Journey into Forever

" Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise;  give thanks to Him and praise His name. For the Lord is good and His love endures forever; His faithfulness continues through all generations."          -Psalm 100:45      I did a lesson for children's church Sunday on Thanksgiving.  Some of it was fun stuff, coloring and painting.  The lesson used the above scripture.  It also told the story of four children who didn't have some of the things the children in church have.  Things like a family, a school, a church, food, health care.  One child in the story had cancer which I could tell really spoke to the children.  I think they got it.  At least they did for the moment.  We have so much to be thankful for.      Listening to the radio, I heard a story about a Chinese and American missionary meeting in an airport I think it was.  They were di...

  "I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret to being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry,  whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do all this through him who gives me strength."          - Philippians 4:11-13                  I am weird.  I think if you know you are weird, it makes it ok.  At least I hope that is the case....At any rate, the reason I am weird is because I don't like many of the things others do, and I'm really enthralled by things others have no interest in whatsoever.  For example, I love books about the aristocracy of England.  Not those in power now, but from centuries ago. I'm crazy about the music and movies of the 40's. ...

"For by the grace given me I say to everyone of you:  Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you."           -Romans 12:3      This is the last post, for now, on the subject of holiness.  And yet, it may be the most important one.  As always, I don't believe in coincidences.  Today when I was studying some of Precept's materials (thanks Mary), I came across the above scripture in Romans.  I knew it had to be the focus scripture for this post.  Our discussion is going to be about the last two points of the title together because they are so closely related (in an opposite sort of way....).  Love and Legalism.  Two conflicting terms.  Two ways to go with holiness.  Yet one is the way to life and the other......well the other is the more familiar, and it...

  Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.                                                             Galatians 1:10           She loses 10 pounds because her husband mentioned her weight.  She gains it back within a month.  He works instead of attending his son's soccer game because he knows his boss will notice and approve.  Resentment builds.  She goes to the movie all her friends are wanting to see .  The language and sexual content bother her, but her friends are happy she is wit...

      Whew!  I guess maybe I didn't realize exactly what I was getting into with this holiness thing.  It sounds easy on the surface....just do what the Word tells you to do.  But there is so much more to it than that.  This will no doubt be a lifelong journey.       I want to share some of the scriptures that are there to help us understand God's expectations of holiness.  I am also delving into the application part of those scriptures, but this is obviously something I need more time for before I share it with anyone.  So for the time being, look at some of these scriptures, not just the individual reference, but in context with the rest of the chapter.  Give some thought and devote some prayer time to the understanding of what God is teaching us through each passage.  And I will study and learn and share more with you next time.  Anyway, what better post could I write than simply...

"Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God."                                      -Matthew 5:8      I began a journey with a teacher/singer named Gwen Smith this summer.  She challenged us to read through the Psalms in 30 days....5 psalms a day.  Well, I didn't even remotely make it in 30 days....here it is October and I just finished Psalm 115.  I have learned a lot by doing this though.  Much about praise, about remembering our history with God, about seeking Him first.  David wrote many of them as you know, and he was a lot like us.  Heading in the right direction, getting distracted and veering off of the path God makes for us, returning and starting again.  When I first started reading them, I was not excited about it.  The Psalms ...

"Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known.  But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is."                                            - 1John 3:2 "The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit."                                          - Proverbs 18:21  This journey I'm taking on holiness is turning out to be many faceted.  There are bumps, turns, twists in the road that I never even considered.  But it's a fascinating roa...