Learning to be God's child

One of the most beautiful places on earth. Capernwray Bible...

Sat, 27 Apr 2013 00:48:00 -0400

One of the most beautiful places on earth. Capernwray Bible School Thetis Island, BC.

"The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider..."

Wed, 30 May 2012 15:37:22 -0400

““The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings but shorter tempers, wider Freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness. We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too little, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom. We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often.We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life. We’ve added years to life not life to years. We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet a new neighbor. We conquered outer space but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things. We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul. We’ve conquered the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information, to produce more copies than ever, but we communicate less and less.””

- Bob Moorehead (via passion-not-perfection)

Photo

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:26:57 -0400

opcion: 000180920014 (por skullofsilver) Had to reblog this in...

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:13:11 -0400

opcion:

000180920014 (por skullofsilver)

Had to reblog this in honor of Andrew who loves bunnies :)

"“…[Yaweh] is ungoverned. Counselors can comfort you in the storm, but you need a God who can still..."

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:06:42 -0400

“

“…[Yaweh] is ungoverned. Counselors can comfort you in the storm, but you need a God who can still the storm. Friends can hold your hand at your deathbed, but you need a Yahweh who has defeated the grave. Philosophers can debate the meaning of life, but you need a Lord who can declare the meaning of life.
You need a Yahweh.
…You don’t need to carry the burden of a lesser god… a god on a shelf, a god in a box, or a god in a bottle. No, you need a God who can place 100 billion stars in our galaxy and 100 billion galaxies in the universe. You need a God who can shape two fists of flesh into 75 to 100 billion nerve cells, each with as many as 10, 000 connections to other nerve cells, place it in a skull, and call it a brain.
And you need a God who, while so mind-numbingly mighty, can come in the soft of night and touch you with the tenderness of an April snow.
You need a Yahweh.
And, according to David, you have one. He is your shepherd.”

Psalm 23

”

- Max Lucado - Travelling Light (via thisleakingvessel)

Reliance

Sat, 03 Mar 2012 01:35:03 -0500

“I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of 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 4:12-13

What does it mean to fully rely on God? To really acknowledge that we have nothing, not even breathe without Him? It usually takes a crisis in our lives to fully submit and come to the realization that its only through God that we have any strength. What is strength? It is the capacity for exertion and the power to resist force or attack. Reliance is the dependence on or trust in someone or something.These two words really hit home to me this week when I was brought to my knees, totally unexpectedly, by the worst pain attack I’ve had in seven years.

Eight years ago, we were incredibly blessed with a loving, caring little boy we named Seth. I ended up having an emergency c-section after he went into distress. He was born blue with the cord tightly wrapped around his neck twice. Thankfully,God graced us with his life and he has suffered no ill effects. I, on the other hand, ended up with a staff infection that galloped through my body for three months. I ended up being rushed by ambulance to the hospital with some organs trying to shut down. I have some permanent damage which causes these pain attacks which I thought had diminished to just minor inconveniences once in awhile. I was wrong.

These attacks serve as God’s little reminder to me that I can do nothing on my own strength. I am physically and mentally incapable of relieving the pain. Only through full reliance on Him can I even endure the severity of it. Once He brings me through, the physical weakness is debilitating and lasts for days and causes me to depend on God to renew and restore my health.

We are the same way against satans attacks. When we are trying to live life on our own strength, we soon find that we run out of steam and become weak. We become vulnerable to satans whispered lies and end up falling into the same old sinful ways of the past. Only through submission to God does the renewal and restoration happen and once again we become strong warriors in God’s army.

Love

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:26:54 -0500

“There is never so much love in our lives that we can afford to reject it when it is offered.” Colleen Coble “Into the Deep”.

This is a fairly accurate statement. People that invest in your life or who want to be a part of it and love you unconditionally are precious. Sometimes we learn that lesson too late. When they’re gone and we can’t tell them how much they mean to us. I’m learning not to take the people in my life for granted, as things can change in a moment. After losing two brother in laws within 7 years of each other, it has hit home.

One of the last and most precious memories I have of my brother in law, Peter was a family road trip to Calgary. It was for a family funeral, but believe or not, it was so much fun. I can’t remember where we were, but Peter climbed into the van with Kevin, I and the 3 oldest kids (I was expecting Seth). He thought that our van, being full of 3 small kids needed to be rowdy and not quiet, so he made it crazy! He had the kids laughing so hard as he was making up different names for all the animals we passed. Jeff asked him what a cow was and he said “its a buffalo” and Jeff replied with a giggle “no silly, its a 4-legged chicken!” Peter laughed so hard that he was crying. The kids never have forgotten that trip. Seven months later he died of a massive heart attack. His second in ten years. He never even got to meet Seth.

I have many regrets. I never let him know how much I loved him and appreciated his crazy humor (usually off-color) and fierce family loyalty. He could liven up a party and he was not just a brother in law, but a real brother as I couldn’t remember a time that he wasn’t part of my life (he was around since I was 3).

My biggest regret was in not sharing my faith with him. I never told him about God’s saving grace and how much Jesus dying on the cross means in my life. I always assumed that he knew by my actions, but I was wrong. I wasn’t around him enough to let my actions speak for themselves. We were all busy and had our own lives. Too busy for a visit or a phone call and as a result, I let an opportunity to know an amazing man and to share my faith slip away. He probably knew I loved him….and I say probably because I never told him. It was “too uncomfortable” to share emotions, “he’d know it anyway so I don’t have to tell him”, etc. What a wasted opportunity because of selfishness and pride.

So now I annoy the people in my life by telling them and trying to show them that I love them. I still fail, am sometimes selfish, get caught up in the busyness of life and yes, probably make some of them and myself uncomfortable at times. But I’m trying to love them like God loves me…unconditionally. Do yourself a favor today. Phone, text, email, tweet, facebook, write the people you care about today and tell them you love them. You’ll never regret it, I promise.

“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1Peter4:8

REST

Fri, 20 Jan 2012 14:20:03 -0500

Hebrews 3 & 4

I’ve come to love this principle in the last few days. It means to cease activity. Thanks to a couple of `our` kids :) at Capernwray Bible School, this concept really hit me the other day (thanks Jessamy and Jared). They had a class on Hebrews and this was one of the topics. Jessamy did any amazing blog about it (see thisleakingvessel.tumblr.com). Why did it hit me so hard? Because I’ve always struggled with it. I’ve always kept busy, worked hard, had the “me do myself” or “if I want something done, I have to do it” attitude.

This attitude is not healthy physically, emotionally or spiritually. It makes me depend on myself for strength instead of on God. It becomes a struggle for control. Me against God….gee I wonder who’s going to win that fight… :P

Eight months ago, I hurt my ankle. I can’t remember how I did it, I just remember the burning pain on the back of it. I also remember that I was running around trying to get everything done and didn’t stop. I didn’t even go to the doctor about it until last month when the swelling got worse and it became a lot more painful. It turns out that I partially tore my achilles tendon and have made it a lot worse by not resting it. As a result, its going to take a lot longer to heal now.

Why did I do this? Because I didn’t want to rest it. I “needed” to do things, look after my family, run a business, was indispensible and I didn’t have time to rest. Notice the focus on those last statements. It was on “I”. I was relying on my own strength, had to be in control and not resting in God. Just like the Israelites, I forgot to put my faith and trust in God and as a result of my sinful, controlling, disobedient heart, I made things worse.

Hebrews 3:7- 4:2 says

“So, as the Holy Spirit says:

   “Today, if you hear his voice,
  do not harden your hearts
as you did in the rebellion,
   during the time of testing in the wilderness,
where your ancestors tested and tried me,
   though for forty years they saw what I did.
That is why I was angry with that generation;
   I said, ‘Their hearts are always going astray,
   and they have not known my ways.’
So I declared on oath in my anger,
   ‘They shall never enter my rest.’ ”

See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin’s deceitfulness. We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said:

   “Today, if you hear his voice,
   do not harden your hearts
   as you did in the rebellion.”

Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt? And with whom was he angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter his rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.

Therefore, since the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us be careful that none of you be found to have fallen short of it. For we also have had the good news proclaimed to us, just as they did; but the message they heard was of no value to them, because they did not share the faith of those who obeyed.”

So now I need to learn to fully rest in God. He is revealing a lot of areas where I rely on my own strength and don’t want to give up control. Proverbs 3:5-6 says:

“Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;
in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight.”

Its so true. It just takes submission and resting in Him. Hard lessons to learn, but the peace, joy and contentment that come from doing it is truly a gift of God’s grace.

Goodness

Wed, 18 Jan 2012 15:20:49 -0500

Titus 3:1-8

^“ Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate, and always to be gentle toward everyone. At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone”

The greeting ;”How’s it going?” is usually answered with the reply “good”, even if their lives are a mess or falling apart. They don’t want to tell the person asking the question their real feelings for many reasons. I found out through a bible study that I’m doing on the fruit of the spirit, to a Christian, this response isn’t necessarily untrue. Their life may be falling apart, but it is still “good”. James 1:2-5 says:

“ Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.”

The Greek word for goodness is “agathosune” meaning “benevolent” and “active goodness”. It characterizes itself in the activity of being benevolent. By being benevolent, we are acting in goodness towards another. It’s not always easy or pleasant. Sometimes, in a persons desire for goodness and truth, they may have to rebuke, chastise, or rebuke a wrongful behavior. God does this to us all the time and I am thankful.

We just have to be careful in the way in which we correct others. This is where Satan can have a field day. It must be done gently, lovingly, kindly and with patience. It must be totally free of self, personal gain and opinion and yielded to God or it becomes a personal issue. We must be tenderhearted towards the other person and not confrontational. The demeanor of the person correcting the behavior says a lot for; “a gentle answer turns away wrath but a harsh word stirs up anger.” Proverbs 15:1.

As a parent, I know that its not an easy thing to ever have to do. Its stressful, but its always beneficial. Even done with the best intention, it can cause the other person to be upset because they can’t see the problem or don’t want to hear it . God’s word is like that. He doesn’t always tell us what we want to hear, but what He needs us to hear. He never misleads us or harms us. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says: ” All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of Godmay be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” It is always profitable to us. Not always pleasant, sometimes painful, but always good.

What this study showed me today…..I have a LOT to learn!! Good thing God has unending patience. I just hope my family does!

Unconditional Love

Mon, 16 Jan 2012 17:27:47 -0500

1 Corinthians 13

¹ If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

It’s a very familiar passage, but how many of us really understand it? This is the very definition of love that God has for us. Jesus gave up His life for us! It’s unconditional. It has no limits or conditions. Even when we sin, He still loves us. It grieves Him, but His love for us never diminishes. This is the way God desires us to love each other.

Kevin and I started trying to put unconditional love into practice about three years ago. To really love as God intended. But, I did a test the other day. I put my name in place of love. ie. Janet is patient….. guess what? I failed miserably. I’m still learning and God is gracious and teaching me through His word everyday what I need to do.

The one main thing I’ve noticed when trying (and the main word here is trying) to love unconditionally is the change within myself. “I” become much less important and others become way more important. I’m happier, more peaceful, even joyful becoming a servant of God. We’ve also noticed a big positive change in the “family” God has blessed us with. It’s exciting and I can’t wait to see what else or who else God is going to transform!

One other thing I’ve noticed in others is their suspicion. The “why are you doing this” or “what do they want in return”? They can’t quite believe it, can’t accept it and most definitely don’t understand it. When you try to explain it, you get the puzzled look of disbelief.

Peoples reactions don’t really matter though. It’s what God tells us to do and that’s all that matters. That’s the main lesson I’ve learned this last week. That I can’t seek the approval of others because I”ll never achieve it. It doesn’t matter what they say, do or even the rejection I experience. It can never compare to what Jesus gave up/endured for me.

It’s not about “me” anyway. When those feelings of rejection and hurt arise, I am actually putting “conditions” or “expectations” on loving someone. I must just obey and stay the course that God has put in front of me, allow Him to work through me and rely on Him to heal any pain I might feel. I have a lot to learn and with God’s gentle guidance someday I hope to hear “well done, good and faithful servant.”

metaconscious: A lenticular cloud captured...

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:42:12 -0500

metaconscious:

A lenticular cloud captured in 2002 looking southwest over the Tararua Range mountains from North Island, New Zealand.

via APOD

Photo

Mon, 09 Jan 2012 10:08:36 -0500

Parents

Wed, 21 Dec 2011 08:03:11 -0500

I guess its fitting that my first post be about my parents. I’m so thankful for them. They are and have always been there for me. Even at the age of 76 and with significant health problems, they work along side me tirelessly and without complaining. They demonstrate Jesus’ love here on earth to me. I don’t know what I would do without them. I’m not always the most patient that I should be with them or even show the the appreciation for all they do for me. That is something that I’m trying to get better at, for they, or any other parent do not deserve to be taken for granted. I regret every single time that I’ve not treated them with the dignity, respect and love they deserve. I can never express how much they mean to me and how much I love them. Thank you God for my parents.

Photo

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:11:28 -0500