Completely Devoted ~ A blog for women seeking to be completely devoted to God.

From a recent post:

God is so much bigger than I can ever imagine or than I give him credit for. I look at my life right now, seeing so many changes and it is a very scary thing to see plans interrupted and have things you have set your heart on break.

Making Sense of Things by Sarah Field

Imagine for a minute that there’s a clay jar that contains the presence of God.   When the lid is taken off we can see God’s image, not perfectly but recognizably.  How valuable would that jar be?  How much would we treasure the jar?  What respect would it garner from our culture?  James the apostle understood the value of others when speaking about the power of our words, for good and evil:

 

“With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be.”

 

What gives a jar value is usually not the jar itself but it’s contents.  For this reason we are to respect all people.  We respect people because of God. And as for others believers, how much more respect do we give to those who are described in Scripture as the temple of God?

 

This holiday season you may be around some people who have done things that would cause you to disrespect them.  So how is it you can keep from gossip and still honor evil people? Because they have been made in God’s likeness.

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My daughter Emily has had the privilege of participating in a program called Therapeutic Horsemanship for many years now. In this program special needs youth learn balance, confidence, and control while riding specially trained horses. 

For the last few years I have had the honor of blessing the horses at the opening of the annual horse-a-thon fundraiser. This year, I laid my hands on over twenty horses and prayed for each by name. Then I asked all those who work with the horses and all the parents and riders to join me in giving thanks to God for these beautiful animals.

Each year as I do this, I’m struck by God’s presence with these animals. Through the horses and the faithful people who serve at TH, thousands of people have been physically strengthened and emotionally encouraged.

Horses just simply being horses gives glory to God.  They reflect his strength and majesty while bringing great joy to people.  Whenever any part of creation functions in its intended role, God is glorified.  Take time to find him in his creation this fall.  Get out in the sunlight, take a trip to see the fall colors, watch the birds around a feeder.  You might be surprised at just how much you’ll see of him.

“For you make me glad by your deeds, O LORD; I sing for joy at the works of your hands.”  

Psalm 92:4

Go to thstl.org to see more about Therapeutic Horsemanship.

Glad to be His,

Doug

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Over the years I have talked to many people who have been hurt by emotionally unstable parents or authority figures. As children they were never really sure what they would get from day to day out of those they looked to for safety and nurturing. Some days were fine and others were filled with tirades. People who are exposed to these kinds of environments often will blame themselves for another person’s volatility. “If I had not spilled the milk, then Dad would not have been angry all day,” or “if I were a better child my parents would not have gotten divorced.” When this notion is translated to our relationship with God, we begin to misunderstand him. God is not like fallen men. The Father in heaven is reliable. When lamenting his own life and failures of Israel, Jeremiah writes these words: 

“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.”  Lamentations 3:22 

If you are at the end of your rope, take heart, believer. You may feel despair and loneliness but God’s compassion will not leave you. You may think of yourself as a failure but his compassions never fail. You may have been unfaithful today, but his compassion is new every morning – GREAT IS HIS FAITHFULNESS. With each rising of the sun, know that the Lord’s compassion is offered afresh.

In Him,

Doug

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God reveals himself at odd times and places. Today was not different.

Being a good student, I was studying for a school project in the library. Being a student, I was looking for ways to avoid my assignment. While visiting the men’s room for the second time that hour, I noticed something new. There was a small white note taped to the porcelain plumbing fixture mounted in front of me. It read: Please pull down, not toward you. Thanks

The following conversation transpired:

Jim - What would happen if I pulled toward me and not down?

Jim - Well, there is only one way to find out.

Jim - That is true …

Jim - Seriously, how old are you?

Washing my hands, I recalled something from preparing to teach children’s church. Jesus instructed his disciples to pray, “And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13 ESV).

I like to wait for temptation­–then pray. Christ taught that we should preempt tempting situations through prayer. Keeping us from tempting situations is God’s most gracious method of “delivering us from evil.” How many of our temptations could be avoided through preemptive prayers? We have a big gracious God, so I am thinking of a big gracious number.

~ Jim

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The gospel is a message of rescue.  It’s got all the classic components: inescapable peril, helpless people, a strong and willing Rescuer, and a successful ending.  So, to be “Christian” means we are “rescued”!  This brings us great joy and moves us to worship our Rescuer, Jesus.

It also means that our Rescuer, Jesus, takes up residence in us by His Holy Spirit.  The Spirit works to conform us to the image of Christ and live His life through us.  Now if the gospel as a message of rescue encapsulates Jesus’ heart and life, then what sort of life do you think the Spirit wants to live through us?  That’s right – a rescuing life. 

So, Christians are also rescuers.  Actually, we are rescued rescuers.  And that is what being a gospel-driven champion of life is all about.  It means that we seek those in peril –in this case, imminent physical peril like abortion, embryonic research, end-of-life abuse, and so on – and intervene as rescuers.  That is, after all, what Jesus did for us spiritual sense.

Risen Lord is starting a Life Team that will help our church grow as a community of rescued rescuers.  They’ll help us connect the gospel of rescue to letting Jesus live out that gospel in a community and world full of people in physical peril.  Stay tuned for a special sermon on this subject this Sunday, October 31st.

Learn more about being a “rescued rescuer” on Saturday, November 6 at Picasso’s Coffee House (across from the new building) from 9am to 10am. This isn’t a meeting; it’s a fun, informal sneak peak of the great adventures the RLCC Life Team might explore and pursue based upon the interests and backgrounds of those who attend. Please contact Ruth Carlson if you plan to attend by email ruthlcarlson@gmail.com or by phone 314-288-5870.

The Face of Christ

 

2 Corinthians 4:4 - 6

The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. For we do not preach ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,”made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.

 

One of the great challenges of studying the Bible is to try to put ourselves in the place of the person who wrote a particular passage.  Doing this helps us get a better understanding of what the writer was trying to get across.  In applying this to the above passage I cannot help but notice the Apostle Paul’s two references to the appearance, or image of Christ:

1. “they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”

2. “knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.”

In all of the Bible we do not have one physical description of Jesus, not one.  It seem odd to have a book written about a person yet never describe what that person looks like.  But in the mind of Paul there is a description of Christ even to the details of his face.  Paul describes Jesus through the gospel.  He describes in words what he had seen, a glorious Jesus. 

 

The image of Christ is so amazing that it can only be really captured in the beauty of the gospel.  Paul’s encounter with Jesus was after the resurrection.  What Paul encountered was the risen Christ in all his splendor.  I wonder then if when he says “the glory of God in the face of Christ” he was thinking back to his own experience on the Damascus road when the glory of God shown in blinding light. 

When you read the Gospel story does its glory change your path?  For those who are blind it does not.  But when your eyes have been opened, hearing the Gospel causes you to keep changing as you see Jesus face to face.

Doug Hon

10 Personal Growth Questions

From Perry Noble:

#1 – Am I reading my Bible for information or transformation?  (James 1:22-25)

#2 – Am I allowing people or circumstances to steal the joy that Jesus promised to me?  (John 10:10)

#3 – Is there anything in my life that God is consistently dealing with that I am trying to ignore?  (Ezekiel 14:1-5)

#4 – Who are the people in my life that God has placed around me for the purpose of me sharing Christ with them and/or inviting them to church?  (II Corinthians 5:16-21)

#5 – Is there anyone I need to apologize to?  (Ephesians 4:25:27)

#6 – Is there anyone I need to forgive? (Ephesians 4:32)

#7 – Is there a sin I need to confess to others and ask for help? (James 5:16)

#8 – Am I fully utilizing the gifts and abilities that God has blessed me with…or am I simply choosing to waste my life?  (I Peter 4:10)

#9 – Do I know more lines from the movies that I love than verse from the Bible that I read? (Psalm 119:11)

#10 – Is there anything going on in my life privately that, if it became public, would cause me and/or the body of Christ to be embarrassed? (I John 1:9, James 5:16)

Mark Driscoll on 10 Things Forgiveness Is Not

Why Your Body Matters in Worship

“When most Christians think of worshiping God, they imagine such activities as singing songs of praise and thanksgiving, listening to the Word of God read and preached, corporate prayer, and the like. Few would consider the role of their body in worship. Indeed, in a popular definition, worship is described as involving a person’s conscience, mind, imagination, heart, and will—with no mention of the human body!…Scripture, however, presents an active, physical involvement in worship”

Read more here.