The Faith Facet

9/10/09
Fruitful Growth in the Faith=Faithfulness (Fruit facet #7)
I hadn’t planned on blogging tonight----but God………..He is faithful when I am not. What a comfort that is!
Here are a few things I know about faith and faithfulness:

• Faith springs forth from God’s love that is “shed abroad in my heart.” He is the source of my faith.

• He is the “author and finisher of my faith.” (Hebrews 12:2)

• Without faith, it is impossible to please God. (Hebrews 11:6)

Sermon Jottings from II Peter 1:3-8
3 as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue (moral excellence/goodness), to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Verses 3-5 describe the basis of our faith and verses 5-8 give us qualities that supplement our faith---four of which are mentioned in our Fruit of the Spirit verses (must be important if God repeats them elsewhere) These are qualities that need to be cultivated in our lives so that in our faithfulness others see Him, our faithful witness, the One who is called Faithful and True.

Steve Collums, a godly teacher during his lifetime, simply defined orthopraxie, the right practice of right doctrine---knowledge of Him---as "living out what you believe." In these verses, I see faithfulness in our lives as giving back to Him who is the Source of our faith.


Prayer: May all who come behind me find me faithful. May they see, or remember, faithfulness in my life as I respond to my faith in Him. May all who know me or know of me in generations to come see my life as a dance of faith! A-men.

“Tuckered Out”

9/7/09 “All labored out on Labor Day”
If you wonder where I’ve been lately, you’re not the only one. I’m not sure myself---I think I’ve been on someone else’s schedule for me---and that’s not even counting work responsibilities. Yesterday morning I had a few minutes to get on my face before the Lord and cry out. As always He heard my prayer---the responsibilities, appointments, schedules and situation did not change. Yet, in His faithfulness, He met me right where I was. I didn’t have my dancing shoes on but He realized that I needed to sit out awhile and regroup and restore. Actually, I could have used a foot rub---maybe some salve and bandages like ballerinas use to rev up their tired feet and legs might have helped as well.
Restoration. It’s what I have to do on weekends these days. It’s necessary especially in my prayer life. I have so-o-o-o many friends with such prayer concerns right now and I need to have extra time to be in His presence and to approach His throne of grace on their behalf. Prayer revives me but it takes time.
Right now commitments are real and time-consuming. Therefore, I need to see His purpose in them. If I can’t, then I need to realign my life with His until I see clearly the path that He has for me. Only then can I confidently claim His strength.

The LORD is my strength and my shield;
My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped;

Therefore my heart exults,
And with my song I shall thank Him. (Psalm 28:7)

Those who know me well, know that I’m up past my 8:30 bedtime. But God……………………..
It’s never too late to meditate!

Surely Goodness

8/31/09 Surely. Surely. Surely.
Roget gives all kinds of synonyms for this word; Absolutely, Certainly, Clearly, Definitely, For sure, Incontestably, Indisputably, Indubitably, Indeed, Of course, Unquestionably and Without a doubt.

Surely goodness and mercy (love, KJV) shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.

Think about this verse. After all, it is Monday...and Monday's are for meditation!

3/2/09 entry
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: A two-year old at my son’s church recited the 23rd Psalm which her dad posted on GodTube. It is precious. It also spoke volumes to me when she kept trying to add “surely” before many of the verses---that’s the way I see it now—surely He restores my soul, surely He is with me and surely His goodness and mercy will pursue me---It’s a sure thing.

It is surely His goodness so we can count on it---it is indeed a sure thing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3buLQoCN6KY

GRACIOUS GOODNESS

8/30/09 Goodness gracious sakes alive, I think I’ve taken so long to get through the fruit of the Spirit that many have forgotten why I am writing about these traits. That is one of many sayings that I learned at the feet of my grandmother, Margaret Louise (Mama) Davenport---a lady of gracious goodness. You see, like UCLA coach, John Wooden, that was as close to profanity that she ever got--- ''My goodness gracious!'' just a grandmotherly trademark, of sorts.

I also learned, “What in the Sam Hill?” from her. That was her other equivalent of cussin’ though I’m sure she had no idea that it was a euphemism for “what the devil.” She just heard Jimmy Stewart use it in What a Wonderful Life, that classic black and white TV show we watched every Christmas for as long as I can remember. She was too full of goodness to have even known how to “put on” swearing or as Galatians 5:20 labels it, discord (NIV) or outbursts of anger. (NASB) In her Spirit led life she “put off” all those vices.

Galatians 5:19 Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21 envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these,….

Mama Davenport gave no space in her life to "things like these." She “put on” the Fruit of the Spirit day in and day out as no one else I have ever known.

Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness and self-control….

Reminder: Theses qualities (plural noun form ) are a part of the Fruit of the Spirit. Fruit is singular---it’s all of these qualities together that make up the single picture that reflects the Christian life/walk. What does your picture look like? What are you reflecting to the world? I remember Mama’s goodness because God’s goodness was so evident in her life. How will someone remember you? Will His goodness shine through”

Suffice it to say, just as many of us learned gracious goodness (all those manners we were taught to “put on”) at the feet of our parents and grandparents, we will learn of His goodness as we sit at His feet.

GOODNESS: "FRUIT TRAIT” #6

8/27/09
Discipleship Tools taught me that goodness is the engagement of love! I think most of these qualities of the fruit of the Spirit are an overflow of love, His love. Cole taught me that the Greek word for goodness is the same as for virtue. Virtue is moral excellence and is the character trait that is valued as being good. What does it look like? People of goodness display integrity, honesty and compassion to others. Goodness compels/allows us to do the right thing---even when we don’t feel like it. The opposite of virtue is vice. Interestingly enough, the definition of vice lists everything from an immoral habit i.e. prostitution, gambling and drugs to mild failing in character. Hm-m-m a vice is a vice just like a sin is a sin---no real degrees of sinning even though our human nature tends to “rank” our sins. Obviously the more our lives are filled with goodness/virtue, the less room there is for those vices. So then the more we are filled with Him…..well you get the idea. Move over Self!
So, how do keep from wandering away from His goodness. One of my all-time favorite hymns, “Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing,” holds a reference to His goodness in the last verse.

O, to grace how great a debtor
daily I'm constrained to be!
Let thy goodness, like a fetter,
bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
prone to leave the God I love;
here's my heart, O take and seal it,
seal it for thy courts above.

It’s His goodness that keeps me from wandering, His goodness that restrains me from SELF. In my flesh, I’m so prone to wander. And it’s His goodness that keeps us merciful and scrupulous as we deal with others. Goodness is virtue in action and endears us to others. Ah but for the grace and goodness of God………
Tonight just “goodness facts” but next time it could get personal. That’s what God does every time I Trust Him On This Subject (or scripture)---He brings it on home to my plate. So I’m going to “serve” those THOTS up to you. Hope it won’t be too hard to digest.

PRAYERFUL PLEA

8/26/09 Prayerful Plea is the request from one whose writings have blessed so many of us, Sarah Young.
During these past eight months of my MAC journey so many of you have told me that you are “on the same page.” It’s become our way of sharing the fact that we’re reading the devotional, Jesus Calling, every day. Many times we have joked that the daily entry was written just with us in mind. I don’t know what Jesus Calling said to you today, but this part _______ (fill in the blank yourself) was written just for me!! My part from the August 26 entry dealt with needing to detach from the disturbances around me and to quit striving for control.

Sarah Young is the author of our shared book and she is asking for folks to prayerfully plead on her behalf. Here’s an excerpt from an e-mail I received this week from Cindy Cole in response to questions about Sarah’s health.

Sarah Young . . .who is in Kansas City undergoing treatment for Lyme Disease . . .in a letter from Sarah dated August 5th, she said, “Stephen (her husband) has to leave Kansas City August 18th . . .a wonderful Christian family will take care of me after he leaves. Please pray for them and for me during this difficult time. My level of disability has increased markedly since I’ve been on IV antibiotics, especially the vertigo, weird brain sensations, and weakness. I’m scheduled to begin IV antibiotics again on Monday . . . I’ll need prayer that my liver will cope with the treatment this time . . . and that the treatment will be effective. My twelve weeks of treatment will end on October 15th or l6th, and I need to get strong enough to travel all the way back to Perth. This is not only a prayer request, it is a PRAYER PLEA. I have never felt so helpless in all my life!” Sarah began IV therapy on July 23rd . . . has a treatment every morning at 6:45am and another every afternoon. She said, “This is a grueling regimen . . . seven days a week for three months.” Steve and Sarah are missionaries in Australia.

As one of her faithful readers, I feel it is a privilege to go before the Throne of Grace on her behalf. I hope you’ll join me. A card of encouragement might be nice as well!!

Sarah Young
c/o Donna Mastalio
10804 W. 118th Terrace
Overland Park, Kansas 66210

Gotta Dance

8/25/09 Gotta Dance!
The Young Life Training Book from the 1970’s had kids discussing what it meant to “Put On” godliness and what that looked like in the scriptures. There was also the “Put Off” aspect---behaviors “unbecoming” (a Mama Davenport term) to a believer.

I’ve been “putting on” the wrong things lately and blaming it on fatigue, time constraints and responsibilities. I’ve put on fear and irritability----I’ve forgotten how to “dance.” So tonight, I’ve decided to get out my dancing shoes---maybe not tap shoes or my soft leather ones for bopping but a smooth shoe for a dance more akin to waltzing. I’m not exactly up to the shindigs of the past but that doesn’t mean I’m ready to sit it out either. There’s still so much life to live---just maybe not at the old pace yet.

So if you see me gliding down the hall at work, I hope you’ll realized who’s leading me (maybe even holding me up). As I slide on by in the “closed position” with my Partner, I trust you’ll see me in my new ball gown. I’m “putting off” my old dregs of complaint, irritation, fear and unrealistic expectations---I plan to “put on” contentment, gratitude and trust for the duration of my earthly dance. I think that will please and glorify my Partner, Jesus.

Isn’t that the chief end of man according to the Westminster Shorter Catechism? Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever. I gotta dance again! I plan to do just that and to enjoy every minute of it.

I “hope you dance” as well.

OVERWHELMED

8/24/09 Overwhelmed?? Then you, along with me, need to overwhelmingly conquer.
Have you ever been so inundated with the urgencies of life that it weighs you down? Life’s happenings are a part of the reality of the world we live in---wars and terrorism ---the plight of the jobless and homeless--health, accident or weather related tragedies. Often folks we know are affected, other times it’s the faceless folks of the headlines.

Sometimes it’s our more mundane life happenings, right on our own door step, that are taking their toll. Fatigue, irritability and even anger and depression can set in because we’re just “flat out” overwhelmed. So what’s one to do?
I found myself struggling in this last week. One more time I was reacting instead of responding to ones I love dearly. Mostly I tried to hide from the situation and avoid confronting the problem---you know, my old avoiDANCE.
My friend, Michèle, hides behind her camera---I hide behind my “pen.” We both are seeking solitude and silence instead of facing the difficulty.
I don’t think burying one’s head in the sand and refusing to confront or acknowledge a problem or to even think about an unpleasant situation is the answer. Although escaping reality occasionally is certainly a common choice these days---why else would the soaps keep running and the Twilight series keep selling. (Granted, I would choose the books over the soaps any day, even though they are about vampire love---especially since even many of my friends in the faith say they can’t put them down.) Remembering that escape is only momentary is imperative to one's health. That way it doesn’t become an addiction but is used as a positive time of refreshment, albeit temporary.

What’s been getting me down is that I have the audacity to be overwhelmed about anything. I can sit here and blog in a cool house with big glass of sweet tea and a “poor me" attitude—I’m weighed down by stuff I just don’t want to deal with attitude.”
Just making decisions has been beyond me lately. No matter how much I remind myself of the insignificance of events/situations (in the grand scheme of things) that get me down, I still falter/complain.

But God…………….spoke to my heart through a verse on a bookmark. I do love bookmarks, especially ones with verses. Imagine that!
As always, the verse was so timely and after all, it is Monday.

So……….ponder--contemplate--- consider this---read a different version----deliberate---think----turn over in your mind ---write it down---mull over----reflect---think carefully (with full intent of scripture in mind), memorize and ask yourself, “What are all these things in my life that need to be conquered?”……..you get the idea. That's just "meditation" amplified.

But in all these things overwhelmingly conqueror through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:37)

It’s our Women’s Ministry verse for the year so I’ll be meditating on this for quite a few Mondays.

FEASTING ON GOD'S WORD

8/23/09
Virginia Wolf once said, One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. Most Americans, especially now that we have the “food channel,” would buy into this notion hook, line and sinker. But there is another food that helps us think well, love well, and sleep well. There is a feast awaiting us. The morsels provided are fodder for the soul. This fare that is more nourishing and without all those empty calories is found in God’s Word.

If I had a Twitter account, yesterday my “tweet” would have read, “Gone to Kroger, only b/c Darnell Farms in NC is too far away, for a watermelon! Many know why. My plan for the day was to feed my soul on John 15 and my body on watermelon. I did both and how SWEET it was! “How sweet are Thy words to my taste! Yes, sweeter than honey to my mouth.” (Psalm 119: 103)

1”I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser.2Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit, He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit, He prunes it so that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you.” (John 15:1-3)

I learned that the word prune in verse 2 and clean in verse 3 come from the same GK root word, KATHAROS. There is indeed a cleansing that comes when we are washed (THOT--purged of ungodliness?) by The Word and thus able to bear fruit.

I also learned from some of my marginalia that we are chosen, blessed and broken for the nourishment of the world. But how can we nourish others if we have not been feeding on His Word ourselves?

Now that you’ve dined on this, I hope you sleep well. Goodnight!

♪♪♪ SINGING ♪♪♪

8/22/09 Singing, not dancing, what’s up??
Words like overwhelmed and fatigue or phrases like “rest stop needed” or “gotta dance” seemed destined to dominate this morning’s blog entry. But God……(as I sat with Bible open to John 15, seeking to abide in Him, and devotionals on my lap) led me to the need to sing---with me that’s more like a joyful noise. “Sing for joy in the Lord…Sing praises to Him…Sing to Him a new song." (Psalm 33:1-3)
"God, what direction are you trying to take me?" Focus on self needs to change---that seemed to be the answer.
Song is good for that. There was too much of me---EGO---self-absorption about my pain, my problems, my suffering, etc. EGO is an acronym for Edges God Out. When I edge Him out, I allow fear, which is a lack of trust, to creep in.
Today’s Jesus Calling said, “view trials as exercises to develop your trust-muscles” and concluded with “sing praises to Me.” God Calling reminded me to, “Learn from My Life of the suffering that saves others. So, you will sing in your pain.” I’ve asked the Lord to put a “new song” in my heart.
That’s where I am this morning, where are you?

1I waited patiently for the LORD;
And He inclined to me and heard my cry.
2He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,
And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.
3He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God;
Many will see and fear
And will trust in the LORD (Psalm 40:1-3)