Here’s another good post from Liz Hulley —
In a recent series on dealing with habitual sin, our pastor mentioned that “to confess,” in the original, means “to say the same thing.”
Today I was trying to translate a passage from John 1 (with the help of a dictionary), and I ran into a Greek word I did not know. The first part was “homo” (same). The second part contained “logos” (word). Same word? I could not think of a verb that would correspond in meaning. Continue reading
Here is a good article by Liz Hulley, a friend and long-term missionary to Russia who is currently in the US. It’s from her blog, On Life in St. Petersburg:
I was searching for something non-trashy to watch on television and paused on PBS. A drama was on and I could see rolling hills and 19th century costumes. I hoped it was something uplifting like Jane Austen, and not Tess of the D’Urbervilles which seemed to be on each time I chose this station.
The tv guide described the movie playing as something like, “A girl struggles to improve her life after sorrowful circumstances.” That sounded hopeful.
As the film continued, however, I knew it had to be Tess of the D’Urbervilles. Yet I hadn’t read it since college, and hoped that the ending was happier than I remembered. Perhaps I just wasn’t remembering correctly. Continue reading
I have been thinking about purity of heart and a few scriptures have come to my mind.
Matthew 5:8 — “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
Psalm 24:3,4 — “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.”
Psalm 51:10 — “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”
I believe that purity is related to holiness. Hebrews 12:14 says “. . . without holiness no one will see the Lord.”
Someone who is pure in heart is a person whose thoughts and motives are blameless, someone who does not just do right things but who is also far from anything that defiles.
I also think of a pure diamond: when it is clean and pure, it can reflect light and cast around all kinds of color. When we are pure, then the light of God, when it shines on us, will be reflected in us and shine forth and all will see it and glorify the Lord.
While in America, soon after our marriage in Russia, we wanted to obtain an American marriage certificate in addition to a Russian one. Kent Reynolds, the pastor of St. James UMC in Athens, signed our marriage license. Talking with him and his wife, Sandy, was one the highlights of that trip for me.
We talked about a lot of things concerning service and being a disciple of the Lord. One thing we touched on was that God has a plan for each life. And we need to seek His face and ask Him what it is that He would have us do.
There are so many good things we could do on this earth, but the most important is to do the things God wants us to do. And it may be as small as going to your neighbor and offering a kind word. In God’s eyes there no small or big things, as long as this is what He told you to do.
The Lord may want you to be put aside for Him or used by Him. Whatever it is God is laying on your heart, trust Him and don’t be afraid to make a step. He will be there for you.
A theme for me over the past few years has been Discipline. The word has always had a negative connotation for me; to be disciplined was a bad thing. But recently the Lord has been bringing His discipline to my life, and it has been very good. I won’t say it has always been pleasant, but it has been a blessing.
The first step to understanding the goodness of God’s discipline is accepting Christ’s authority. Jesus teaches the truth about man and God, and there is no other way to understand things of eternal worth than by being a follower of Jesus—a disciple.
How to think about discipline: one very simple analogy has come to mind. When you comb or brush your hair, you bring discipline to it: order, beauty, and rest. It’s a daily discipline that brings obvious results. Failing to practice this discipline also bring obvious results. One must exert a certain amount of force to discipline hair, and it’s always successful when the hair “submits.” And certainly, we don’t comb our hair to punish it or because we are angry with it.
This is a limited analogy, but it helped me to understand that God does not discipline us to injure, limit, or punish us. He disciplines us because He wants us to be beautiful, at peace, and conformed to His perfect will. “God disciplines those He loves.” God loves you, and His love will be shown at times through discipline.
Make no mistake, being disciplined will be unpleasant or difficult much of the time; it involves a death to self and acceptance of God’s will. I’m sure you fail in self-discipline or self-control—we all do to some extent. All of us have qualities which are not pleasing to the Lord, which are sinful, which hinder our ability to know Him more fully and serve the people around us. God says, “Anything that is not of faith, is sin;” and “Be perfect, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” As hair submits to the comb, as a good child submits to loving discipline, so our souls must submit to God’s guidance. And God’s promise is that He will give us abundant life; a life that is much better than our life before His discipline has had its effect.
Here is how this has worked out for me in the past. At one point, I realized that I needed discipline in an area of my life, and I was not able to follow through on my desire to grow in this one area. So, finally, I prayed and said something like “Lord, I do not have the ability to do what is right, I need self-control and self-discipline, but I don’t have it in me. So, I submit to your discipline and ask you to discipline me according to your will. How would you like me to conduct myself? What are specifics that will bring godliness to my life?” Then, I sat there with a piece of paper and a pencil and wrote what I felt the Lord was calling me to. I wrote down four simple things. Then I set my heart to submit to Him. These four things (which are not what I expected to hear) have brought discipline to my life in a very good way. I’m sure that there will be more discipline to come, and I welcome it.
I encourage you to seriously seek God and be willing to accept His discipline. When we know that something is God’s will, we have much more power to persevere. Be willing to change; don’t tell God what to do, and don’t play games with Him. If you falter, remember that His mercies are new every morning; as you grow, thank Him and give Him credit for the good things He does–for He works in us to will and to do His according to His purposes. As a loving child, wait patiently for your Father’s kindness as He raises you to be the person you were created to be.
This Psalm begins with a statement of praise to the Lord. In verse 4 we see why David will continuously praise God: “I sought the Lord, and He answered me.” This is a primary theme of this Psalm: seeking God, being answered by God, and taking refuge in Him. Verse 6 is especially sweet; a poor, afflicted man cries out and the Lord hears.
God is near the broken hearted. He hears the cries of those who are crushed in Spirit. This Psalm teaches some lessons on how to live life, but it primarily teaches us about the character of God. God is not far off, he is not uninterested in the dealings of man. He is attentive. He listens to the cries of the brokenhearted. Jesus walked the streets of this world and turned His ear to the cries of the lepers, the blind, the ill, the sinners. In heaven, the Father turns His ear to the cries of the afflicted ones. The Lord is a deliverer. He is a redeemer.
Sinful man will depend upon his own resources, build his own refuge, exert his will and not look to heaven. This is vanity. God knows that we are weak and vulnerable–even the strongest of men will not be able to stand against the strength of sin. The proud will not be close to God; only the humble and those who know they are weak will cry out and be answered. To be close to the Lord means that we have to die a death, to admit our weakness, our sin, to put aside pride.
“Taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him.” We should take active steps to pursue the goodness of God. Confession, prayer, crying out to the Lord, meditation, silence. The activity of being humble prepares the way for the Lord’s answer. “Seek and you shall find.”
David says that he will teach us the fear of the Lord. Perhaps better stated as reverential awe, Jesus himself tells us to fear the Lord. Why? Because God has the ability to not only destroy our bodies, but also to cast our souls into hell. Jesus then says we are not to fear the Lord–a challenging teaching: to fear and yet not to fear. Yet it is true. Those who seek Him will find that He is a refuge, not a court of condemnation. God protects the humble from His power to bring swift and inescapable punishment which will come to the proud. We either fear men, or we fear the Lord–we are more concerned about what people think of us, or we consider the Lord’s ways as being primary.
How does David teach us? His instructions are simple. Keep your tongue from evil, don’t deceive, flee from evil, do good, seek and pursue peace. How rarely we do these things.
To control the tongue is one of the hardest commands. American culture especially, with emphasis on freedom of speech and with a very ironic, mocking sense of humor, encourages us to speak whatever we feel. But God instructs us to watch our words, to be very careful in what we say. It is possible to speak something that is true but to speak in an evil way. If my enemy has wronged me, I can tell a brother the truth of the matter, but say it in a way that harms my enemy in my brother’s eyes. The Lord says I am to bless my enemies, to pray for those who curse me. All the more so, I should not speak a truth about my brother in an evil way. I should speak only blessing and be cautious, considerate when speaking. Silence can be golden, especially when I have “every right” to speak a harsh truth. So, let us not speak truth in a way that is evil.
Deceit is different, yet involves controlling the tongue: speaking in a way that would hide the truth is speaking in an evil way. The Lord says that we are to let our Yes be Yes, and our No, No. Anything beyond this comes from the evil one. This is a simple teaching that causes tremendous turbulence when put into practice. The world conspires to have us say half truths, to cover the truth for our own convenience. This comes from the evil one. May the Lord give me the strength to tell the truth. Refusing to deceive is costly, for it means being vulnerable and controlling one’s natural tendency to deceive–and then trusting the Lord with the outcome of our honesty.
Seeking peace: The Word says that the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace; blessed are the peacemakers. Peace is not found, it is made; we do not happen upon peace, we make peace. Peace is made by people with it’s source in the Lord’s love, it does not occur naturally in the course of human endeavors. As much as we are able, we are to live at peace with all men. So, we should not be the source of any discord. We should seek, pursue, and make peace in every situation. Even as Jesus’ words cause division by revealing the kingdom of heaven, his role is to make peace between God and man. Jesus did all he could to bring peace to the world, but some men hate the truth and go to war.
Is there discord in your relationships? Make peace. Is there evil in your life that is revealed in disorder and confusion? Make peace. You will be blessed, for you will be called a son of God.
In my daily life with the Lord I find that the part I enjoy most is worship. I am the kind of person who enjoys peaceful and simple songs that speak directly to God and not just about Him. In my prayer time I like to have a tape with a couple of songs that will speak of my love to God. I believe that in His presence we find all we ever need. When I feel His presence all around me, there is nothing else I want. And worship helps us to enter His presence better that anything else.
God said that He was looking for those who would worship Him in Spirit and in truth. He is still looking for these kinds of people. He is still looking for the people like David, people after His own heart, those who will pour their lives before Him.
One song says “In His presence, that’s where I belong, in His presence, that’s where I am strong”. I do believe that our place is in His presence. The Lord longs for us to come and worship Him. He longs for all the people to say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and He will teach us His ways”.
We may do a lot of things for the Lord, things that He has called us to do. But if we don’t meet the greatest need of our hearts, we will not last long. We will dry up. And us coming to His presence is the greatest longing of His heart. After all, He has created us for HIMSELF. He needs our presence with Him.
Mike and Olga Cantrell 