Mary Magdalene

Last week in my bible class I started a short series on Mary Magdalene.
When I first started studying her she was just someone I had read about and learned about in church. Sure she was there at the crucifixion, tomb, saw Jesus alive after His death, but I never really thought there was anything special about her (other than the fact that she interacted with the Son of God).
To prepare my lessons I ran all the references in the bible to her and in one fell swoop she's become one of my favourite women in the bible.

And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout

every city and village, preaching and shewing the glad

tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with

him,

And certain women, which had been healed of evil

spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of

whom went seven devils,

And Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and

Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of

their substance.

Luke 8:1-3

This passage and Mark 16:9 mentions how Mary came in contact with Christ. It's not unique in that He healed many of devil possession but what makes it special is what it did to Mary.

In verse three above it says that she, among others, were with Christ as he went throughout every city and village, and that she ministered to Him out of her substance.

Not only did she literally follow Christ around after her healing but what she had she gave to Christ.

There were also women looking on afar off: among

whom was Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of

James the less and of Joses, and Salome;

(who also, when he was in Galilee, followed him, and

ministered unto him;) and many other women which 

came up with him unto Jerusalem.

Mark 15:40&41

I haven't been able to figure it out but possibly it was both the Mary's who followed Jesus from Galilee. Either way, she clearly followed Jesus to Jerusalem from somewhere else.

So we know that once Jesus entered her life she followed Him. Then we know:

She stood near the cross:

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and

his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary

Magdalene.

John 19:25

She sat near His grave:

And when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it

in a clean linen cloth,

and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn

out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the door

of the sepulchre, and departed.

And there was Mary Magdalene, and the other

Mary, sitting over against the sepulchre.

Matthew 27:59-61

(also see Mark 15:47)

She continued to minister to Him even when (she thought) He was in the grave:

And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene,

and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had

bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint

him.

And very early in the morning the first day of the

week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the

sun. 

Mark 16:1&2

(also see Matthew 28:1, Luke 24:1, John 20:1)

Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the

week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of

whom he had cast seven devils.

Mark 16:9

She was so close to Him, He appeared to her first. 

You can read the full account of how Christ appeared to her in John 20.

What I love about her story is that she stayed close to Christ in everything.

She followed him from place to place, stood by Him in death, followed Him to where they laid Him, and got up early to tend His body.

As I studied all the references to Mary it struck me how much she wanted to be close to Christ. It wasn't simply being near Him but ministering to Him the way He had ministered to her.

Our testimony as Christians should be what hers is: follow Christ in every situation and minister to Him.

Never Say Never

I've taught the young ones in my Bible Class for probably eight months now and we've gotten to know each other. During our first few months of lessons I would ask if they had questions or comments and I'd get silly comments and insincere questions.
Lately, though, the kids have been on a roll giving me perfect examples of the lessons from their own lives. I'm not sure what it is but it gives me joy.
Two Sundays ago I was teaching on Mary who poured spikenard on Jesus' head. I noted the disciples' indignation at her and told the children that other people will try to tell you what to do with what God has given you. I told them that we all have different convictions and that we can't judge other people for their convictions because God deals with us all differently.
I tried to use one example about clothes that didn't work so then I moved to a more obvious example: alcohol.
They all understood this right away and one said, "I will never drink alcohol!"
I smiled at her while all my years ran through my head and I said, "never say never," and moved on with my example.

Later on as I thought about it, God told me that my response was not edifying.
"Never say never," is a pessimistic way of looking at the matter.
I know why I said that. I said that because I know that we get put into situations we never dreamed of being in, our emotions and feelings get the better of us and suddenly we're doing something we never thought we'd do.
I missed a good time for good instruction.
Fortunately, this past Sunday we had a few things to do and I couldn't start our new character study- Mary Magdalene. As I prayed about what to teach about God pointed out my 'never say never' comment and told me to fix it.
This is one of those things that are a good reminder for all of us. I wrote this post on Saturday night but I left off publishing it to today. Thinking about it all last week has reminded me of things God has dealt with me on in the past and things I must continually remember. I hope it helps.

Proverbs 27:1- Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
James 4:13-17- Go to now, ye that say, To day or tomorrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain:
Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? it is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.
For that ye ought to say, if the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that.
But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil.
Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and doeth it not, to him it is sin.

We don't know where we will wind up, what we will do, and what we will be. Nothing is for certain in this life except the Bible. The bible is full of examples of people who thought their lives were going one way only to be in a completely different situation from one day to the next. We can't say we'll never do something because we really do not know.
The only thing we can do, is guard against sin that may tempt us.

Luke 22:40- And when he was at the place, he said unto them, Pray that ye enter not into temptation.
This is in the garden of Gethsemane and Jesus knows what is about to happen. He is about to be taken by force, his disciples would be scattered from Him, and Peter would betray Him. He tells them to pray so they would not enter into temptation. Instead they go to sleep. I wonder if Peter would have betrayed Christ three times had he been praying there instead of sleeping.
That verse is there for us too: pray that ye enter not into temptation.
There is so much to pray about in those words since there are so many things that can lead the children, and us, into temptation.
Some things to pray about:
-staying away from ungodly influences
-staying away from ungodly people
-keeping out of situations that can lead to temptation
-staying in the Word and praying
-staying in church
-obeying their parents
-getting good counsel from godly elders
-protection from wolves in sheep's clothing
-protection in general
There are so many things that can happen to us at any given moment. It is only by God's grace that we are protected, whole, and unblemished by the world.
My mother-in-law works with young women who have been trafficked and the girls in the horrifying stories she tells (only when I ask, she doesn't volunteer them) were once just like some of the girls I teach now.
It's God's grace that protects them, that has protected me, that has protected their parents.
They need to be prayed up and ready for whatever comes their way.

After praying, they need to make the decision now. It was a good thing she said, that she will never drink alcohol, it is good that she has made up her mind in that.
One of the best things I've ever heard a preacher say is that we are to live by principle and not by feeling. Our feelings change from one day to another- sometimes from one minute to the next- we can't rely on them especially since they often go against God.
I am run a lot on emotion- this 'I don't feel like it' nonsense that gets me no where. That kind of things coddles your flesh and you wind up away from God because you'll always choose your flesh rather than what's right. In every choice it can't be whether I feel like it or not but what is right or wrong or what is good or greater.
During the lesson one child gave an example where some of her friends were talking about a show she had never seen before and her friends were commenting that the bad. She never watched it and didn't know what it was about but she agreed with them. Then they started talking about a show she really liked and they said it was dumb. Well, she agreed with them there too even though it was her favourite show. (It really encouraged me that she could look at her actions and judge them the way she did) This is just a great example of making choices by feeling rather than principle. These small things come up everyday and test our character. Will we choose to be honest because God commands it or will we justify a lie by how we feel?

When we are right with God, when we are unemotionally attached, we need to purpose in our hearts to do right.
For the children a big one will be keeping themselves pure until marriage. Other ones include keeping away from bad company, watching their language, subjecting themselves to authority, and living what they are at church at home.
They need to decide to do it now so that when the time comes, they've already made the choice and it's the right one.
I saw this once and it rang true for me:

I remember seeing this and being struck by what great advice it is. All those things- replies, promises, decisions- need reason, logic, and an even mind. Our emotions destroy all reason.

Be sober, be vigilant; because our adversary the

devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom

he may devour:

1 Peter 5:8

There are those big things- like addiction to drugs and alcohol- then the seemingly little things- like cussing when your parents aren't around. Either way, they, and we need to guard ourselves against it before we're even faced with the temptation to do it. Satan will use both small and big things to devour us is we're not careful.

My prayer for each of the children I teach is that they stay faithful to God. This won't happen, or at least I won't help it happen, if I'm not using what they give me to teach them. In other words, I need to use every opportunity to turn their minds to Christ. 

I love the way the children challenge me. They teach me so much and I don't think they'll ever know it. I can only hope and pray that God uses me, even a little bit, to encourage them spiritually.

Important Thoughts

The heart is deceitful above all things, and

desperately wicked: who can know it?

Jeremiah 17:9

I struggled a lot with my last post because I know it is incomplete. While it was about marital harmony and how our thoughts impact that, it's far more important to acknowledge that our thoughts effect our relationship with God first. All our relationships and everything in life fall into their proper place when you put God at the top and focus on pleasing Him.

The verse above from Jeremiah tells us that we are inherently wicked: our hearts are not naturally right with God. This means that we can't just let our hearts be as they are. We can't follow our hearts because they'll lead us to Hell- unless you're saved then they'll lead you away from God and a fruitless life.

Our hearts require work:

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the

issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23

The first time the word keep shows up in the bible is Genesis 2:15:

And the LORD God took the man, and put him into

the garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it.

Keep has to do with taking care of and tending to. Not only that, it means to guard:

So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east

of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword

which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of

life.

Genesis 3:34

Keep- tend, care, guard- your heart with all diligence. That means put effort into it, put work into it, track down every rabbit down every hole and find out where it leads. In other words, if your natural reaction is wrong in certain situations or you have thoughts and feelings that are not right, look into the heart of the matter.

Take covetousness, for example, covetousness comes from ingratitude, which comes from pride, which is thinking you better than you are and deserve better than you have. I know this because it is a problem with me, God told me so, I've searched it out and am wary of it. God hates covetousness- in Exodus 18 one of his stipulations for rulers was that they hated covetousness- so letting it reign in me, even for a short while, separates me from Him. Covetousness in me in just one example and one I'm slowly getting the victory over. I'm learning there are many facets to covetousness and it can effect my motivation for everything I do if I'm not right with God.
Whatever your besetting sin is, I promise you, it comes from the heart. Chase that rabbit down that hole and it will lead you deep into your heart. I'm covetous because I am proud, vain, and I deeply care what other people think about me. It's my minutely task to correct those things. It's actually easy to humble myself: I remember my habits, stupid decisions, and how slow I actually am; but it's also very easy to forget when pride and self preservation creep in. 

So stay in the Word. The more you're in the Word the more God points things out to you. The more you surround yourself with good influences, the more in contact you are with God throughout your day, the more the Holy Spirit will guide you, point things out to you, and teach you. I wouldn't know I have a problem with covetousness if I wasn't spending time in the Word. There are things God is teaching me now that I would not know if I didn't read and study. Reading the Word helps you arm yourself against those sins our hearts are naturally inclined to. As you get to know yourself better in light of what God thinks, the Holy Spirit helps you dodge your besetting sin and make godly choices. You have to replace what is in your heart with what God thinks about it- that means staying in the Word.

The thing is, your mind is usually the first place you sin. We can get pharisee-ical about this because no one but God sees our minds.  It's ironic that the thing that's hidden from others is the thing we need to guard most vigilantly.

Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time,

Thou shalt not commit adultery:

But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a

woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with

her already in his heart.

Matthew 5:27&28

Taking into account the religious system of that day (the Pharisees and Sadducees) and the law, it looks as though the 'righteous' people were abstaining from the physical sin but allowing it free reign in their hearts and minds. This is partially why Jesus was on the Pharisees all the time (as we'll see later): they manipulated their appearance and tailored their actions to affect holiness and piety all the while their insides were rotting with unchecked pride and arrogance. They were so committed to their outward appearance, they 'ommitted the weightier matters of the law' which were 'judgment, mercy, and faith'(Matthew 23:23c).

Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye

know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

1 John 3:15

God wants inward obedience first. It's not enough to say, 'I've never killed someone'. Hatred is murder in God's Book. Your outward actions don't mean anything if your heart is not right with God.

For example:

Every man according as he purposeth in his heart, so

let him give; not grudgingly, or of necessity: for God

loveth a cheerful giver.

2 Corinthians 9:7

Don't give if you don't want to

Don't give because you think you have to

Give because you love God

Inward obedience. You'll worry less and less about your physical actions and how others perceive you if you focus on pleasing God from the inside.

That's not to say our physical actions do not effect our relationship with God. Keeping your heart is the first line of defence against physical sin. The things you let dwell in your heart will come up into your mind and eventually out your mouth, through your feet, your eyes, your hands.

O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak

good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the

mouth speaketh.

A good man out of the good treasure of the heart

bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the

evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.

But I say unto you, That every idle word that men

shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day

of judgment.

For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy

words thou shalt be condemned.

Matthew 12:34-37

Okay, if that last verse doesn't scare you, there's something wrong with you. We are held accountable for the words we say, whatever they are, even in jest.
Those words above are Jesus' words, they shouldn't be taken lightly. Whatever is in your heart will come out your mouth. You cannot disguise the wickedness of your heart for long.

So the question is, what are you letting sit unchecked in your heart and mind?

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be

also.

Matthew 6:21

If you want to know what means most to you, what your treasure is, examine your choices and see what is the deciding factor.

The Pharisees, for example, exalted themselves in their own minds so they did things to cause other people to exalt them. They made broad their phylacteries, they loved to be called Rabbi, they made long prayers, they paid tithe of mint, anise, and cummin all to be seen of men (see Matthew 23). As Dr. Peacock says they were 'legends in their own mind; the bride at every wedding and the corpse at every funeral'.
An example closer to home is my own treasure: myself. I know I'm my treasure because everything I do from getting up early to what to wear to what to eat is decided by what will make ME happy and keep me comfortable. Now, by God's grace, I don't behave solely for myself everyday. I want to worship God so I get up early, I want to raise a healthy, God fearing child, so I spend most of my day focusing on him and his needs, I want to please my husband so I put him before myself. Certainly all those things add to my happiness and comfort but they require more work then I'd naturally like to put in. I know this because I get delirious without 'me time', my husband knows this so he takes my son to Home Depot or out for ice cream to give me a break (isn't he wonderful?).
A long time ago I was watching an interview with a retired NBA player who I believe is french Canadian and won the championship with Larry Bird. The interviewer asked why he wasn't wearing his ring and he replied, 'I don't need to. I know what I did, it doesn't matter if others know'. That struck me and I've never forgotten it. It convicts me every time I want to say 'look what I did'. I still do, don't mistake me, but I try not to. Better than we ourselves knowing, God knows, and He's the one storing our treasures in heaven.
I honestly think all of us treasure ourselves first whether we like to admit it or not. Sometimes my motives for doing good things make me very ashamed because it's 100% selfish. Sometimes people say things that I find out of place and then it occurs to me that they are protecting themselves or guarding my thoughts about them. Then I realize that I do the same.
The only thing to do about this is to continually correct our treasure.
Yesterday morning, for example, it was going on 7:45 and I was snoozing comfortably, really not wanting to get up to do my devotions when the thought occurred to me, 'God gets no glory out of this', or something like that, and I got up. My treasure should be God but it naturally is not. Me being my own treasure was ruling until I remembered that I exist to glorify and worship God.

You see, our inward thoughts effect our relationship with God more than almost anything we do physically because our physical sins are the result of what was borne and bred in our minds before that.

Just like myself and covetousness: I tend to waste a lot of money on things I don't need because I need more more more so I can look good for myself. Pride= covetousness= wasting money. That's a light example, I can think of other things borne from covetousness that I'd be too ashamed to admit to on here.

Do ye not understand, that whatsoever entereth

in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out

into the draught?

But those things which proceed out of the mouth

come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.

For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders,

adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness,

blasphemies:

These are the things which defile a man: but to eat

with unwashen hands defileth not a man.

Matthew 15:17-20

Notice how most of those things- murder, adultery, fornication, theft, false witness, blasphemy- are physical sins but two of them, as noted before, can be done in the mind. Sin is born and bred in our hearts.

So clean your heart up:

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the

platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess.

Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is

within the cup and platter, that the outside of them

may be clean also.

Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites!

for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed

appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead

men's bones, and of all uncleanness.

Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto

men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity.

Matthew 23: 25-28

Jesus could not be plainer. Though you may appear clean, godly, and put together on the outside, if your inside is run over with excess, extortion, pride, arrogance, greed, and the like: your outside is just as dirty, though man cannot tell at first.
I would venture to say that a person who drinks alcohol but is completely without guile, kind, generous, and sweet has a better relationship with God than a person who avoids alcohol but inside is selfish, malicious, prideful (because they don't drink), and a respecter of persons. Obviously it's not the drinker with the problem- it's the non drinker. 

What do you do?

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after

the flesh:

(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but

mighty through God to the pulling down of strong

holds;)

Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that

exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and

bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience

of Christ;

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

I used to worry a lot and get paranoid for no reason. One day in my bible reading I came across the above passage and the bolded verse struck me. It is a very powerful verse to me.

The command is strong: bring it into captivity and cast it down.

I was going through a very difficult time with worry when I read this passage. I was pregnant, but I didn't know it yet (I found out at 11 weeks) and I had suddenly been bombarded by my imagination running rampant with frightful things I was afraid would happen.

The only way I could comfort myself was memorizing scripture and quoting it to myself whenever I began to get paranoid. It was during this time that God led me to that verse and taught me what to do.

Whenever you think something sinful, cast it down.

My worrying for example, was a lack of trust in God so I would bring my worrisome thoughts into captivity with Psalm 91. It didn't take long for my worries to abate and finally disappear.

I still become fearful, I still worry but I'm armed with the shield of faith and the Sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. Those things protect your mind. You just have to use them.

A bad thought come into your head? Push it out and apologize to God. Acknowledge it was wrong. Our thoughts will never be clean this side of heaven, bad things come up all the time but weeding those bad thoughts out prevent bitterness, hate, and wrath from breeding.

Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and

clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with

all malice:

And be ye kind kind one to another, tenderhearted,

forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake

hath forgiven you.

Ephesians 4:31&32

Unity, peace, and kindness come much easier when we don't allow ourselves to have bitter, angry, and evil thoughts about others in our mind. Mean thoughts come into my head all the time- I throw them out and apologize to God. I don't comment mean things to my husband about people- even if he would find it funny. It's giving place to the devil and his devices. It's amazing how much angst, division, strife, we can avoid by keeping a tight reign on our thoughts. It's amazing how much closer you can walk with God by casting out things that may seem harmless at fist.


I hope this was a help to you. I don't know what thoughts you struggle with and what your besetting sins are. I hope my own examples give you an idea of where to start. I've written this post several times because I know its so important. My first post about thoughts didn't present the groundwork for maintaining one's thought life. Sometimes on this blog I just plow through thinking everyone has been saved for twenty years and knows what I know about the bible. That's just not so.

This topic is so expansive and I think I just barley nicked the surface of it. I hope at least it gives you a good idea of God's thoughts on the matter and helps you realize the importance of guarding your heart against sin.
Your whole life will benefit from it.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the

issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23

Just Don't Know

Hello!
So happy to be writing again. The last few weeks have been very crazy with moving and trying to set up. It's my full intention to settle things down this week and get into a routine. My son really needs more structure and we all really need some home cooked meals.
Lord willing I'll be back to writing at least once a week.

~The other day one of the children in my care had very bad luck in a game we were playing. For some reason she just kept picking the exact wrong cards out of the 30 or so- majority being the right cards- available to her. It was actually really funny for everyone and she was laughing at the time but it meant her team lost. When her mom picked her up she was very down and her mom was with her for a long time talking to her.
At one point I walked by and told her that it was okay and not her fault. When her mom was done talking to her and she happily ran off, her mom told me that she was not trying to make her daughter feel better about losing. She explained that she was teaching her daughter that losing games, picking the wrong cards, and whatnot are apart of life and it's no use having a bad attitude about it. She told me she was teaching her daughter to lose with grace. A few minutes later her daughter came up and apologized for having a bad attitude.

It honestly had not at all occurred to me that the young one needed to adjust her attitude. My impulse was to make her feel better, her mother's reaction, was to teach to her to deal practically with disappointments. The mother's way is giving her daughter the tools to deal with these kinds of situations in the future- teaching her daughter to fish instead of giving her a fish. This was a valuable parenting lesson and I'm glad for it.

I've been wanting to tell the mother, but I really have no idea how I would, how thankful I am that she explained to me what she was teaching her daughter.
The fact is, I didn't know, I really didn't and she realized that. It was very kind of her to come and explain her parenting to me. It made me better.

While this may seem very trivial, I have to say that most of the time when I act and say things out of ignorance people just get annoyed, respond rudely, or give me an angry look. (I'm not talking about obnoxious ignorance- like eating with your mouth open- but subtle ignorance like the situation I just described.) For someone to be kind about it was a really nice change.

I think something we all, very much including myself, should always keep in mind is that most of the time people just don't know better. Maybe they weren't taught, maybe they're not mature enough yet, maybe they don't think that way, maybe it just never occurred to them but ultimately, they just don't know.

In my Bible class a Sunday ago I gave each child a pristine piece of paper. I told them that the paper pictured a relationship they had with someone. I described saying unkind things, doing unkind things as I folded the paper, crumpled it into a ball, then stomped on it.
When I opened the paper there were many creases in all directions. I asked the children if those creases would ever come out- if we stretched it, ironed it, sat on it- would it be like it was before I started 'being mean' to it.
The answer of course is no. (This was an object lesson on kindness I found on Pinterest)
I know I've put a lot of creases into some of my relationships just by treating people meanly for something they did not realize. I know people have hurt me pretty deeply by responding unkindly for something I really did not realize was wrong.
Being kind isn't simply smiling at strangers, letting someone go first, holding the door, bringing someone a treat, and so on. Being kind, is overlooking someone's faults and being gentle toward them.
Ephesians 4:32 has it:

And be ye kind one to another,

tenderhearted, forgiving one another,

even as God for Christ's sake

hath forgiven you.

Work of the Word

The two Sunday School classes I've taught are as different from each other as night is from day.

The first class I ever taught were children from a poorer neighborhood, their parents did not come to church, and none of them had fathers that were actively involved in their lives.

All the students in my current class were born into christian homes, they all have two parents that bring them to church, and they are all home schooled.

The differences are very apparent and it makes me laugh sometimes but I can say this for all of them: they're all sweet and inquisitive. 

To be honest, I never know if the children I teach are learning anything. I can ask them questions about what they learned in previous weeks but head knowledge isn't what I'm going for. I want them to learn about God in a way that applies to their daily lives.

I don't believe that Sunday School and church is there to entertain us. We can fellowship at a hockey game or have a gym night- those things are meant to be fun and entertaining. The main reason we come together on Sundays is to be fed from the Word by teaching and preaching.

God teaches me a lot through the children He's given me to teach and He put it in my heart to share one of the more recent lessons here on the blog.

I came across a sermon by one of my favourite preachers online and as I listened to it I realized I had heard it before.

The funny thing was that when I first heard this sermon a few years ago it was particularly earth shattering to me; this second time, while the force and heaviness of the message was in no wise diminished, I heard it as one who knew those things by experience.

In other words, I had learned the principles he was teaching in my own life and come to the same conclusions.

This made me very happy because I realized all the sermons I listen to are not in vain. My human self may not retain all the information but the Spirit uses those messages to bring about Spiritual growth.

I listened to a few of the other sermons that followed the initial sermon I listened to, I had listened to them before as well, and I realized that they were the ones that had turned me on to my problem with covetousness.

Frankly I didn't remember those sermons at all but since I'd first listened to them I have been sensitive to covetousness and careful not to commit it. The way I deal with people, how I look at myself, and what I do has all be affected by those sermons and I didn't even remember them.

God pointed these things out to me and a wave of relief washed over me.

I realized then and there that it is not my job to create memorable, exciting, dynamic lessons for my students. While I'm not going to bore them to death and make my classes tedious, I don't need to feel any pressure to 'entertain' the children just to keep them engaged.

God has made it very clear many times that it is given to me to diligently teach the Word. (Yes, this is where that post on the diligence of David came from last week)

I ask the children questions, they get the chance to give personal examples of what we're talking about, we play a review game at the end of class and I make the lessons applicable to their daily lives.

I don't read the lesson out of a man written book, I read the account from the Bible and use lots of scripture to emphasize the point.

We recently finished Solomon and the point of Solomon was the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. In every lesson I emphasized that and gave different examples each week depending on what part of his life we were talking about. 

I love these children and I pray for them, I pray over each lesson, I pray for their parents, and their other teachers. I have to remember, though, that what they take away from the lesson is up to them.

I can't control wether they listen or not, I can't make them learn anything, and I cannot turn their hearts toward the Lord. All I have to do is give them what God gave me and let His Spirit do a work in their lives.

Growing up in a christian home I was exposed to movies, TV shows, books, and things outside of church that taught me biblical principles.

I was always very conscious about lying, stealing, violence and things like that because I had been exposed to a multitude of sources that taught me those things are wrong.

Funnily enough, I did not realize the influence christian cartoons, story books, and movies had on me until recently. While I don't remember everything I saw or heard, they still had an effect on me.

Train up a child in the way he should

go: and when he is old, he will not depart

from it.

Proverbs 22:6

We've taught our son to pray by praying before every meal, before we go out, and before bed. One of the first words he ever could say was 'Bible' because every morning I'd get my Bible out (not on my ipad or phone!) and read Proverbs to him.

He's been trained to know those things by consistency and repetition. 

He sees his parents praying, he sees pastor praying, he sees his teachers praying, he sees his grandparents praying, he sees his aunties and uncles praying, this helps teach him to pray.

If you are wondering why someone's morals are wacky, they probably weren't consistently exposed to good morals and they don't know better. Don't be angry at them for that, just be a blessing by being a good testimony and witnessing.

If a saved person's morals are wacky, let God work on them.

If they are newly saved, they don't know better, help when you can and pray for them.

So in conclusion, just put the Word in. If you're a parent or a teacher, just give them the Word, give them good doctrine, expose them to good influences, and pray unceasingly for them.

Be diligent to do these things and God will bless it.

Be Diligent

***This is completely separate from the post: Please pray for Davey and Weston Blackburn who just lost a wife and mother. She was shot by a burglar in their home. It's a terrible tragedy and they need your prayers. You can read the story here***

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One of the truest and easiest ways to show that you love someone is to value what they value.

Joseph's brothers did not love their father so they sold his favourite son into slavery. Later on in the story when Jacob's next favourite son Benjamin could have been taken away, his sons proved themselves and their love by sacrificing themselves to protect the one their father loved. 

If I want to show my husband that I love him I must value the things he values whether it be making sure the cats stay off the counter or being hospitable to his family when they stay over.

Our relationship with God is no different. 

The lesson plan I'm following in my bible class briefly covered David and his heart after God's. As a child I had no idea what that meant. I thought maybe David was a stickler for doing right and had lots of faith. 

Now that I'm an adult I've learned through study that David valued what God valued. 

In 1 Samuel 17 David is convincing Saul that he can defeat Goliath. In the course of his speech he tells Saul that he fought a lion and a bear in order to protect his father's flock. His job was to protect those sheep, so he protected them with his life. 

Before this ever convinced Saul of anything, it had a twofold effect in David's relationship with God.
It effected David's faith in God:

David said moreover, The Lord that

delivered me out of the paw of the lion,

and out of the paw of the bear, he will

deliver me out of the hand of this

Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go,

and the Lord be with thee.

1 Samuel 17:37

David had no problems going up against a 9ft 9in giant because he had already seen the deliverance of the Lord.

As David's faith in God was strengthened, God's trust in David was strengthened. 

I really think that Jesse, David's father, would have been disappointed but okay with losing a lamb to a lion and a bear. Better a lamb than the life of his son. God, however, used that situation to prove David and see what he would do- would he obey his father's instructions to KEEP the sheep or would he keep himself. David valued what his father valued and when no one else saw that, God did.
This was the difference between Saul and David: Saul was made king to fight Israel's battles whether it be against an army or against a giant. Instead, Saul cowered in his tent and tried to bribe others to do his job for him. Saul kept himself. David, as the servant of the Lord, did what the Lord wanted despite the circumstances and the enemy ahead. David valued the name of the Lord more than he valued himself. 

This explains why Jonathan in 1 Samuel 18 does this:

And Jonathan stripped himself of the

robe that was upon him, and gave it to

David, and his garments, even to his sword,

and to his bow, and to his girdle.

1 Samuel 18:3

Jonathan was the rightful heir to the kingdom. As great as Jonathan was he stood with his father in the tent as Goliath taunted them for 40 days. Jonathan, seeing David's actions, realized that this was the true leader, this was the true heir, this was the true king. As Jonathan gave his princely clothes and weapons to David he gave up his own place as heir and submitted to the Lord's will, that David would be king instead of him.

Back up to 1 Samuel 16 when Samuel is looking to anoint one of Jesse's seven sons. Except there are eight sons and no one bothered to call the youngest. 

This is the absolute first time David appears in scripture yet God's testimony of him is that he has a heart after God's own. 

This tells us one very important thing- David was diligent in his business. On the fields, day after day night after night, David watched and protected his father's sheep and when it was all quiet, David sang songs to the Lord.

David was about two things: obeying his father, and worshipping God.

Then answered one of the servants, and

said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the

Bethlemhemite, that is cunning in playing,

and a mighty valiant man, and a man of

war, and prudent in matters, and a comely

person, and the Lord is with him.

1 Samuel 16:18

David didn't promote himself, the Lord promoted him. David's reputation, even as a shepherd with no reputation in his own family, went before him because God says this:

Seest thou a man diligent in his

business? he shall stand before kings; he

shall not stand before mean men.

Proverbs 22:29

God blesses our obedience, diligence, and worship.

So David was diligent and faithful. 

Here is a young man, who when God came, was right where he was supposed to be. He never promoted himself or exalted himself. After playing his harp for Saul, he went right back to watching the sheep.

The only reason he was in the position to hear Goliath's words was because his father had sent him there to bring food to his brothers. 

Not only was he diligent to be where he was supposed to be but he was diligent to do his job right.

He protected his sheep with his life, he made sure they were taken care of when he was away from them, he made sure Goliath knew it was God that would win the battle, and no matter how high Saul promoted him, he behaved himself wisely (1 Samuel 18:4).

David's diligence to do right produced the faith he needed when the time came.

The faith David had did not just come with a snap of the fingers. He could not just summon it. The great faith showed in the defeat of Goliath was the result of his proving God, time and time again.
The situation with the lion and bear is one example we know about, but who knows, there may have been other similar situations. The fact that he was anointed king must've told David that God was watching him, knew what he was doing, and was with him.

So, as monotonous as life can be, be diligent to do what the Lord has given you to do whether it be staying at home with children or going out to earn a living.
Do it right, behave wisely, and worship God.
When you have a decision to make: read your bible or watch one more episode, read your bible. Choose God. These small things show God that you are trustworthy in the big things and your faith will be increased. 

If you want a heart after God's own heart, do what He set you to do- give value to the things he values. As my pastor says, 'worship shows what something is worth to you'.
David did not go out and seek fame and glory. He just stayed with the sheep, all day every day, in hard times, in easy times, and while he was diligent to do his job, he worshiped the Lord. 

More than Teaching

One of the things I appreciate most about my pastor is his diligence to instruct and teach. He wants us to serve the Lord the best we can and he knows that there are things we need to learn on the way.
While there are lots of classes, teachers, events, and things going on, he is constantly reminding us of the purpose of it all- strengthening our relationships with each other and most importantly winning souls.
Almost every Sunday evening before the service we have a teacher's meeting. There he checks in on all the teachers, hears prayer requests, concerns, and teaches us about teaching.
Something he's been particularly drilling home is our need as teachers to fellowship with our students outside the class and thus showing our students that we're living the Word that we're teaching.
He has stressed, many times that being involved in church and fellowshipping with our students is as much part of teaching as the actual class time. If I tell them that telling others about Christ is our number one priority and never show up for Saturday morning outreach, they will never believe I'm living what I'm teaching.
Every third Saturday our outreach is a gym-night. On Sunday pastor announced it and said it was for 'elementary and high school'. Since he specified the age this time I asked him on Wednesday if I should still come since my son is only two and doesn't participate at all.
Pastor said I should absolutely come so that I can fellowship with my new students.

This short discussion really got me thinking.
On Sunday I was talking to my little cousin, she is fourteen, and in the midst of high school. High school is a treacherous place and if you're not grounded as a believer, you will be tossed from the Solid Rock and lose your way with bad friends in a multitude of temptations.
One thing she said to me is that my sister and I seem really happy. We're both married to christian men and have our babies. We were both married by 22 and we've had our sons by 25, she sees that and it makes her consider her path. This lead to a good discussion on how we were able to get there and it made me realize the gravity of my position.
I don't know what her home life is like, but what if it's not encouraging her to live right? What if the only Godly testimony she knows is my sister and I?
I look at that and I think about the young ones at church.
If there's anything I desire for my son, my nephew, and all the children in my sphere of influence is that they live their lives to serve the Lord. They will be successful if they are in the Lord's will.
Growing up is full of aches and pains, physically and mentally. At the tender age of 18, teens are expected to know what they want to do for the rest of their lives. As teachers and elders in the church, we cannot tell them what to do with their lives, but we can show them what serving the Lord is.
This is one of the things that constrains me to dress right, speak right, and conduct myself wisely every day in every situation (although I fail constantly at acting wisely), you never know who is watching and  how they will take it.
If I do something reckless or rude while I'm driving and one of my students is driving with their family and sees, how will they view me when I'm teaching?
What if I wore something inappropriate while I was out and about and they saw me?
What if they over heard me using bad language or disrespecting my husband?
How could I then teach them? I can't.

As a mother, teacher, and elder (relatively) I want to be gracious, gentle, kind, wise, and of a good report.
The terrible tragedy of today is that young ladies are no longer required to be young ladies. Men and boys can get what they want elsewhere so why would they choose a pure, wholesome girl that wants to serve the Lord?
These girls will feel more and more pressure to bow to worldly standards just to get a husband.
I fully intend to show them that they don't have to. If they wait on the Lord, He will bless them.

My pastor has a sweet older daughter who loved to help me in my previous class- Junior Church/nursery. I loved having her in there with me but I did not want to take her out of too many services. When I expressed this at a teachers meeting my pastor's wife reminded me of this passage:

The aged women likewise, that they be in

behaviour as becometh holiness, not false

accusers, not given to much wine, teachers

of good things;

That they may teach the young women to

be sober, to love their husbands, to love

their children,

To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home,

good, obedient to their own husbands, that

the word of God be not blasphemed.

Titus 2: 3-5

There is so much in there to dissect but the purpose is this: we are instructed to teach. Whether the aged woman is 26 and the young woman is 8, I am instructed to teach.

If the Lord wills and tarries I may know my pastor's daughter from 8 years old to 28. I may see her through high school, college, marriage, and children. If that is the case I hope she can look at the older women in church who have gone through those things before her to be comforted, strengthened and helped by our example. There are a few young ladies her age at church. I hope I can be that example for all of them.

One last example then I'm done: I was with an older woman and a younger woman one day. The younger woman was boasting about being disrespectful to someone that had helped her and the older woman laughed about it. There is more than a thirty years between them but the older woman found disrespect funny.

That bothered me for many reasons but the biggest one is that the older woman, by laughing, encouraged the younger woman to be disrespectful. I don't know the nature of the relationship between the young woman and the person she was disrespectful to, but regardless, the older woman should have the wisdom not to laugh at a young persons folly.

Sometimes my son does something bad but it's either cute or really funny.

I can't laugh at it. He's only two but laughing at it would encourage him in sin.

This is what teachers in the church must be:

We must be bulwarks against sin. We must be a testimony of holiness, obedience, and service.

As we fellowship with our students, we get to learn about them, we're able to teach them better, and we're able to draw from our own experiences to teach them. 

So at gym night on Saturday, as I play dodgeball with my students I must be an example of sportsmanship, losing with grace, winning with humility, and being inclusive to all that come. 

Lord willing, as my students grow, they will remember some of the lessons I taught them, but I hope they remember my testimony and when they're faced with tough decisions in the future they'll remember that Miss Grace read her bible, prayed every day, prayed for them every day, and that they Lord used those things to help her do right.