1Thessalonians 5:16-22
Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not put out the Spirit's fire; do not treat prophecies with contempt. Test everything. Hold on to the good. Avoid every kind of evil.
Good morning Zebras.
Yesterday I had a weird paradigm shift.
I have always had a hip problem because I was hit by a car as a child, but lately it has gotten worse. The pain has really begun to restrict my movements. Things like putting on socks and tying shoes have become very difficult. Taking both Tylenol and Motrin seems to help.
Yesterday I woke up, took my medicine and decided to go for a walk. I didn't get very far before I started freaking out. Since I have now seen the x-ray of my leg I know what is going on inside and I started getting concerned that walking three miles up and down hills might not be a good idea. For all I knew my body was screaming "STOP! STOP!, but I couldn't hear it because I had taken something to suppress its natural warning system.
So I turned around and went home.
God has given us the Holy Spirit as an internal warning device. He is supposed to teach and correct us and guide us into all truth, But just like the Motrin dulled the pain I think our disinterest, disobedience and sin dulls the Holy Spirit.
It's not that He is not talking, it is just that we can't hear.
This morning I decided not to take any pain medication because I wanted to hear what my body was saying. And it hurts, but every time it does I think: "Dear Lord make me as aware of Your presence in my life as I am of this pain. Let Your Spirit correct and guide me, limiting my activities and preventing me from doing anything that would dishonor You or cause me harm."
Love,
Jill
Friday, August 6, 2010
Monday, August 2, 2010
Turn Aside and Look
Mark 1:44-45
and He said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.
Good morning Zebras,
Now that the retreat is over I can start sharing with all of you what God taught me as I was preparing. I didn't want to tell you before because I didn't want to ruin it for those people who were able to attend.
I struggle with keeping what God is teaching me to myself. I just want to tell everyone everything, but that is not what God wants. He wants me to wait until the proper time.
And I think the time is now.
As I as preparing for the retreat God was showing me such amazing truths about Himself. I was completely humbled and I asked Him "Why Lord would You show these things to someone like me?
As an answer He took me to the third chapter of Exodus.
It was during the study of Exodus, through Bible Study Fellowship nine years ago, that God convicted me about personal quiet time. He said VERY clearly that I needed to get up early everyday and spend time in His Word. And for the most part that has been my pattern ever since.
So when He took me back to Exodus to answer my question it was like going home.
We all know the story, God is calling to Moses from a bush that is on fire but doesn't burn up. Moses wanders over to look and God speaks to him. Then God gives Moses his instructions: go and set the Israelites free from the slavery of Egypt. After a little bit of arguing Moses obeys and his life is changed forever.
BSF uses the New International Version of the Bible but recently I have switched to the New American Standard. So when I looked up this familiar passage it was written with different words. See if you can see the difference.
So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."
So Moses said, "I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up."
In the NIV Moses resolved to go to see a strange sight. In the NASB he was compelled to go to see a marvelous sight. Subtle differences.
Many people resolve to go and see the strange sight of God but after awhile they lose interest. They lose their resolve and start looking around at other things.
The reason that God shows me truths about Himself is that I listen. I turned aside to look when He told me to and I continue to do so everyday.
If your relationship with God is not what you want it to be you have no one to blame but yourself. He is there and He is marvelous you need to turn aside and look.
Love,
Jill
and He said to him, "See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."
But he went out and began to proclaim it freely and to spread the news around, to such an extent that Jesus could no longer publicly enter a city, but stayed out in unpopulated areas; and they were coming to Him from everywhere.
Good morning Zebras,
Now that the retreat is over I can start sharing with all of you what God taught me as I was preparing. I didn't want to tell you before because I didn't want to ruin it for those people who were able to attend.
I struggle with keeping what God is teaching me to myself. I just want to tell everyone everything, but that is not what God wants. He wants me to wait until the proper time.
And I think the time is now.
As I as preparing for the retreat God was showing me such amazing truths about Himself. I was completely humbled and I asked Him "Why Lord would You show these things to someone like me?
As an answer He took me to the third chapter of Exodus.
It was during the study of Exodus, through Bible Study Fellowship nine years ago, that God convicted me about personal quiet time. He said VERY clearly that I needed to get up early everyday and spend time in His Word. And for the most part that has been my pattern ever since.
So when He took me back to Exodus to answer my question it was like going home.
We all know the story, God is calling to Moses from a bush that is on fire but doesn't burn up. Moses wanders over to look and God speaks to him. Then God gives Moses his instructions: go and set the Israelites free from the slavery of Egypt. After a little bit of arguing Moses obeys and his life is changed forever.
BSF uses the New International Version of the Bible but recently I have switched to the New American Standard. So when I looked up this familiar passage it was written with different words. See if you can see the difference.
So Moses thought, "I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up."
So Moses said, "I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up."
In the NIV Moses resolved to go to see a strange sight. In the NASB he was compelled to go to see a marvelous sight. Subtle differences.
Many people resolve to go and see the strange sight of God but after awhile they lose interest. They lose their resolve and start looking around at other things.
The reason that God shows me truths about Himself is that I listen. I turned aside to look when He told me to and I continue to do so everyday.
If your relationship with God is not what you want it to be you have no one to blame but yourself. He is there and He is marvelous you need to turn aside and look.
Love,
Jill
Friday, July 30, 2010
Sacrificed to Idols
Romans 14:14
As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
1 Corinthians 8:8
But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
Good morning Zebras,
This is another z-mail that I hesitate to write because I think the subject matter that I will be dealing with is a volatile one for women. So please pray before you read this that God allows you to see clearly what I am trying to say.
Food has always been my best friend and my worst enemy. I have had a battle with it my whole life. It was my greatest comfort through the most difficult times of my life and the weight I would gain would be both an insulation from the world and my greatest source of shame.
I would resolve to get it under control, and I would, but there was never the easy relationship with it that I desired. I knew I was one Oreo away from "the fall."
Something that God had made for me to enjoy had become a snare and an idol.
This week especially as I was preparing for the retreat I knew I could have nothing in my life that would keep me from hearing God, no unconfessed sins, no disagreements with others and certainly no idols, so I adopted the "Daniel diet." because hearing God speak was way more important then what I ate.
And because of that God gave me insight into my problem.
Those foods that were idols for me are not ones that I can eat. Even though I believe in my heart that no food is "bad" they are for me. They are too associated with the sins of unbelief and fear. They are triggers that set me off and need to be avoided.
The same is true of dieting.
I was put on my first diet by my mother when I was nine. My weight as a child was a source of family conflict. When I lost weight in High School my dad's comment was "You finally look like a girl." In my mind thinness and love are linked and that is wrong and untrue. God loves me because He loves me and He will love me fat and He will love me thin because His love is not dependent upon me it is dependent upon Him.
And the same is true of you.
Love,
Jill
As one who is in the Lord Jesus, I am fully convinced that no food is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for him it is unclean.
1 Corinthians 8:8
But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do.
Good morning Zebras,
This is another z-mail that I hesitate to write because I think the subject matter that I will be dealing with is a volatile one for women. So please pray before you read this that God allows you to see clearly what I am trying to say.
Food has always been my best friend and my worst enemy. I have had a battle with it my whole life. It was my greatest comfort through the most difficult times of my life and the weight I would gain would be both an insulation from the world and my greatest source of shame.
I would resolve to get it under control, and I would, but there was never the easy relationship with it that I desired. I knew I was one Oreo away from "the fall."
Something that God had made for me to enjoy had become a snare and an idol.
This week especially as I was preparing for the retreat I knew I could have nothing in my life that would keep me from hearing God, no unconfessed sins, no disagreements with others and certainly no idols, so I adopted the "Daniel diet." because hearing God speak was way more important then what I ate.
And because of that God gave me insight into my problem.
Those foods that were idols for me are not ones that I can eat. Even though I believe in my heart that no food is "bad" they are for me. They are too associated with the sins of unbelief and fear. They are triggers that set me off and need to be avoided.
The same is true of dieting.
I was put on my first diet by my mother when I was nine. My weight as a child was a source of family conflict. When I lost weight in High School my dad's comment was "You finally look like a girl." In my mind thinness and love are linked and that is wrong and untrue. God loves me because He loves me and He will love me fat and He will love me thin because His love is not dependent upon me it is dependent upon Him.
And the same is true of you.
Love,
Jill
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Serenity Prayer
God, grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Good morning Zebras,
Today's verse is not a verse at all but a prayer written as part of a sermon in 1934 by Reinhold Niebuhr.
Until this morning I didn't know that. All I knew was that it was a nice prayer that had hung on the wall of our kitchen when I was a child which is often referred to as the "Serenity Prayer."
Lately I have been thinking a lot about that prayer so I was pleased to find out it was Biblical in origin. I thought it must be because what it is praying for are things that agree with Biblical principles.
God promises us wisdom in James 1:5, reassures us that He gives us peace in John 14:1, and He challenges us to have courage as we meditate on His word in Joshua 1:6-9.
The key of course is knowing God and meditating on and applying His Word.
Which would explain why, even though the prayer was on the wall, I grew up in a home where there was no peace, no courage and no wisdom. Because there was no God.
God's Word without an understanding of God can quickly turn into cute little sayings on dish towels along with "God helps those who help themselves." and Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime," neither of which are from the Bible.
There are a lot of things in life I would like to change. Most of them are outside of my reach. In fact everything is out of my reach except for me.
A truly wise person realizes the only thing that they can change is themselves, and then only with the Holy Spirit's power, and confidently leaves everything else in the capable hands of God.
Love,
Jill
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Good morning Zebras,
Today's verse is not a verse at all but a prayer written as part of a sermon in 1934 by Reinhold Niebuhr.
Until this morning I didn't know that. All I knew was that it was a nice prayer that had hung on the wall of our kitchen when I was a child which is often referred to as the "Serenity Prayer."
Lately I have been thinking a lot about that prayer so I was pleased to find out it was Biblical in origin. I thought it must be because what it is praying for are things that agree with Biblical principles.
God promises us wisdom in James 1:5, reassures us that He gives us peace in John 14:1, and He challenges us to have courage as we meditate on His word in Joshua 1:6-9.
The key of course is knowing God and meditating on and applying His Word.
Which would explain why, even though the prayer was on the wall, I grew up in a home where there was no peace, no courage and no wisdom. Because there was no God.
God's Word without an understanding of God can quickly turn into cute little sayings on dish towels along with "God helps those who help themselves." and Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime," neither of which are from the Bible.
There are a lot of things in life I would like to change. Most of them are outside of my reach. In fact everything is out of my reach except for me.
A truly wise person realizes the only thing that they can change is themselves, and then only with the Holy Spirit's power, and confidently leaves everything else in the capable hands of God.
Love,
Jill
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Little Differences
Matthew 28:20b
I am with you always, even to the end of the age.
Good morning Zebras,
Yesterday I was praying for my son Nick who was on the way home from his mission trip. I was praying because he was riding home in a van with nine other people from Arizona and I knew they were all tired and the ride could easily become unpleasant so I prayed "Dear Lord, please be with them on their ride home."
Immediately God corrected me.
"Jill," He said, "I am ALWAYS with Nick, that's not the correct prayer. The correct prayer would be: Dear Lord, Please let Nick and the others on the mission trip be aware of Your presence and draw upon Your strength to be kind and loving with one another even though they are tired."
Now I know God knew what I was asking and I don't think He corrected me because I was "wrong" I think He corrected me because I have been praying to see Him more clearly and to know and understand Him more. To see Him for who He truly is.
People always pray for God to be with them, but it's unnecessary. God is omnipresent, He is everywhere all the time. The last thing Jesus said to His disciples after He gave them The Great Commission, to go and make disciples of all men, was the reassurance that He would be with them always.
Isn't that comforting? It is to me.
Dear Lord,
Thank you that You are with me as I write this and also with my Zebra sisters when they read it.
Thank you that You are everywhere all the time. Because of that we know there is nothing that happens to us that You do not know about or allow.
Dear Lord, please help us to be as aware of You as You are of us, to be constantly strengthened by Your presence as You walk with us through every second of the day.
Love,
Jill
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
God's Lap
1 John 1:5-7
This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
Good morning Zebras,
For the past few days I have been taking care of someone as they recover from knee surgery. To do this I had to relocate to their house because they cannot be alone.
The other day Gary, my husband, came over to relieve me and let me go home to take a shower and see my "moodles." Of course the shower was the second priority in my mind, I couldn't wait to see Joshua and Abigail.
When I got home they greeted me with wiggly bodies, wagging stumps and happy squeaks.
Since I had a little extra time, I grabbed a book, hopped up in a chair and invited them to join me. They settled down on my lap and we were having a wonderful time until Joshua decided to sniff a part of Abigail that she didn't want sniffed and a fight ensued.
I was so disappointed, their "sin" was ruining our time together. Just like our sin ruins our time with God.
God is Holy and He cannot fellowship with sin. That's why at the Fall He had to throw Adam out of the garden. And us with Him.
But the completed work of Jesus Christ gave us a way back in.
1John 1: 8-9 If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Do you ever feel like God has tossed you out of His lap? Check to see if there is any unconfessed sins in your life, repent and jump back in. It's a great place to be.
Love,
Jill
This is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light; in Him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. But if we walk in light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, His Son, purifies us from all sin.
Good morning Zebras,
For the past few days I have been taking care of someone as they recover from knee surgery. To do this I had to relocate to their house because they cannot be alone.
The other day Gary, my husband, came over to relieve me and let me go home to take a shower and see my "moodles." Of course the shower was the second priority in my mind, I couldn't wait to see Joshua and Abigail.
When I got home they greeted me with wiggly bodies, wagging stumps and happy squeaks.
Since I had a little extra time, I grabbed a book, hopped up in a chair and invited them to join me. They settled down on my lap and we were having a wonderful time until Joshua decided to sniff a part of Abigail that she didn't want sniffed and a fight ensued.
I was so disappointed, their "sin" was ruining our time together. Just like our sin ruins our time with God.
God is Holy and He cannot fellowship with sin. That's why at the Fall He had to throw Adam out of the garden. And us with Him.
But the completed work of Jesus Christ gave us a way back in.
1John 1: 8-9 If we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
Do you ever feel like God has tossed you out of His lap? Check to see if there is any unconfessed sins in your life, repent and jump back in. It's a great place to be.
Love,
Jill
Friday, July 16, 2010
Redeemed
1 Corinthians 6:19-2
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Good morning Zebras,
A few months ago my daughter Katherine got a traffic ticket. She was going a little too fast on her way to church with her brother in the car. Since she is driving on a provisional license the officer cited her for both speeding and having a passenger in the car.
She knew she was speeding, but she had thought that she could drive her brother since she had a note from me giving her permission to do so. But the officer informed her that she is only allowed to drive a sibling to and from school, to and from work, and in case of an emergency. Driving him to church did not qualify. According to the law she was guilty.
On Wednesday she had to go to court.
When I picked her up I noticed she looked particularly nice. She was wearing her favorite dress. When I commented on how nice she looked she told me that she was wearing the same dress that she had got the ticket in. Basically she was trying to redeem it.
Lately God has been showing me that I don't spend enough time thinking about the cross. I think of the gospel message as something "the lost" need. But in reality it is what we all need everyday.
We all need to know and really understand that God knew every sinful thing we have ever done or will ever do, those we did on accident and those we did on purpose, and He loved us still. He loved us so much that He wanted to redeem us from what we deserved. And to do that He had to sacrifice His Son.
We need to understand that apart from the cross we couldn't even talk to God. We need to understand who God is and who we are. We need to understand God did everything and we did nothing. And because of that we owe Him our life.
God is not lucky to have us on His team, we are lucky that He allows us to play.
Love,
Jill
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
Good morning Zebras,
A few months ago my daughter Katherine got a traffic ticket. She was going a little too fast on her way to church with her brother in the car. Since she is driving on a provisional license the officer cited her for both speeding and having a passenger in the car.
She knew she was speeding, but she had thought that she could drive her brother since she had a note from me giving her permission to do so. But the officer informed her that she is only allowed to drive a sibling to and from school, to and from work, and in case of an emergency. Driving him to church did not qualify. According to the law she was guilty.
On Wednesday she had to go to court.
When I picked her up I noticed she looked particularly nice. She was wearing her favorite dress. When I commented on how nice she looked she told me that she was wearing the same dress that she had got the ticket in. Basically she was trying to redeem it.
Lately God has been showing me that I don't spend enough time thinking about the cross. I think of the gospel message as something "the lost" need. But in reality it is what we all need everyday.
We all need to know and really understand that God knew every sinful thing we have ever done or will ever do, those we did on accident and those we did on purpose, and He loved us still. He loved us so much that He wanted to redeem us from what we deserved. And to do that He had to sacrifice His Son.
We need to understand that apart from the cross we couldn't even talk to God. We need to understand who God is and who we are. We need to understand God did everything and we did nothing. And because of that we owe Him our life.
God is not lucky to have us on His team, we are lucky that He allows us to play.
Love,
Jill
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