THE WEEKLY GRIND

I enJOY my java!!! I love the aroma as it wafts through the air. Many wonderful memories have been made in it's company ... books were read, the warmth of glowing fires were enjoyed and laughter or deep conversation were savored. So let's enjoy the journey over a cup!!

FULL BODIED: Recap of the morning worship service.

BOLD: Random acts of kindness.

SKINNY: My journey towards physical wholeness.

THE PRESS: Building my vocabulary.

BREVE: A "short" devotional.

BARISTA: Serving up new healthy recipes.

THANKS A LATTE: Preparing my heart for Sunday worship.

A GIFT WRAPPED UP IN PERFECTION

Today my blog was supposed to be the next installment of my series on the Word of God- stop FOUR: How the Word of God Encourages Us. I had full intentions of posting according to the plan but something this morning took me on a detour. I hope you will allow me the editorial right to switch things up for the day. I will post stop FOUR tomorrow.

This morning shouldn’t have taken me by surprise considering what today’s topic was. We serve a God that loves to give us gifts wrapped up in perfection!! He knows what we need and when we need it!!

I recently switched my email address and so I haven’t re-subscribed to some of the daily devotionals that I have automatically delivered. At this time I only have one that makes it to my in box. SO today when I was feeling discouraged about our relocating to another state, was feeling alone, frustrated and angry that things haven’t gone according to plan and just wanted to curl up in a blanket and let the day pass by … God broke through!!

The devotional started with a prayer. The parentheses were my thoughts. “Dear God, Thank you for new beginnings. (Okay God you are not funny) Change is not always easy. (Amen to that) I am so glad that you offer us opportunities to change for the better. (I can agree with changing for the better but why this) I trust you because you know the future and you want what is best for us. (Alright God I will check my attitude… I will trust that this is what is best) May we always do your will and walk in your way. I know you will bless us and you will be glorified when we do. (I am listening) In Jesus' name I offer my thanksgiving and praise to you. Amen. (Amen)

Once I had surrendered my attitude to God I was able to be fed by what followed and it completely lifted me from the quagmire of my pity party. The verse of the day was "...Do not stay in the stronghold. Go into the land of Judah ..." (1 Samuel 22:5).

“David and his fighting men had been hiding in the cave of Adullam. He was fleeing Saul. Many of life's down-and-out had come and joined David's army. David was content to stay in the stronghold of safety. Then, God's prophet came to David and told him that he must leave the stronghold and go into the land of Judah. Judah means ‘praise’."

There are times in our lives that can be dark. We find our selves held up in a cave of discouragement. We can become content in staying in our stronghold … it becomes our place of safety. But God wants us to get out of our cave. He wants us to go into the “land of Praise” for there are people waiting for us.

“God is preparing each of us to be the vessel He wants to use in the life of another person, but we will never be that vessel if we give up and hide in our cave of discouragement. Not only must we keep moving we must move into a new realm. Our attitude must move from discouragement to praise.”

I don’t want to miss ANYTHING that God has for me!! IF … "He has sent me to comfort the brokenhearted and to announce that captives will be released and prisoners will be freed.” IF … “He has sent me to tell those who mourn that the time of the LORD's favor has come and that he will give beauty for ashes, joy instead of mourning, praise instead of despair.” I want to be faithful and be planted like a strong and graceful oak for his glory. (Isa 61:1-3).

Now I know that if you have followed my blogs you know that I have shared before about giving God praise when we are in our low places and he will lift us out. This is one of those truths that I need to revisit from time to time. I am thankful for a patient God!!

Has today been perfect? NO. Has it been without its share of stress? NO. But I can hold on to the fact that God knows where I am at! He knows where to find me! He knows what I need! Today he proved himself faithful again!

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THE WORD HELPS US SEE WHO WE REALLY ARE - Stop THREE

Mirror, mirror on the wall … who’s the fairest of them all!!

I dare say from the first time that man/woman saw their own reflection in the still of the waters they have been intrigued with who was looking back at them. Over the centuries that intrigue has moved from the reflective properties of water to the creation of mirrors and now the instant gratification of digital photography. All it takes is looking at any young persons Face Book page and you will see a myriad of self portraits from the beautiful to the utterly ridiculous.

With the creation of digital photography came the ability to easily manipulate the image that was captured. Some purist photographers have not jumped on the band wagon of the digital age for they feel that manipulating the object after it has been captured isn’t a true representation of the original. It allows anyone to become a professional photographer without a true understanding of composition and light.

As a Christian we have been given a tool that has reflective properties. It is called the Bible, the Word of God. The amazing thing about the Word of God is that it doesn’t just give us a picture of who we are on the outside but reveals things about us in our inner man. It shows us an image that has not been manipulated. God’s Word is more advanced than any invention that man has ever created for it shows us what we are, what we can be and who we will be!! Now that’s just mind boggling!! (I think that is a whole study in and of it self … hmmm) In the here and now we will be looking at who we are.

As we study God’s Word it will begin to reflect our true selves. We will see our selves in God’s light. Heb 4:12, “For the word of God is full of living power. It is sharper than the sharpest knife, cutting deep into our innermost thoughts and desires. It exposes us for what we really are.” (NLT) As a mirror shows us our blemishes and imperfections, so God’s Word shows us our sin and what needs to be cleansed out of our hearts.

In James 1:23-25 it says: “Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it-he will be blessed in what he does.

James warns us that there is a danger in looking into the mirror of God’s Word, letting it show us what is wrong and then walking away and do nothing about it. If God reveals a weakness or sin and we don’t allow him to fully cleanse and cut it out we can go on with life and forget what it is that God wanted to do in us. We can live deceived believing that we are right with God. But if we look into his Word and allow it to do its convicting work … if we continually surrender our will to his will … we will experience freedom.

For each individual that freedom might have a different face to it but it will be reflected in how we love God and love others. It will be as if a veil has been removed from our faces and we can clearly see! “But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, then the veil is taken away. Yes, even today when they read Moses' writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand. Now, the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, he gives freedom. And all of us have had that veil removed so that we can be mirrors that brightly reflect the glory of the Lord. And as the Spirit of the Lord works within us, we become more and more like him and reflect his glory even more.”

Father … Make Me OVER!! May we stand before the mirror of God’s Word until all that is not holy is removed and we are free to reflect his Glory to others.

On the next stop on our journey we will look at how the Word encourages us.

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IT CLEANSES US - Stop TWO

Christ sanctifies and cleanses us by the washing of water, but what sort of water? By the Word. The water which washes away sin, which cleanses and purifies the soul, is the Word.” Charles Spurgeon

Have

you ever seen the illustration of a dirty putrid glass of water having a pitcher of clean pure water poured into it to the point that the dirty water in the glass has been displaced and the water in the cup is now clean? I have always thought that it is an excellent picture of the cleansing power of the Word of God in our lives.

In EPHESIANS 5:26 we are told that we are “cleansed … by the washing of water with the WORD.”

In the Greek we find that the literal translation would be … “cleansing by the laver (loutron) of the water in the word.” The laver was the brazen bowl at which the Priests would cleanse themselves and the sacrifices to make them sanctified before presenting themselves and the sacrifices to God. God’s Word acts as a cleansing agent in our lives that helps bring about sanctification.

We see the same use of the word “Word” in John 15:3 when Jesus said, “You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you.” We are made clean by his words and if we believe that the Bible is inspired by God then we can assume that his WORD will cleanse us.

The world offers many things for us to us to fill our lives with. Not all things are bad but we need to be aware of what we are allowing in our lives. We need to know what it is that we

are ingesting. Are we filling our glass with pure refreshing cleansing water or are we drinking sludge?

How can we make it through this world without being drug down into the mire pit of sin? Psalms 119:9 asks and answers this question: “How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. I seek you with all of my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” It is through bathing ourselves in God’s Word that we can stand in purity … that we can be truly cleansed.

“The Bible serves as an instrument of Sanctification in three ways: 1) The Holy Spirit uses the Word to reveal our sinful condition (which we will be talking about next time) 2) The Holy Spirit uses the Word to cleanse us from our sinful habits and practices of sin. It is the Word that washes away our daily defilement. The blood of Christ cleanses us from the guilt of sin, and the Bible cleanses us from the habit of sin. The blood deals with guilt, the Bible with our daily pollution. But, as we travel through life we acquire the dirt of the world, for which we constantly need the cleansing of our minds by the Word of God through the Holy Spirit. This results in a progressive transformation into the likeness of Christ, by transforming our character. The Holy Spirit uses the Word of God to transform us into the ‘Image’ of Christ.” John H. Stoll, Th.M., Ph.D

Do you desire to experience true transformation? Do you want to have a form (outward semblance) of godliness (piety) but, denying (rather as Greek, "having denied," that is, renounced) it’s power (the living, regenerating, and sanctifying influence of it.)? Then let God’s WORD do its work!! Embrace it!! Drink it in!! Let it cleanse you from the inside out!!

I leave you with the following visual. In doing this study I believe its illustrative power has now come close to surpassing the illustration given at the beginning of this stop along our journey. God’s cleansing Word can become a purifying fire if we will thirst for righteousness and drink it in.

Let God baptize you with the water of his Word and may it consume all that is unclean! May your life be a beacon of holiness in a corrupt and dying world! In our next stop upon our journey we will be looking at how God’s Word helps us see ourselves as we really are.

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THE INSPIRATION OF GOD'S WORD - Stop ONE

The Bible is like a telescope. If a man looks through his telescope, then he sees the worlds beyond; but if he looks at his telescope, then he does not see anything but that. The Bible is a thing to be looked through, to see that which is beyond; but most people only look at it; and so they see only the dead letter. - Phillips Brooks

What a great word picture!! If we look at our world through the lens of the Word how would our actions change? Would the way we live out Truth be different than what we experience now? When we go deeper we see that the Word is a living, breathing guide to life. What it contains within its pages reaches beyond life and shatters death.

How can this be true of “just a piece” of literature? It is because the very premise of the Bible is that it is the story of God … inspired by God … given as a gift to man. Like God breathed the breath of life into man in the garden, he breathed his breathe of life into the Holy Scriptures.

2 Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is God-breathed…” (NIV)
“Every part of Scripture is God-breathed …” (MESS)

The Scriptures are "theopneustos" in the original Greek -- "breathed out by God"

I love that!! His Word … the Scriptures … are not dead and stagnant but Living!! Breathed OUT by God!! We have the privilege of having in our possession Words that the creator of the universe inspired into existence for us to live by. Do we cherish that privilege?

We also see in 2 Peter 1:20-21: “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (NIV)

Some have argued that this inspiration was true of the Old Testament Scriptures but that the New Testament was just mans account of their experience with Jesus and the ensuing spreading of the gospel. But we see in

John 14:26 Jesus says, "But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. I believe Jesus was letting the apostles know that when it came to their future writings he would help them, through the Holy Spirit, to recall his Words and his teachings, so that others would be drawn unto him and know the Truth.

So this fully covers both the Old and New Testament Scriptures.

Once we whole-heartedly believe that the Bible … the Word of God … was divinely inspired we can fully embrace its teachings as Truth!!

Now that we have rested at this first stopping point let’s move forward on our journey. On our next stop we will be looking at: How the Word Cleanses Us.

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JOIN ME ON A HIKE

A few days ago I talked about being passionate about the Word of God and making its Truth’s come alive. I decided to take a hike into the Word to discover how God designed this trail map to impact our lives. In the next few days I will be sharing the results of my 'trek'.

Before I take you down the path that I journeyed let’s take a look at our itinerary...

Stop One: The inspiration of the Word.

Stop Two: How the Word cleanses us.

Stop Three: How the Word helps us see ourselves as we really are.

Stop Four: How the Word encourages us.

Stop Five: How it equips us to do good.

Stop Six: How it gives us faith.

Stop Seven: How it can help save us.

So join me on this journey as we seek to understand the IMPACT that the WORD can have on our lives if we will take the time to discover its

Truths!!

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BIBLE RUSH

I have made a decision that I am going to try and use my blog not just to write my thoughts that are on a deeper level but to create the discipline of writing. Although ... it seems as if any time I do start to write down the menial tasks of a day I find something in it. Who knows ... maybe something will come of it some day!!

Last night we spent some family time watching the incredible movie AUGUST RUSH! Phil and Jared had never seen it before and I thought that they might enjoy it. Jared wasn't prepared for how riveted he would be to it. He thought it was going to be boring and by the end of the movie he went from laying down to sitting on the edge of his seat.

I love stories like that!! Stories that pull you into them and move you to your core!!

There are stories like that all through God's Word if we will allow our imaginations take over and show us in vivid color the visual side of the story. Sometimes it can be as simple as having a true understanding of the cultural context of the story we are reading. I think sometimes it is easy to just read and not take in the full scope of the story and what that would look or feel like.

Maybe our lack of energy or excitement, when it comes to biblical literature, is because we think that we've heard the stories told so many times that we stop looking for new things. I know that there are some movies that seem to never grow old. You can watch them over and over and if they are made really well, it seems as if you can find fresh new insights.

I am asking God to help me find a new excitement in looking at the stories ... the Truths ... of the Word. I want to get on the edge of my seat in order to take in the whole scope of what I am experiencing. I want my eyes and heart opened in fresh new ways to then help make those stories come alive for other people. What if we could passionately share those truths with others ... in the same manner that you would explain some incredible cinematic experience.

Imagine your favorite movie with out the music score behind it. Would it evoke the same response from you? What is it about reading the Word that would equate to the music score?

Or .... what about trying to watch a movie and someone is trying to talk to you the whole time so you miss key points. What distractions do we have when trying to read the Word that keeps us from missing key points so it doesn't quite click for us?

These are just some thoughts that I've had. Didn't really intend to give any "answers" to the questions. I think for each person the answers could be different. What would your answers be?

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MY HOPE IS IN THE LORD

For those that put so much emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially into the political race the past few months ... no matter who you chose to support ... I emplore you to take a step back and reflect on the whole process. What lessons can we learn? I have learned that mans plans and ways of doing things cannot steal my HOPE!!

Do I have hope today … Yes I do
For my hope is not in a political system
My hope is not in a man
But my hope is in the Lord
The maker of the heavens and earth

Do I have hope today … Yes I do
For I saw in the faces of our young people a passion for change
Knowing my God the way that I do
I know that through prayer and the church truly being the Body of Christ
That the same passion I saw in the eyes of our next generation
Can be a passion that is unleashed to create change for Christ

Do I have hope today … Yes I do
For I saw a people that were bound by slavery and discrimination
Come forth and break the chains of years of oppression
Knowing my God the way that I do
I know that he came to break the oppressive chains of sin and death
And through that freedom anything is possible

Do I have hope today … Yes I do
For I saw that people of every color, age and gender
Can come together in unity for a cause that they believe in
Knowing my God the way that I do
I know that if we will but humble our hearts before him
He will bring down the walls that separate his children
And spread revival like a wild fire across our nation

Do I have hope today … Yes I do
Just like the gentiles grafting into the vine
Was meant to stir up a jealousy in the heart of God’s chosen people
Knowing my God the way that I do
He can use a political race to stir up a jealousy in his people
That social justice is not the responsibility of a political system but of the Church
For we are not just called to share God’s saving grace
But to feed the hungry, clothe the naked and take care of the widows and orphans

Do I have hope today … Yes I do
For my hope is not in a political system
My hope is not in a man
But my hope is in a God that can
Turn Passion into Promise
Turn Chains into Change
Turn Division into Devotion
And Jealousy into the Joy of bringing True transformation to the lives of every man, woman, boy and girl.

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Jlynne's Journey

About The Author

I want to LIVE a life that is pleasing in God's sight! I want to find moments to LAUGH with my family and friends! I want to LOVE with CrAzy Love!

THE WEEKLY GRIND

A GIFT WRAPPED UP IN PERFECTION

THE WORD HELPS US SEE WHO WE REALLY ARE - Stop THREE

IT CLEANSES US - Stop TWO

THE INSPIRATION OF GOD'S WORD - Stop ONE

JOIN ME ON A HIKE

BIBLE RUSH

MY HOPE IS IN THE LORD

Jlynne's Journey

About The Author

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