom, but God has more. We can handle some circumstance, but we hope God can handle more. We thus limit God to what we can imagine as possibilities.”

But God is not limited to what we can imagine; He is WAY bigger than that. And He tells us that in His Word.

I am finding the best solution for “big problems” is getting to know our BIGGER God.

Love,
Jill