Music Monday: "God Is Good " by Francesca Battistelli

 Music Monday: "God Is Good " by Francesca Battistelli

 First off, let me send a big thank you to everyone who wished me a happy birthday in cyberspace and on Facebook. My birthday was relatively calm since not everyone could be around for my birthday. My brother and sister-in-law were on spring break and helping my niece Elizabeth compete in the world's robotics team in Texas. I'm sure it was a fantastic experience for her, and she is growing up so fast. Hard to believe she will be going off to college soon.

         You may have noticed a hairstyle change for those who have seen my latest video on Facebook. Instead of my peekaboo color, I decided to make the color a bit more obvious. What do you think?

         Anyway, it's hard to believe that my dad will be undergoing surgery in just a few days. He's had such a hard time dealing with the pain in his arm as he is not sleeping at night. I'm hoping the surgery will relieve his pain in the long term while creating a new pain in the short term. It can't be any worse than it already is!

         Here's hoping the personal assistant we hired works out. I'm concerned about her ability to lift because she is pretty tall and thin. But we'll see how things progress as training goes on. I can't help but feel it was meant to be because she happens to be my regular PA's sister, and Mia recommended her. I'm praying for a swift adjustment and easy transition; as much as I deal with change, my body still doesn't like it (tensing up with new people and such.)

That's why I thought Francesca Battistelli's song "God is good" fit my week's schedule perfectly; although my dad is undoubtedly going to have a long recovery, I know God will be with us through it all. As Christians, we probably heard Romans 8: 28 spoken over a hundred times in church but never really took the time to comprehend it; it is only in times of uncertainty and sadness that we grasp the power behind the words. Paul is encouraging the church in Rome to stand firm in their faith. (Keep in mind, he knows what he is talking about here- after spending several months in jail just for preaching the gospel). He knows what kind of opposition they may encounter in the future. But so does God.

Romans 8:28 - 31 says, "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?"

         I would like you to read the last paragraph repeatedly, emphasizing the words that are underlined and italicized. Did you see what I saw? Foreknew is only mentioned four other times in the New Testament. In all cases, it does not signify foreordained, but rather prescience and not preelection. According to Meyer, "it is God's being aware of His plan, by means of which, before the subjects are destined by Him to salvation, He knows whom He has to destine thereto."

 That being said, how are you seeing the glass today? Is it half-full or half-empty?

 If it looks half empty, I really encourage you to look up Psalms 30:5. Here's a preview: For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may stay for the night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. When I felt secure, I said, "I will never be shaken."

It's all a matter of perspective.

 Take time out of today's busy schedule to look for God's handiwork in your life.

 I'm sure you will find it if you look hard enough…

 I certainly will!

 To listen to Francesca Battistelli's song, it can be accessed here:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y13hPJgeDRs

Music Monday: "Me on Your Mind " by Matthew West

Music Monday: "Me on Your Mind " by Matthew West

    He is Risen!

    He is Risen Indeed!

I hope everyone has enjoyed their Easter weekend; ours has been quite busy with dad trying his best to get everything done he can get before surgery. He consulted with the surgeon, and his rotator cuff is torn, which explains his increasing pain level. The surgery is on April 27, so mom and I are looking "forward" to the six-month recovery time. Yeah, right! On the bright side, though, we hired extra help, so hopefully, it works out.

In addition, it's my birthday next week. Strange, but I don't feel any different. As you get older, it causes people to look at their life in a new light; other things matter to you. Considering the Easter holiday, I thought Matthew West's song "Me On Your Mind was an appropriate choice; not only does the song remind us of his ultimate sacrifice on the cross for each believer who places his trust in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 5:6-8 says, "You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him!" (NIV).

Not only did God fulfill an ancient prophecy, telling of his coming in such books as Jeremiah and Isaiah. But he took on human form, laying down his power to become one of us. He wanted to share in our pain, experiencing everything just as we would. If that's not compassion, I don't know what is.

Unlike us, though, Jesus did not sin. This is necessary for Jesus to be the perfect and spotless sacrifice we need to give for our sins. Unlike in the old testament, this serves as a once and for all payment

Hebrews 4: 15-16 says, "For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." 

Jesus' ultimate sacrifice should give us the confidence we need to overcome everything we may encounter in this life. Sadly, we lose sight of this.

But that's the truth of it: Jesus died on the cross for you and me.

    He had each of us on his mind when he submitted himself in obedience to God's Will to crucifixion. So, in reality, he had you and me on his mind when he whispered his last words, "it is finished," in John 19: 30.

          Remember that today as you go about your daily activities. God cares for you and me not just at Easter but every day. He had you on his mind back then, and he still does.

     He's waiting for you…

     Just take one step toward Him.

     I promise He'll meet you halfway!

     To listen to Matthew West's "Me on Your Mind." can be accessed here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiUixue9cfs 

Wisdom Wednesday: A Prayer for Wisdom Part

                                                            A Prayer for Wisdom - 3                                 

Submitted by Debbie’s Dad

 

    I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength

-Ephesians. 1:17-19

In the past two weeks, we looked at the opening prayers in Paul’s epistles to the believers in the churches at Philippi and Colosse. This week we look at Paul’s prayer for the church at Ephesus. 

Remember, his prayer for Philippi and Colosse was for them to gain spiritual wisdom to know God personally and His ways, to enable them to live worthy, pleasing, and fruitful lives. Similarly, this prayer reiterates these themes.

This prayer precedes a foundational statement of theology statement about the blessings of God in one long hypotactic sentence (verses 3-14). This long sentence structure (called a hypotactic )  is arranged with the main clause (“God be blessed” v. 3) that is supported by three phrases or subordinate clauses upon which the main clause depends. Here is the structure and summary of this amazing sentence:

God Be Blessed (main clause), Because:

1)      The Father (adopted us in the past) verses 3-6

•       Blessed us in heaven, In Christ
•  Chose us to be holy people
•       Predestined us to adoption by Jesus
•       According to His will

2)      The Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (redeemed us in the present) verses 7-10

•   Redeemed us from sin, through His blood
•  According to His grace
•    Makes know His will

3)      The Spirit of promise (sealed us for our inheritance in the future) verses 11-14

•       According to His will; that we are a testimony to God’s Glory
•       Seals us and guarantees our inheritance

Following this fundamental statement of God’s works, Paul prays for the believers. After that introduction about God’s blessings, he thanks God for them in verse 16 (as he does for the believers in his other epistles Rom. 1:8; 1 Cor. 1:4; Phil. 1:3; Col. 1:3; 1 Thess. 1:2; 2 Thess. 1:3). Then, finally, he tells them what he is praying for them in verses 17-19:

 

First, He Prays for Wisdom to know God

In verse 17, he prays, as before, that that they will have spiritual wisdom and revelation to know God – to reveal the true God and His ways to each one of them personally. This is consistent in Paull’s prayers for the other churches – that the relatively new believers will grow closer to their Savior and Lord in a deeper relationship as they know Him and walk with Him. 

And, he prays they will realize the hope, riches, and power of their inheritance   

In verses 18 and 19, Paul prays that the “eyes of their heart” – their very being – will be opened to realize three things:

·       The hope to which we are called – our inheritance as adopted children of God

·       The riches of this eternal inheritance

·       The surpassing greatness of His power – available to believers

In effect, Paul wanted the believers to grow in their knowledge of God, realizing what they have inherited as God’s adopted children!

The Essence of His Prayers for the first-century believers

Looking at these three prayers of Paul, we see a common theme of Paul’s desires for the churches. First, Paul prayed that the believers would grow in wisdom and understanding to know God better and know His will to live valuable and productive lives. Outward appearances cannot always measure such growth; instead, it exhibits themselves through the slow development of the Fruits of the Spirit. These can be found in Galatians 5:22. It is as if Paul was praying for all believers of all ages, including each of us.

 

 

Music Monday: "Be Alright" by Evan Craft, Danny Gokey, and Redimi2

 Music Monday: "Be Alright" by Evan Craft, Danny Gokey, and Redimi2

If you've been following me lately, you've seen what our family has been through lately; this weekend,  God "allowed" more to be added to our plate. I won't burden you with everything, except to mention a few of them. For starters, my dad's arm pain has gotten increasingly worse to the point where we're both wondering if surgery will be in his future. To make matters worse, our dog Holly has woken us all up at 2 AM each morning with a stomach ache; these last few days have been a virtual writing conference for me. My mom has taken her to the vet,  and there's no clear cause yet. We are hoping she returns to normal without anything further.

Even so, I enjoyed the "Greater Things" conference. The speakers taught various subjects, from writing articles and devotionals to marketing our books. It was nice "meeting" people in the same boat as I am- just trying to live God's purpose before us of writing for His Glory.

 No matter what genre you are writing, it's tricky to get into this business. It's tough because it is so subjective- you are trying to make your story relatable to a broader audience to point to Jesus Christ. We want everyone to get the chance to experience a true spiritual transformation like the one we've had as a writer; granted, it won't always be the electric mountaintop movements that we find in the middle of our favorite movies. For example, Jack is standing behind Rose as she clings to the stern of the boat, watching the sunset.

The reality is that God doesn't always work like that. Yes, there are people with fantastic transformation stories that move hundreds to recommit themselves to Jesus. But there are also the quiet stories of faith and perseverance that lead others to wonder, "man, there's something different about him that's so undeniable," which causes people to want to know more.

 

That's why it's so important to remember how God has been faithful to us in the past. Remember what Lamentations 3:22 - 23 says, "Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him."

Not only does Evan Craft's song remind us that God is in complete control of everything that happens to us daily. He serves as a source of Protection-never allowing anything but obstacles that will help us develop a more spiritual perspective. Jesus sees the whole picture while we can't.

So whatever you are struggling with today, remember what Psalms 61: 1-3 has to say:

Hear my cry, O God;

listen to my prayer.

² From the ends of the earth I call to you,

I call as my heart grows faint;

lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

³ For you have been my refuge,

a strong tower against the foe.

To listen to Evan Craft's "Be Alright," it can be accessed here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NLnlPs-m58

Faithful Friday: The Girl Who Believes in Miracles

 Faithful Friday: The Girl Who Believes in Miracles Movie Review

by Debbie

 This Easter, a new movie reminds people never to stop believing in miracles: in this faith-filled drama, young Sara Hopkins takes a church sermon to heart about believing in the power of prayer. This belief is tested when Sara finds a dead bird and asks God to revive it. Despite her brother's urgings to the contrary, Sara seems determined God can perform a miracle. So instead of joining her brother and his girlfriend as they fish on the lake, she stays behind to pray. Sara is still praying by the time they return to go back to their grandparents' house. But before they leave, she gives it one final shot and urges God to intervene. He does, and the bird flies away. Stunned, her brother looks for any other explanation to validate the miraculous event. But, before he spoke, she said something else that stopped him in his tracks: "Don't you see him standing there across the lake?"

         Once home, Sara can't help but share the news of her "miracle" with friends and family. Her parents don't know what to make of that incident chalking it up to their daughter's overreactive imagination. Sara's mother (played by Mira Sorvino) grows even more concerned as her daughter reveals that not only did Jesus heal the bird through her but said he would be coming back for her soon. Despite being warned to keep her miracle quiet, news of the healed bird spreads, and some bullies around town taunt her. However, her best friend, Mark Miller (played by Paul-Mikel), sticks with her, believing in God's ability to heal so much that he asks her to pray for him. You see, Mark is in a wheelchair because of a spinal cord injury that left him unable to walk. Mark doesn't get miraculously healed that day, but as audiences follow the story, they realize it is more of progressive healing, leading him to move his toes and finally walk from the doctor's office. When news of Mark's recovery spreads, Sara's ability becomes the #1 news story, and people flock to her house to receive healing.

         Little do people know that the more Sara heals, the more energy it takes from her small young body. At first, the doctor seems convinced it's nothing more than the stomach flu. But as more and more miracles occur, she gets weaker and weaker. Finally, the doctor appears determined to find an answer more plausible than miracles happening and God speaking to a child.

         As cute as the story was, I expected more of a biblical backbone. I've seen many of the movies that Kevin Sorbo has been cast in (God's Not Dead, What If, etc.); his other characters had more transformational change. I didn't relate to Ben's cold demeanor until I realized their family dealt with the death of their youngest.

Wisdom Wednesday: A Prayer for Wisdom, Part 2

                                                            A Prayer for Wisdom PART 2                               

Submitted by Debbie’s Dad

 

    For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully  giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. Colossians 1:9-12

 

Last week, we looked at Paul’s opening of his epistle to the believers at Philippi. His emphasis was that their love would abound in knowledge and insight to glorify God and gain discernment, purity, and fruitfulness. This week we look at Paul’s very similar prayer for the church at Colosse. (and next week, we look at his prayer for the Ephesians). All three of these prayers are rooted in the wisdom from the Word of God.

In the second chapter, Paul encourages them, “Therefore as you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him.” (Col. 2:6); they received Christ in faith – so they must walk by faith (just as he told other believers in 2 Cor. 11:4 and Gal. 1:6) So, Paul prays for specific things in today’s verses 9-12 – he prays for three things:

First, He Prays for knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.

Paul prays that the believers will know God’s will (what to do) as a believer in Christ. They will gain this practical decision-making ability through spiritual wisdom and understanding. These attributes were necessary for the believers to confront the many threats they faced - threats to their very faith! Later in the epistle, Paul enumerates some of the threatening concepts (false wisdom of the world system; heresies) that we also face today:

•         Philosophy – (2:8-10) Belief in intellect, tradition, worldly principles, even atheism.
•       Legalism – (2:11-17) Belief in attaining righteousness by outward behavior.
•       Mysticism (2:18-19) Belief in mystical angel worship and false humility.
•       Asceticism (2: 20-22) Belief in achieving righteousness by abstinence

Next, He prays that they will live a life worthy of the Lord. This worthy life will please their heavenly Father and will bear spiritual fruit. Living like this will cause them to grow in their relationship with the Father and grow their personal knowledge of Him and His ways. In his prayer for the Philippian believers, Paul mentioned that such a life will produce righteous fruit (most are listed in the well-known passage in Galatians 5:22–23.

Finally, He prays that they will be strengthened with The Father’s Power. Relying on God’s power, the believers would have great endurance (or perseverance) and patience to endure the challenges to their faith. This means Paul prayed for their ability to graciously remain firm in their faith over the long haul. And this endurance should be characterized by joyful thankfulness to their Heavenly Father.

The Essence of His Prayer

Paul prayed that the believers would have spiritual wisdom and understanding to know God’s will to live worthy and pleasing to God, fruitful, growing, strengthened, enduring, and thankful to God throughout their life.   

As we noted last week, Paul’s prayer applies to us too- as we grow in wisdom, abound in love, bear spiritual fruit, all to the glory and praise of God. 

 

 

Faithful Friday: “Show Me the Father” Documentary Review

 Faithful Friday: “Show Me the Father” Documentary Review

by: Debbie

The Kendrick Brothers have done it again, producing another theatrical release showcasing the importance of fathers in today’s generation; unlike the rest, though, this documentary gives us an in-depth look at the brothers themselves and what makes their perspective of fatherhood different than most people. Unfortunately, not everyone is as lucky; the news tells countless stories of youths forced to grow up too soon and give up their innocence just to survive. They either believe the lie that tells them they won’t amount to much or don’t believe they deserve it.

             But it wasn’t always this way; when God created the world, he said, “it was good.” (Genesis 1 & 2). Even when Adam and Eve were created, it didn’t bother them that they were naked because they felt no shame (Genesis 2: 25). However, when the serpent entered the picture, Adam and Eve began to doubt God’s goodness.
In this documentary, Kendrick shows the roles and responsibilities a father has in shaping their child’s identity; their daily interactions (both good and bad) can shape how they view their heavenly father. Tony Evans agrees, saying that our earthly fathers play a vital role in serving as a medairy between heaven and earth.

Though most of the documentary shares personal stories as told by Sherman Smith and others, the brothers are quick to lay a firm definition of fatherhood. These aspects include:

1.      Provider-Matthew 6:11

2.      Protector-Matthew 9:9-13

3.      Leader-Matthew 3:17

4.      Teacher-Proverbs 4:1-4

5.      Helper-Psalm 10:14

6.      Encourager-Hebrews 12:5

7.      Friend-John 15:15