Making Time

As I was reading Matthew 14, I noticed something that I hadn't caught before in my reading of this chapter. It was very thought provoking when I began to really think about the application for my life. In verses 1-12 we see the story of John the Baptist being beheaded. Verse 13 says, "When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat to a solitary place." As we often see, the people followed Him. Verse 14 says, "When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick." In verses 15-21 we see that Jesus feeds the 5,000. Verse 22-23 says, "Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray." Jesus' goal after hearing of John the Baptist was to go be alone in a solitary place. But because the people followed Him he could not. So when He saw the large crowd He had compassion on them and healed their sick. Because it was getting late the disciples wanted Him to send the people away so they could get something to eat, but instead Jesus feeds them. Afterwards He sent his disciples on ahead of Him, dismissed the people, and finally went up on the mountainside to pray. He still made sure He got alone with His Father. So I began to look at my life and ask :what am I doing to make sure I get alone with God? When my children get up before I do and is not quiet and I go about my busy day homeschooling and taking care of the home, do I make sure I go to a solitary place and spend time with my Father? Jesus served the people but He also made time to be alone to pray! I believe He also so it as an important or urgent thing because v22 starts with the word "immediately". Do I see the urgency in spending time with the Father? Or do I recognize the the urgency but don't follow through and obey? Heavy thoughts from God's Word!!

spiked hair-

The little brothers are wanting to be like big brother (I didn't get a picture of Timothy, but he got his hair spiked also).

More on the Names of God

I am still working through the Bible Study Knowing God Through His Names by Mariel Davenport. Yes I am taking it at a snail's pace because the class is over with. It is such a good study, and I have to take time to let it sink in. Now I am working through Yahweh Shammah which means "Yahweh is There". God is a present God. Deuteronomy 31:6 says, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." I have heard these words all my life that He will never leave you nor forsake you. But looking at it from a different way has really brought new meaning or understanding of this passage. If He says He will never leave you nor forsake you then He is a present God. He is omnipresent which means He is present everywhere. From the beginning of time God has always wanted relationship with his people. What does that mean or what does that look like? Growing up in church I learned all the little Bible stories and that was a good thing. But I think what was left out from teaching these Bible stories was that God was making Himself known to people because He wanted that relationship with His people. God showed the Israelites so many times that He loved them. He delivered them from the hand of the Egyptians, parted the Red Sea and they walked across. God didn't just part the Red Sea, He made the ground for them to walk on dry. WOW! Does that not speak volumes to us. Again He shows his desire for a relationship and love for us. Do I go throughout my day and miss those little details of God in my life? God is a present God! He is Yahweh Shammah! Further on God gives the Israelites rules-The Ten Commandments. His first priority in writing the Commandments was Godward. They focus on our relationship with Him. Details and purpose! He so desires relationship with us. He wanted a tabernacle built and wanted it built in a specific way so He gave specific details on the building of it. God gave detailed directions for every single object and piece of material in the tabernacle. Why is God so specific? Hebrews 8:5 says, "They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in Heaven." WOW! God told Moses to build the earthly sanctuary for His glory after a heavenly pattern only He could see. God showed his pleasure for this tabernacle by filling it with His glory. What was God's purpose and desire for the tabernacle? Exodus 25:8 tells us it was for Him to dwell among them. Again He is always after relationship. Ezekiel prophesied in 37:27: "My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God, and they will be my people." John 1:14 says, "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." God tabernacled among His people through His Son, Jesus, and He revealed to us His glory, the glory of the One and Only. Guess what? He didn't stop there 1 Corinthians 3:16-17 tells us that our bodies are the temple of God and His Spirit lives in us. We as individual believers are tabernacles of His glory. How do we demonstrate that glory to a lost and dying world? Are we bearing much fruit showing ourselves to be His disciples (John 15:8)? Is Jesus tabernacling in our hearts? Is He dwelling place in our hearts? O Lord, please show me areas in my heart and life that need the fruit applied according to Galatians 5:22-23! Thank You for so desiring to dwell among me. Thank you that you are involved in every detail of my life. May I walk in that promise that You will never leave me nor forsake me that you are always present.

Who/What is Master of your life?

As I continue to look at the name of the Lord, Adonai,  I have learned that it means "lord" or "master". As I look at the word master I have to evaluate what that means. As far as Adonai, it is refers to our God as our personal Lord and Master. It completely depicts relationship. "The lordship of God means His total possession of me and my total submission to Him as Lord and Master." (Knowing God Through His Names", p 83) I am a slave to something or someone. 2 Peter 2:19 says "for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him." We are a slave to whatever has mastered us! Am I a slave to sin or a slave to righteousness? What have I allowed to master me? Confession time again! As I pondered this verse, I began to see that the Lord is not the Master of my life most of the time. I think I allow the computer or tv/movies or laziness to master me. I believe this is the same concept of having idols of the heart. Whatever or whoever we put above God and my time with Him is an idol of my heart. God says in Exodus, "You shall have no other gods before me". Although I have not literally built a "golden calf" as the Israelites did, I have allowed an idol to occupy my time and my thoughts. I have replaced God with things. Are they satisfying? No, only temporarily. I am seeking things to fill a need that is not going to fill it. It could be my husbands approval, friends approval, my kids approval that I seek to fill a need. These things more than likely will not always happen and when I don't receive approval like I think I should I am disappointed and let down. I should seek my sufficiency in the all sufficient one, the El Shaddai. He is the one who nourishes, supplies, and satisfies. I should seek to make Him Master of my life. If I do that I will not need to seek after other things to fill a need that He ultimately fill.

Lord, please help me to daily make you Master of my life. To seek you first above all things. To remain in You. I so desire to have the intimacy with you that you would speak with me "face to face as a man speaks with his friend". May I take captive those thoughts and make them obedient to you.

Upward Basketball and Cheerleading

We have Upward again. These are just a few photos. Paul is assistant coach for Jonathan's team and he also is a referee for other games. Abigail cheers and does a good job! Noah, Timothy, and I watch which is a little challenging because Noah wants to get on the court and play with the ball. It is a lot of fun! Timothy is not in to it too much. He's in the picture with his face covered with his shirt. Didn't want to get his picture taken.

Being a Servant

My friend, Mariel, has written and published a Women's Bible Study titled "Knowing God Through His Names". (Sorry Mariel I'm a little behind, but it's God's timing.) This lesson is on Who Is Adonai? The first thing we learn is that if He is our Adonai then He must me Master of our life and we are servant to Him. This is actually a beautiful picture. In Day 2 we start off looking at what the world view is of "great" and "powerful" versus Biblical view. As we see in Matthew 20:26-28 what the Bible's view of greatness is totally opposite of the world. Matthew reads, "...Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave--just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." This shows greatness as becoming a servant. V. 27 tells us to be first we have to be a servant. Then it ends up showing us that Jesus is an example for us. He didn't come to be served but instead to serve others and eventually giving his life for the payment of sin rescuing us from the wrath of God. So here is a question to ponder deeply-"are we looking for who we can serve, or are we looking to be served?" So confession time for me. This was a convicting question for me especially after the week I've had. The thought doesn't stop there. Mariel goes on to ask some questions for us to evaluate our hearts: "am I frustrated when I have to pick up my husband's socks for the tenth time today? Do I get short-tempered with my children when they interrupt my "me" time? Am I willing to joyfully cook a meal for a neighbor in need or serve in the church nursery, even though I don't "feel" like it? Do I live for "me"?" I wish I could say I was looking to be like Jesus and serve with a willing heart. Unfortunately, like my friend and probably many others, I often seek out to serve self rather than deny self. For me I find it easier to serve others more than my family. I think I'm more selfish when it comes to my family and serving them. This week really was an example of that. Here's how my week has been: during the previous weekend Noah, my 2 year old, began having a yucky, runny nose. On Monday after meeting with a friend, I was hanging out with Paul and Noah watching a little TV when all of a sudden I'm wearing vomit-nice soured milk and chocolate mixed with it. I thought maybe it was because he had too much cookie dough, but later in the evening he became sick again-thus the stomach bug has hit our family. I was up off and on all night. Then late Thursday night/early Friday morning Timothy gets sick. By this time now I'm really exhausted and just want to sleep. Now I'm keeping an eye on Noah hoping he is better and being close by for Timothy for the times he would get sick. So far I'm handling things ok. Not the total servants heart, but not totally into self yet. I'm still very tired though and really wanting to sleep. During all this time I'm not feeling so hot either; feeling very sick but not getting sick. Friday Timothy moped around and was out of it. You could really tell he was sick. Friday evening Abigail starts complaining about her stomach hurting. Oh no I thought. Of all the ones to get sick, I really don't want her to be sick because she whines a bit more. By now I've really had about all the whining I think I could handle from Noah. This week, also, Paul had the opportunity to help a gentleman out at his office, so he's been gone all day until bedtime and having to get up really early for the paper route. Now Abigail is sick and whining and I'm totally tired and wanting a vacation of peace and quiet. Now I'm looking at the thought of "when do I get a break". I now have no patience, and compassion went out the window when Abigail started complaining with her stomach hurting. So when I read this lesson today I was slapped in the face. I'm so into what I can get for me instead of serving my sick children and husband (who also is battling with some type of sickness). Definitely not a servants heart!!!

Then we see another beautiful example of servitude in Matthew 14:1-21. In verses 1-12 we see John the Baptist is beheaded. V. 13 & 14  says, "When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Hearing of this, the crowds followed him on foot from the towns. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their sick." Jesus was trying to get away and be alone with God to deal with His grief and here comes the crowd. This crowd was full of people with needs-sick people, disabled people, dying people, possessed people. "Imagine the noise, the smells, and the depth of depravity closing in around Him, as His soul mourns for John. Jesus was fully man and fully God. He felt emotion, grief, and pain. He grew tired, weary, and hungry." (pg 93, Knowing God...) Verse 14 tells us that first Jesus had compassion on them and secondly he healed their sick. "In the midst of the deep needs of His own soul, He chose to deny self and serve others with compassion."(93)  Verse 15 & 16 tells us it was evening. The disciples wanted to send the people away so they could get food. What do we see Jesus do? Serve again! He fed the crowd. "Our Savior chooses to serve again. What a model for us! What a Master we serve that He denies Himself for our sakes, out of compassionate love." (93)

So how can I mimic Jesus' example of servitude in my own life as I live out my service to my Master Jesus? There are so many things in my heart that I have to work on. I'm so very thankful that Jesus is my example and shows me my own heart at just the time I need it. I pray that my heart would be to serve my family (and others) above myself no matter how I'm feeling at the time. Jesus had compassion; therefore I must show compassion. I need to become a servant like Christ.

(Thanks Mariel for being real and letting Jesus use you in so many ways and in so many lives! I love you dear friend!)

The Son is the radiance of God's glory

Hebrews 1:3 "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word."  I am working through a study on Hebrews, and I came across this verse from chapter 1. This particular section in the study book dealt with verse 3 and particularly the phrase "the Son is the radiance of God's glory". I want to share what I read:


"We see the sun by means of seeing the rays of the sun. They are the essence of the sun flowing out of the sun. The round ball of fire that we see in the sky is the sun streaming forth in its radiance. To say that Jesus is the radiance of God's glory is to say that Jesus relates to God the way the rays of sunlight relate to the sun. We see God the Father by seeing Jesus. Jesus is the radiance of God streaming down on us so we can see him and experience him and know him."

"The term 'God's glory' had deeper meaning for the original Hebrew recipients of this letter than it does for us today. These Hebrews remembered hearing about the glory cloud of God's presence that lit the sky and led the children of Israel in the desert. It was the tangible presence of God in their midst. And now the writer of Hebrews is saying that Jesus is the ultimate cloud of glory. In fact, Jesus is the fire of God's glory that will not burn or consume us. Jesus enables us to relate to the glory of God in human form."

"Standing in the Temple one day, Jesus said, 'I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life' (John 8:12). We live in a dark world, and perhaps there are circumstances in your life right now that would cause you to say that your world is very dark. Into the darkness of this world God sent his Son, Jesus, so that we could see and live in the radiance of his glory. Even now, Jesus is the only sure source of light for the dark places in our lives. He brings the radiant light of God's presence into our darkness."


My favorite part of this is the last paragraph. We do live in a dark world, and I have talked with friends lately who are in circumstances in their lives that would cause them to say the world is dark. But because God sent his Son we can see and live in the radiance of God's glory. I pray that my friends as well as myself will remember that Jesus is the only source of light for the dark places that in our lives. Jesus brings the radiant light of God's presence into our darkness. How encouraging and hopeful for us when we are walking in a dark time. We can walk through those dark times with joy and peace because of the radiance of God's glory.