heritage

my first parents walked in the garden of eden.

my ancestors include seth, enoch, methuselah.

i know my lineage comes through noah and his sons,
so my ancestors were on the ark.

what if my ancestors left egypt
delivered by the ten plagues of God,
walking on the dry bed of the red sea?

what if my ancestors conquered the promised land?
what if they paid homage to david and solomon?
what if they were carried into captivity?
what if they were delivered by esther's appeal?
what if they returned to the promised land
with nehemiah, ezra, zerubbabel, and jeshua?
what if they resisted tyranny with the maccabees?

what if they were among the diaspora
and returned to the land only for the feasts?

what if they walked in the land
when Jesus was teaching?

what if they heard and accepted?
what if they heard and rejected?

what if they were scattered
by the destruction of jerusalem?

what if they were pagans in the frontiers of rome?
or pagans in the western hemisphere?
or pagans in africa?

what if my grandparents were pastors?
my parents in full-time ministry?
my brother an ordained minister?
my husband a pastor?

what if i grew up in a christian home,
going to church,
attending a christian school,
going to a evangelical college?

this is not my spiritual heritage.

no.
no.
no.

God is my inheritance.
Christ is my portion.
the Spirit is the earnest of my inheritance.

i am loved by Almighty God,
and in love he calls me his child.
Jesus considers me his brother.

everything else is,
well,
like paul said,
worthless.

humble repentance

if a person tries to cover up
his wrong-doing
by lying ("i didn't do it!"),
by excusing it ("it wasn't that bad"),
or by justifying it
("it was the right thing to do in my circumstances!),
his pride will move God to oppose him.

and people will learn
that he cannot be trusted


admitting one's wrong-doing
and then abandoning it
gains God's compassion first.

then most of the time
it will cause people to be compassionate also,
especially if they have been transformed
by responding
to God's conviction.

(reflections on proverbs 28.13)

discernment

if a person is humble enough
to understand
how much he needs God
to guide and teach him,
he will understand
the difference between
someone who is always full of his own opinion
and someone who is full of God's word.

a person who respects and honors God
will not fall
for a deceptive facade
or for flattery.

prepare

from ron's reflections:

Listen closely. We as believers need to be strengthening our walk with God NOW. We don’t need to wait until tough times hit. Walk with God now… read the Scriptures now… fellowship with believers now… pray faithfully now. Then when the hard days come you will be much more ready. It will still be hard, but you will be better prepared.

does your pastor love you?

an excellent article at ron's reflections gives you the criteria to evaluate whether your pastor loves you.

crazy

"like one who bind a stone in a sling,
so is he who gives honor to a fool."

in war
or hunting,
ammunition needs to be readily available
to be of any use.

why would a soldier
go to war
with useless ammo
and a useless weapon?

why would a hunter
go out hunting,
locking up his ammo
in his truck?

why would anyone
honor a fool?

(response to proverbs 26.8)

glory

q. whose glory do you desire the most?

a.
whenever difficulties have arisen
in the past several years,
God has instructed me
that it is for his glory.

at first i rebelled--
i struggled to submit to that,
because i did want to be honored
ant to have people speak well of me.

but now i don't seem to mind
what people say
so much.

if it is false,
i grieve for them--
for the danger
that they put themselves in
by breaking God's law
and deeply offending him.

personally,
i feel safe,
sheltered by the Almighty Father,
and i care little for honor or glory
for myself.

i deeply yearn to see him honored and glorified.

i find this change
that God has worked in me
very interesting,
and i am grateful
for his patience with me.

hide and seek

God's glory conceals a matter,
kings glory in searching out a matter.

God knows everything.
he delights in concealing
diamonds in coal,
gold in rock,
wisdom in common experience.

kings--any true leaders among men--
delight in discovering God's hidden treasures.

(reflections on proverbs 25.2)

renewing my mind

i do not want to be simple-minded.
i do not want to delight in scoffing and ridicule.
i do not want to despise the truth.

i want to turn at wisdom's reproof.
i want the spirit of wisdom to be poured out on me.
i want words of wisdom to be revealed to me.

i do not want to refuse the call of wisdom,
nor do i want to ignore wisdom's invitation.

i do not want to neglect any wise counsel;
i want to value wise reproof.

i do not want wisdom to laugh at my calamity,
to mock my fears, distresses, and anguish.
i do not want wisdom to ignore me when i call;
i want her to hear me.

i want to accept wise counsel,
even if it includes disapproval.

i do not want to have my own way,
but rather i want wisdom's way.
i do not want to be killed by my waywardness
or destroyed by my complacency.
i want to be attentive to wisdom
so that i can live securely
and be free from the dread of evil.

(a response to proverbs 1.22-33)