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
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
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
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
Sunday, June 6, 2010
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
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
Friday, June 4, 2010
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
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
Thursday, June 3, 2010
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.
Following God was never supposed to be easy, we’ve just made it that way.
Love,
Jill
"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
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
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
"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
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
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
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
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