Ye Do Err

Matthew 22:29, "Jesus...said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God".

When Jesus says "Ye do err", we ought to pay attention! He was speaking to religious folks when he said this. They were some of the prominent religious leaders of that day, in fact. But how they erred! Thus, we would do well to ask ourselves these two questions:
1) Do I know the scriptures? (Not in light of what I already believe, but in the purity of what they say.)
2) Do I know the power of God? (Does my life reflect that power?)

Recently in my reading of scripture, specifically in the gospels, God has been highlighting once again the connection between my faith in Him and the demonstration of His power. Some verses that stand out...
Matthew 17:20: Jesus was answering the disciples' question as to why they were powerless in a ministry situation, and he said, "Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."

Matthew 13:58: "And he did not many might works there because of their unbelief."

Matthew 8:13: "...and as thou hast believe, so be it done unto thee."

2 Corinthians 13:4-5: "For though he was crucified through weakness, yet he lived by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but we shall live with him by the power of God toward you.
Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves..."

Do I know the power of God in my life? Do I believe what He says? Do I, though weak in him, live with him by the power of God? Do you? I admonish you, friends, together let us examine ourselves...

Yet Another Judson Funny...

Yesterday in the car, Judson was sharing with me the story of Moses. You might recall, the last time he told me the story -- it was when the Israelites were crossing the Red Sea and he said God took a paper towel and dried up the water -- "a great big paper towel"...

Well, this time, he took me back to the beginning of Moses' life. He told a precious version of Moses as a baby all the way through the plagues. At one point he told how Moses went to the desert and there was a bush burning up. Judson remembered the Voice in the bush that said, "Moses, take off your sandals. You are on holy ground." At that point, Judson interrupted the story to tell me that that is his favorite part. When I asked him why he said, "I like the holy ground. It's cool. You can drop sticks on it and they turn to snakes!"... :o)

Well, I have to agree. Holy ground is very cool!

The Bestest Worstest Day Ever

Tonight when I was praying with Judson, he did his typical conversation starter between my prayer and his prayer. He said, "Today was the bestest worstest day ever." He went on to explain that it was bad because of the tornado (we had warnings in the area that sent us to the basement for a while) and because his room was messy. The tornado also wasted his time to clean his room, he stated. It was the best day because he got to play on the computer and make a really cool book in school. (So cool, in fact, that he didn't even realize he had "done school", and late in the day exclaimed, "Mom, we forgot to do school today!")

I had to chuckle when he explained his perception of "bestest" and "worstest". As I type this, my Mr.-Fix-It husband is fixing our freezer once again. I wasn't kidding about the long breaking-down streak we've been on. The freezer is only one of the things this week. Some of the malfunctions involved my employment this week, and ultimately made for an extremely frustrating week at work, throwing my schedule off, etc. I have also been dealing with some physical irritations, and all in all just had a blah week. I wouldn't call it the "worstest" week ever by any means, but I might use the word "bad".

So, Judson's retelling of his day kind of gave me some perspective. My worstest and bestest days ever are as simple in God's eyes as are Judson's in mine. :o)

It Is Good For Me That I Have Been Afflicted

Psalms 119:71 It is good for me that I have been afflicted; that I might learn thy statutes.

We all go through difficult times. For me, the reward of the difficult times in life is a more intimate relationship with God as those seasons tend to draw me nearer to the One who sustains me and can give me wisdom if I listen and obey Thus, those times do, as this verse states, produce a better understanding of God's word, his statutes. Yet, I have noticed they can also produce pride -- pride at coming through the trial in such a "spiritual" fashion. It is generally not purposeful pride, perhaps not even recognizable as pride until sometime later. I think a season of affliction is different. It has the potential to take us beyond the superficial and reveal the depths of our human depravity in a very personal way. It is during those times we learn that the law of sin and death applies to us as well. Not that we necessarily have a time of untethered sin, but that those afflictions come in the form of seemingly untethered blows that ultimately (and mercifully) crush through previously undetected hard hearts and reveal sin -- the very sin for which Christ died. Many of us are are considered good people by our peers. We live moral lives for the most part and try to do good things. I think it is difficult in our culture to be acutely aware of the depth of our sin. I know it is difficult for me. It truly did take a time of intense affliction to show me my depravity and ultimately produce in me a new level of appreciation for what Jesus did for me -- unfathomable.

There are those verses that seem to be a recurring theme. Psalms 8:4 is one that I keep coming back to... "What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?" What a precious Savior...

A Birthday to Remember

I'm another year older today. My family was wonderful. Judson showered me with wonderful homemade, glitter-covered cards all day long. Mikiah also made me a lovely card, gave me a Toby Mac CD and baked me my favorite angel food cake. I intended to post a picture of her lovely cake, but it was devoured before anyone had a chance to take a picture :o( My husband gave me a gift card via Judson to go buy those traveling pants (yay!), and found a unique, much-needed lamp for my living room. He even included a card that said I still light up his life! What a turn-on!

The day had it's ups and downs. In particular, work and school were a bit frustrating today. It was just one of those days when in many ways I felt a bit like a failure. The showering of love by my family was such a blessing! Then, when Josh sang a song that he wrote for me as his birthday present (along with a Benetti's Coffee Experience gift card - yum!), the tears rolled freely down my cheeks. The timing could not have been better. I'll close this post with the words of his song...

Behind Every Soul
Behind every soul that lives,
And every soul that stands for the Truth
There was another, and there was a mother

Behind everything that breathes,
A single drop of this breath of life
For us, there you are

Chorus
And where would we be,
If it wasn’t for you
You’ve given us breath
But you’ve nurtured us too
And I’m here to say,
If it wasn’t for you
I’d be lost, without you

Everyone that hears,
A little child talk about our Lord
Wouldn’t be here, if it wasn’t for you

Every dance for our Father,
Wouldn’t be a glorifying praise

And every soul that’s won
In China for God’s Son
Would be dead if it wasn’t for you

And for every prayer that was cried to hold us together
And for every tear that was shed, as we separated
This songs for you... and we say
Thank you
We say thank you
We say thank you
We say thank you for everything you’ve done