Growing in Grace

The apostle Paul points out in Romans 1 that everyone knows that there is a God . His existence is revealed in creation; creation demands a Creator, and design demands a Designer. And it is revealed in conscience; we all have an innate consciousness of right and wrong. . . The heathen do not want to retain the true God in their knowledge . They know that belief in such a God would cramp their life-styles. So they turn to idolatry. They make images of people, birds, animals, and snakes and then worship them. Since each successive image represents a downward step in the scale of creation, it follows that they feel less and less responsible to live clean lives. If their god is a snake, it doesn't really matter how they live. This explains the close link between idolatry and immorality. Idols made by human beings do not make moral demands on their worshipers. . . Belief determines behavior . That is why it is important to have true views of God. The higher our thoughts of Him, th

God can be praised and trusted by believers because He is holy, good, and perfect. All believers should be motivated to honorable conduct . At some point in life, each one of us must decide what is his highest joy; for the thing that delights us directs us . Generally speaking, a child finds his delight in what he has; a youth in what he does; and an adult in what he is. The first lives for possessions, the second for the experiences, and the third for character. We do not condemn the child or the youth for so living, because neither has reached maturity; but we would certainly wonder at an adult who lived on those lower levels. . . So, every person has an outlook on life; he is seeking his highest joy. Outlook determines outcome. Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the stars and became the friend of God by faith. Lot lifted up his eyes and saw Sodom and became the friend of the world. Abraham inherited the city prepared for him by God, the city he had been seeking (Hebrews 11:13-16

When you recognize God as Creator, you will admire Him. When you recognize His wisdom, you will learn from Him. When you discover His strength, you will rely on Him. But only when He saves you will you worship Him. It's a "before and after" scenario. Before your rescue, you could easily keep God at a distance. Comfortably dismissed. Neatly shelved. Sure He was important, but so was your career. Your status. Your salary. He was high on your priority list, but He shared the spot with others. Then came the storm. . . the rage. . .the fight. . . the ripped moorings. . . the starless night. Despair fell like a fog; your bearings were gone. In your heart, you knew there was no exit. Turn to your career for help? Only if you want to hide from the storm. . . not escape it. Lean on your status for strength? A storm isn't impressed with your title. Rely on your salary for rescue? many try. . . genuinely ask. . . He will come. And from that moment on, He is not just a de

"Frozen" came out in November - we saw it opening day and enjoyed being only one of three families in the theater. We just watched it again on DVD and I was reminded of the two main lessons I gained from the movie. First was where Elsa's parents failed her. The troll leader told Elsa that fear would be her enemy. By giving into their fear, Elsa's parents then made her fearful. They had her hide her ability and as a result, Elsa closed herself off not just from her sister, but from everyone. . . In the song "For the First Time", Elsa sings about not letting people in, concealing, and not feeling. As Christians we are told in 2 Timothy 2:17 that "the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and discipline." What Elsa needed was the loving support of her parents to help her learn to control her ability. Our children take their cues from us. As we studied parenthood in Bible study recently, part of our study was about bei

I'm finally getting to read Francis Chan's book Crazy Love . The first chapter focuses on being in awe of God. "The wise man comes to God without saying a word and stands in awe of Him." -p.25 For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities  - his eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. Romans 1:20 The Awe Factor "Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God." -R.C. Sproul The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. They have no speech, they use no words; no sound heard from them. Yet their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world . -Psalm 19:-14 "This is why we are call

Now it came about. . . that God tested Abraham and said to him, "Abraham!". . . "Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains. . . " So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son; and he split wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. . . Isaac spoke to Abraham. . . and said, "My father!". . . "Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?" Abraham said, "God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.". . . Then they came to the place of which God had told him; and Abraham built the altar there and arranged the wood, and bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Abraham stretched out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.

The weekend The Lego Movie came out, Josh was invited to see it with a few other boys for his friend's birthday. We, along with two other families, crashed the party and stayed to watch it too. We all left saying, "This was the best movie ever!" Besides the fact that we are Lego fans, the movie had some really great messages. One of the greatest messages centered around Emmet. He was a Lego representative of Christ. Like Jesus, a prophet foretold of his coming; he was called "The Special" (chosen one); Emmet sacrificed himself for the others; and he came back (from the dead). Emmet had the same mindset of Christ, he became a servant to the other Master Builders and humbled himself - even unto death (Philippians 2:5-8) Dennis reminded us that C.S.Lewis said the story of Christ was the greatest story ever told. This is why he wrote the "Chronicles of Narnia". I would venture to say this is why we have seen this theme retold in various ways over an

The last weekday of our spring break took us to the movies for an early showing of Muppets Most Wanted . Not sure if I liked it better than the first one; but it was good and it is always fun to see the celebrity cameo appearances. I'll try not to give anything specific away since it just came out but here's what we discussed after the movie. The first thing that stood out to me was that "Kermit" kept saying "I can give you everything you want". The Muppets allowed being able to do and have all they wanted to completely overlook that things didn't seem right. In the end, Gonzo admitted that what they thought they wanted wasn't really what they wanted/needed after all. To me, this is what the enemy does to us. He tries to convince us that it's okay to have and do all we want; that we're entitled; that no one should tell us what we can and can't do or have. We are enticed by the lust of the eyes, the flesh and the pride of life to t

While on vacation back in 2010 a rainy day made us decide to go see the movie “How to Train Your Dragon”. We all really enjoyed it. Josh was literally on the edge of his seat. I always have to analyze movies and look for a lesson. I was initially drawn into the movie because of Hiccup’s empathy for the dragon. He says later in the movie that he didn’t kill the dragon because he could see that it was just as scared as he was. The dragon, Toothless, returns the favor. This goes against all the Vikings believed to be true about dragons - “Dragons always go for the kill.” This causes Hiccup to continue a friendship with Toothless. The more Hiccup gets to know Toothless, the more he understands all the other dragons as well. Which is a reminder that we shouldn’t give up on or turn away from those we don’t understand. The other part of the movie that really spoke to me was the relationship between Hiccup and his father. Hiccup’s father expected Hiccup to be a

Notes from a message at church on. . . The Hallmarks of a God-First Life 1. You will be in the Word. 2. You will be disciplined to pray. 3. You will be in church and add to the life and vibrancy of it. 4. You will be a servant. 5. You will be making disciples. 6. You will be blessed with life's deepest friendship. 7. In all things love.

From the book Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. . . Taken from the chapter The Truth That Sets Us Free". . . "As I listen to the Truth, meditate on it, believe it, and surrender to it, the Spirit of God sets me free - my mind and emotions are stabilized and I am able to look at my circumstances from God's perspective. The longer I walk with God, the more I am in awe of the power of the Truth." (p. 253) 1. God is good and everything He does is good. (Psalm 119:68; 136:1) (p. 254) 2. God loves me and wants me to have His best . (In Him) alone we can be full satisfied. (Romans 8:32, 38-39) (p. 254) 3. I am complete and accepted in Christ . (Ephesians 1:4-6) (p. 254) 4. God is enough . (In) Him, we have everything we need. (Psalm 23:1) (p. 255) 5. God can be trusted ; He keeps His promises. (Isaiah 28:1b; Hebrews 13:5) (p. 255) 6 . God doesn't make any mistakes . (In Him) nothing can touch our lives that has not first been "filtere

From the book Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. . . Taken from the chapter "Countering Lies with the Truth". . . "Once we permit Satan's lies to gain entrance into our minds, the progression continues as we dwell on those lies. If we do not immediately reject deceptive ways of thinking, but allow ourselves to entertain them in our minds, sooner or later we will begin to believe them. And what we believe inevitably is what we will act on ." (p. 24) "The Truth has the power to overcome every lie. . . The Truth has the power to set us free. . . The Truth has the power to sanctify us." (pp. 246-247) "Freedom from bondage is the sweet fruit of knowing, believing, and acting on the Truth. . .The Truth is a Person - the Lord Jesus Christ. . . True freedom is found in a vital, growing relationship with the Lord Jesus. . . If we want to know the Truth, we must devote ourselves to the reading, study and meditation of His Word. " (p

From the book Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. . . Taken from the chapter "Lies Women Believe About Circumstances". . . "If our circumstances make us what we are, then we are all victims. And that's just what the enemy wants us to believe. Because, if we are victims, then we aren't responsible - we can't help the way we are. But God says we are responsible - not for the failures of others, but for our own responses and lives. The Truth is, our circumstances do not make us what we are.They merely reveal what we are. " (p. 219) "We have been deceived into believing we would be happier if we had a different set of circumstances. The Truth is, if we are not content within our present circumstances, we are not likely to be happy in any other set of circumstances ." (p. 220) (From Martha Washington in a letter written to a friend) ". . . The greater part of our happiness or misery depends on our dispositions and not on our circ

From Lies Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss. . . Taken from the chapter "Lies Women Believe About Emotions". . . ". . . Being created in the image of God means we have the capacity to experience and express a variety of emotions. God exhibits a spectrum of pure emotions, including joy, delight, anger, jealousy, and sorrow. And He designed us to be able to feel and express many different emotions in a way that reflects His heart and brings glory to Him. The problem is not that we have emotions - they are a gift from God. The problem is that our emotions (unlike God's) are tainted by the Fall. The challenge is to let the Spirit of God sanctify us in the realm of our emotions so that they can be expressed in godly ways." (p. 194) "The Truth is that, due to our fallen condition, our feelings often have very little to do with reality." (p. 195) "In the midst of the roller coaster ride our emotions sometimes take us on, we have to constantly