Relationship 101

I wrote a little bit about it but a few weeks ago my pastor challenged us to make Jesus the centre of everything we do. I thought long and hard about that and how to implement that in my Sunday School class. How do I make Jesus the centre of our class time and how do I encourage the children to have personal relationships with Christ?
As it happened, it was Easter Sunday and God led me to talk about Gethsemane and Jesus' heavy prayer before enduring the cross. I thought about prayer and it occurred to me that one of the biggest difference in my relationship with Jesus came when I made prayer a continual part of my day.

Here is how that happened:
I was born to saved, church going parents and grew up in church. Both my parents love the bible and it's something they instilled in their children. Knowing the bible, however, is not indicative of a relationship with God.
Before I really got to know God I had a very ridged relationship with Him. I literally looked at Him like He was some sort of Santa Claus figure doling out good to believers who obeyed and actively chastising believers who rebelled. I would pray but I had created some rules in my mind so that God would 'hear me'. I confessed my sins by saying 'please forgive me for all my sins', then I'd say what needed to be said, rattled off 'in Jesus name, amen', not knowing what on earth anything was about.
One day a church friend lent me a novel by a christian writer. It was about a saved girl and some things she went through. I think it was part of a series. Clearly I don't remember much about the book but the novel was written in the first person and every so often she would just pray in her mind. She would address God, make a request or give thanks or whatever she wanted to say, and that was all. See, I always thought I had to say 'amen' or the prayer wasn't complete and God wouldn't take it seriously. I was 10 (all this occurred when I was 10).
She basically had a continual conversation with the Lord throughout the day.
I remember being very fascinated by it, wanting that, and starting on that right away. Needless to say, my relationship with God grew after that.
If you have open communication with God all day every day, you are much more aware that He is watching what you do and that He knows what you are thinking. My pastor always says to keep short accounts with God and it's a lot easier to do when you're constantly going to Him and recognizing you need to be right with Him to communicate properly.
I hope this is making sense. It's hard for me to explain. When you talk to God a lot and you keep that line open there's a lot He shows you. It's really neat.

So something I'm trying to impart to the young ones I teach every Sunday is to continually talk to God. Instead of always asking for prayer requests I mix it up and ask if any one has answered prayers. They're all little prayers that have been answered but those little, every day proofs that God cares about the smallest details of their lives are the building blocks they need to grow their relationship with God.
The other thing these discussions have done is given me a little insight into the children's view of God. In other words- do they really believe in Him or is He just something they learn about at church?

One preacher said, 'the closer you get to God the more your faith is as a little child's'. He went on to explain that like little children know they need their parents to provide everything, those that are close to God realize that absolutely everything they need-including strength for every day- comes from Him. That is what your prayer life reveals- it reveals what sort of faith you have in Him. If he really is 'Lord of all' in your life, that is how you will communicate with Him and you will conduct your life accordingly.
It is amazing the difference a little Holy Spirit discernment will do in your life. Not only do you make right, wise, and good decisions but you're able to be a bigger blessing. If you're constantly questioning if something is right to do in God's eyes rather than your own, you'll avoid a lot of messes.

A few months ago we covered prayer in a discipleship series we're going through on Wednesdays. Listed below are a few things my pastor said that I found really thought provoking.

-There is no problem that isn't a prayer problem

-God will either answer the prayer or change the request
-Nothing reveals a person's spiritual life like their passion for prayer
-Prayer reveals who the believer really is
-Prayer is a backstage part of life that makes a huge difference on stage
-Praying and having a prayer life are two different things
-Your prayer life either magnifies problems or magnifies God
-Your prayer life reveals who you think God is

I hope this was an encouragement, a help, or just a blessing to you!

Worship

The other day I posted a link to a sermon which I said exposed an error in my thinking. (You can find the post here)

As often happens, God had been working on me about it for quite some time before He gave me the answer.

Probably a month or more ago we were going through the biblical reasons for doing devotions in our Wednesday night service. My pastor would often ask, 'how is your relationship with the bible?' or 'have you spent time in the bible?'

My answers were always in the affirmative- I have a set time to get up and do devotions, I try to make bible reading my first priority, and I was studying the scripture in depth. I was 'almost flawless' in this area of my relationship with God- or so I thought.

I have to laugh at myself now because God uses those questions and our internal answers to show us our errors and fix our thinking. It reminds me of Peter Ruckman saying, 'people tell me I take that bible too seriously. I don't take that bible seriously enough'. No matter how much you're in the bible, no matter how strongly you believe it,  you will never have the Word in the exact right spot it needs to be in your life.

Well, Christmas started happening, we started looking for a place to move, we found a place and did move and, as always happens, I started slipping from my set time of bible reading. I still read the bible, but since I had missed my only opportunity for quiet time it was not as thorough and maybe even rushed- thrown in when I could.

Wherefore let him that thinketh he

standeth take heed lest he fall.

1 Corinthians 10:12

As I struggled to get up in the morning I began to wonder about devotions.

There's no question that they're a necessary part of a Christian's walk with God. We need the bible to cleanse us, feed us, and guide us; we need prayer to relieve us, communicate with God, and thank Him for all He's done. Before all that, though, why do we do devotions?
The first answer must be that it is commanded:

Study to shew thyself approved unto 

God, a workman that needeth not to be

ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

All scripture is given by inspiration of

God, and is profitable for doctrine, for

reproof, for correction, for instruction in

righteousness:

That the man of God may be perfect,

throughly furnished unto all good works.

2 Timothy 3:16&17

Till I come, give attendance to reading,

to exhortation, to doctrine.

1 Timothy 4:13

Praying always with all prayer and

supplication in the Spirit, and watching

thereunto with all perseverance and

supplication for all saints;

Ephesians 6:18

As newborn babes, desire the sincere

milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

1 Peter 2:2

We study for reproof and correction- to change our ways to please Him, we study to perfect our doctrine- to teach others and be unified in the Spirit, we study to be perfect- the 'more you're get in the bible, the more it gets in you'. 

I know these things, I've long known these verses, I grew up singing

Don't read your bible, forget to pray and you'll shrink, shrink, shrink

BUT!

Read your bible, pray every day and you'll grow, grow, grow

and I believe all of it.

I began to wonder about the command and what is at the heart of the command.

The truth is, it should not matter what is at the heart of the command of an omniscient and holy God. The commandment is right, good, and needs to be obeyed. Even so, I began to wonder about it.

As I thought on these things I managed to get up one morning and do devotions. After I finished praying I was very happy and it occurred to me that maybe I was doing devotions so that I would 'feel good'.

I believe I had gotten to the point where I was doing devotions like I was giving change to a homeless person- something 'good' I did to keep me from 'feeling bad' I did not do it.
The other thing that began to happen was that I would do my devotions in the morning, and though I'd pray throughout the day, I would sort of leave off the Word and maybe listen to a sermon but I'd get focused on other things. Morning bible reading became something akin to drinking kombucha in the morning- the only time of the day it would happen because that's what I did in the morning.
I began to wonder what it was in me that was keeping me from being faithful and putting God absolutely first.

I listened to David Peacock's Clean Inside sermon and God used it to tell me what my problem was.
My problem is worship, or rather, who I was worshipping.
See, I was worshipping myself and, even though my devotions on the surface were about God, I was doing them in worship to myself.
The issue went deeper than 'checking it off my daily to do list', it was the fact that I was only seeking God's word for myself, not for Him.
The way I was doing devotions had become one of the fruits of a greater sin problem- placing myself on the throne of my life. As a servant of God, I have no business being on the throne of anything- especially not my own life.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the

mercies of God that ye present your bodies

a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God,

which is your reasonable service.

Romans 12:1

For the love of Christ constraineth us;

because we thus judge, that if one died for

all, then were all dead:

and that he died for all, that they which

live should not henceforth live unto

themselves, but unto him which died for

them, and rose again.

2 Corinthians 5:14&15

My life, and if you're saved your life, is not about you. It's about God.

I lost sight of that in everything I was doing.

To the sermon- Pastor Peacock pointed out the following and gave the following example:

The first time worship is mentioned in the bible it is connected to obedience. The greatest form of worship is obedience:

And it came to pass after these things,

that God did tempt Abraham, and said

unto him, Abraham: and he said, Behold,

here I am.

And he said, Take now thy son, thine only

son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee

into the land of Moriah; and offer him

there for a burnt offering upon one of the

mountains which I will tell thee of.

ANd Abraham rose up early in the

morning and saddled his ass, and took two

of his young men with him, and Isaac his

son, and clave the wood for the burnt

offering, and rose up, and went unto the

place of which God had told him.

Then on the third day Abraham lifted up

his eyes, and saw the place afar off.

And Abraham said unto his young me,

Abide ye here with the ass; and I and the

lad will go yonder and worship, and come

again to you.

And Abraham took the wood of the burnt

offering, and laid it upon Isaac his son; and

he took the fire in his hand, and a knife;

and they went both of them together.

And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father,

and said, My father: and he said, Here am I,

my son. And he said, Behold the fire and

the wood: but where is the lamb for a

burnt offering?

And Abraham said, My son, God will

provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:

so they went both of them together.

And they came to the place which God

had told him of; and Abraham built an

altar there, and laid the wood in order, and

bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the

altar upon the wood.

And Abraham stretched froth his hand;

and took the knife to slay his son.

And the angel of the LORD called unto

him out of heaven, and said, Abraham,

Abraham: and he said, Here am I.

And he said, Lay not think hand upon

the lad, neither do thou any thing unto

him: for now I know that thou fearest God,

seeing thou hast not withheld thy son,

thine only son from me.

Genesis 22:1-12

Pastor Peacock said that worshipping God is about obeying Him in the smallest of details and yielding your will to His- it's not about the command, it's whether you obey.
Worshipping God is living for His pleasure, not your pleasure and choosing Him before you choose yourself.

The way they worshipped God in the Old Testament is the way we worship now: sacrifice.

While they sacrificed the best of their livestock, we sacrifice our lives. They sacrificed to take away their sins, Christ sacrificed Himself once and for all for all who believe, and we sacrifice our will daily to keep ourselves out of sin. My pastor often says this- if we're busy doing the right things we won't have time to do the wrong things.

And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as

great delight in burnt offerings and

sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the

LORD? Behold, to obey is better than

sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of

rams.

1 Samuel 15:22

I won't go into this account of Saul's disobedience that lost him the kingdom (read it in 1 Samuel 15). Even though Saul had spared 'the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God;' (verse 15) it did not account for anything with God because Saul did not obey God's commandment ('now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and spare them not...' verse 3).

God would have gotten glory if Saul had obeyed every word, God got no glory because Saul thought better of the command. Pastor Peacock said this, '1% hesitation is %100 rebellion'. That's a hard saying but it's true.

So the question is, do you love Him more than you love yourself, is He on the throne or are you on the throne?

We will never be able to properly worship God if He does not occupy the throne of our lives. We can't share the throne with God: it's either Him or you. Pastor Peacock pointed out: God desires from us the only thing He can't give Himself: worship.

Back to devotions- most, if not all, of God's commandments are for our good.. Devotions, while they glorify Him, they are necessary for a close walk with God, to cleanse us, and keep us from sin.

I'm not really drawn to what's good for me (I will drink mocha frappucinos and eat poutine all day every day if I had no control over myself) so I falter very easily.

When I falter I can now remind myself that it's not just that devotions are good for me, necessary for walking with God, and the right thing to do. Getting up early, reading what God wants me to read, praying- that is what God wants me to do and obeying Him is worshipping Him.

No longer are my devotions for myself, they are in worship. Sacrificing my flesh to obey Him.

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.

Keep it to Yourself

Something God has been teaching me lately is to keep my preferences to myself.

I think that sometimes we can feel inadequate or just bad because someone else does something a certain way but we don't feel the need to.

Here is a small example:

99% of the clothes I buy are from a thrift store. If someone comes along and shows me their new Current Elliot jeans they bought brand new for $300, I should not feel bad that I don't buy new jeans no matter how much they cost, and I should not feel better than them for trying to be 'frugal'. The person who bought the jeans should not feel bad that they can spend $300 on jeans and they should not feel better than me for having such nice new clothes.

I was recently told by someone that she could not buy a bag because it cost less than a certain amount of money.

That's fine for her but I can't look at that and think badly of myself just because that's how she runs her life.

Maybe everyone knows this and I'm just coming around.

I'd always felt a need to make bread for my home. Finally I was able to get sourdough starter and I'm satisfied that I'm doing right by my family.

I can't look at someone who does not make their own bread and think poorly of them for it; neither should they look at me and feel bad that they are not inclined to make their own bread.

This goes for everything- new/used clothes, wearing dresses/skirts exclusively or not, making everything from scratch or buying frozen food, eating healthy or unhealthy, buying organic or not caring, exercising or not, home school or public, Starbucks or other coffee shops, the list is endless.

So just a small word of advice here: keep your rules to yourself.

The things you require of yourself and your family, keep them to yourself and your family.

There would be a lot less division, hurt feelings, and disputes in churches if we all learned that we can't apply our personal convictions to everyone else.

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. 

The Sermon

Grateful

I am currently on vacation.
My sister's-in-law, and husband wanted to do something grand for their mother's 70th so we're all at a house in the coastal Lincoln City.
It's lovely here and I'm thoroughly enjoying having nothing on my plate.
At home I am always doing something and I firmly decided that I would get the most relaxation by doing nothing.
Except devotions. Devotions are a necessary part of relaxation. Walking with God makes everything peaceful and keeps my very strong emotions in check.

I always wonder if I had complete freedom to knit all the time, would I do it?
The answer is yes, yes I very well would.
Today while my son, husband, and everyone else was napping I got to sit by the hot tub, knit, and listen to sermons.
I happened upon a sermon that soothed my heart, soul, and spirit.
It contained many things that I have been thinking of recently. It reaffirmed somethings that have been questioned recently and it gave me strength.
I spent the most enjoyable few hours, on my own, hearing from God.

Please, if you have a moment, take time to listen to this sermon.
It is called The Best Things I Have Ever Learned by Dilbert Terry.
It was such a joy and blessing to hear it.
When I lead people to the Lord, this will be the first sermon I direct them to- it encompasses that much.
The Lord bless you and keep you.

The Best Things I Have Ever Learned- Dilbert Terry

My Burden to Teach

I take my position as a Bible teacher very seriously. It is something I love and am very passionate about. I want the children I am privileged to teach to be armed with love for the Bible, a desire to learn it better, and knowledge to help them through life.
Growing up I attended all sorts of children's ministries- sunday school, AWANA (briefly), wednesday night classes, youth group, camps, vacation bible school, and so on. In all those years no one ever bothered to tell me about what people's names meant, that numbers mean something, and that the wise men were mocking Herod when they asked about he who was born king of the Jews.
I love things like that- bits of knowledge that enhance your bible reading and cause you to hunger for more knowledge.
When I was a child I thought that the Bible was God's word and it was just full of stories about people whose names I could not pronounce and lists of things I could not do.
Having spent my whole life in church I could answer all the questions about all the major people in the bible, and I could give you some doctrine too.
It was not until I read the bible for myself that I realized a lot had been left out of my education.
I certainly can't blame anyone for my lack of biblical knowledge- it is always up to the person in question to study for themselves- but I was rather astonished that no one had ever told me that God hardened Pharaoh's heart as Pharaoh refused to obey Him.
That's a very necessary part of the event, people, I wonder how on earth I learned anything meaningful from those Sunday School lessons except for the event details (minus a few things).
I keenly remember my ignorance and I do not want to do that to the children God has entrusted me with.

For instance:
Since I've taken over the Bible class I've taught the children a song called 'Did You Ever Talk to God Above'. It's a very sweet and simple song about prayer and our ability to pray to God whenever and where ever.
We sing it every Sunday so they can learn it and a few Sundays ago I elaborated on the song a bit. I told them that God 'neither slumbers nor sleeps' (Psalm 103) and that He will always listen.
We continued through the class and our lesson for that day was 1 Samuel 8.
Reading along, we came to verse 18:

And ye shall cry out in that day because

of our king which ye shall have chosen

you; and the Lord will not hear you in that

day.

One of my very astute students pointed out: didn't you say that the Lord will always hear us?

I explained to them about how God has given them a full warning, they know exactly what they are getting into and they are choosing to do wickedly. They are purposefully bringing God's judgement upon them.

I explained that God is love and God is a consuming fire. (I think we, as part of God's beloved Son's body, forget that God is a consuming fire. We don't experience that side of Him very often.) I also explained that God is perfect in His anger and jealousy- things we equate with sin.

To me this is a vital part of a child's biblical education: to know who God really is.

Frankly, I thought He was like Santa Claus- a kindly old man with a long white beard that cried when we sinned.

Yeah... no. God is not like that. I'm not sure where I got that idea but it was not done away with by any of the teaching I got from anyone. 

I was more interested in studying the Bible when I learned who God really was: A holy God who will take vengeance on His enemies and bring every soul to his or her knees in worship.

One of my favourite verses is:

And I saw heaven opened, and behold a

white horse; and he that sat upon him was

called Faithful and True, and in

righteousness he doth judge and make war.

Revelation 19:11

That one verse alone should tell you everything you need to know about who God really is. 

Last thing:

A false balance is abomination to the

Lord: but a just weight is his delight.

Proverbs 11:1

Any teaching about the Bible must be balanced. You can't only preach out of the four gospels and expect to have balanced preaching, you can't only preach on the 'good things' and have balanced preaching, you can't preach against sin all the time and have balanced preaching. 

Balance comes from preaching 'all the counsel of God' (Acts 20:27). If you leave anything out, your preaching and teaching is not balanced and what's worse: not honest.

Do not shy away from difficult topics when you teach. Teach the Word and let the Lord take care of it.

(Obviously have discretion when it comes to things like Judah's situation with Tamar, David and Bathsheba and so on- don't go into deep details on that, you don't want to teach them how to sin or put any ideas into their heads.) 

When it comes to teaching I do three things: pray, study, and let the Lord lead.
Prayer
I've written it here a few times: I do not know what my students home lives are like. Right now they are all from Christian homes, I know their parents and have met some of their grandparents- all saved people. There may come a day when I'll have unsaved students with unsaved parents. I don't know. I do know that God knows what each one of them need to hear.
In prayer I ask that God will give me the wisdom, discernment, and knowledge to teach them. I ask Him to guide me in my thoughts, studies, and teaching. The class is His, I have no right to usurp His authority by doing what *I* think is best.
Here are some of the things I pray for:
-Each one of my students by name
-All their families
-Class time
-that each child will learn something
-for peace during class
-for me to be filled with the Holy Spirit
-for ways to teach them, activities to help learn, and songs to sing
-for utterance
Those are just a very few things but it puts God in control and gives me peace concerning my classes.

Study
At the moment I am working through a lesson book my pastor has given me. I'm following it through until it is finished.
I find it is incredibly important to study ahead of my current lesson so I have an idea of where I'm going. I also make sure to have my lesson plan done by Monday or Tuesday. The sooner I have it done, the more I can pray over it and prepare for it.
I only use scripture when I teach. I will certainly use examples from my personal life and things that I know, but I let the Bible tell its record itself. For example: this week we're studying David and Goliath. I'll go to the passage and select verses to for myself and my students to read out loud. As we go verse by verse I explain things to them, answer questions, and point out details and lessons we can learn. I'll always have a main thought to point out to students but I want God's Word to speak for itself and no important details left out.
On Sunday mornings instead of my usual devotions I will read a chapter of Proverbs and re-read the passage I will be teaching in my bible class.

Let the Lord Lead
Something I keep myself from doing is thinking about what I am going to say during my lesson.
I plan the verses we will read and I'll think about how to relate it to the children personally but I will not rehearse exactly what I will say.
Here's why:
I was once a warehouse manager for a Vancouver jewellery store company. There was a girl named Jordan who started giving me trouble- she was leaving early, not locking the jewels away when she was done, not completing her tasks properly, and so on.
Finally I had to do something about it but I was seething mad. I wrote out a list of the things I needed to speak to her about and while I waited for her to get back from her lunch break I rehearsed what I was going to say to her.
I did pray to God about it but I kept repeating my own angry words in my mind.
She came back from her break and I spoke to her. I said everything that I had rehearsed in my mind.
She stormed out angrily and never came back.
After the dust had settled and I thought about what I had said that made her storm out, I came to this conclusion:
My prayer for God to guide my words did not take because I did not let Him.
I planned out everything I wanted to say and said them in anger.
God did not help me at all because I did not let Him.
For this reason, I do not rehearse anything I am going to say. I let God guide me the whole time and He does. Many times the lesson does not turn out at all how I think it will simply because God leads in a different direction from what I had planned.
Like I said, I do not know what the children need to hear but God does. I just need to trust and obey Him.

I hope this was in some way a blessing to you!

Rules For a Spiritual Life

My recent post 'Rules For Life' contained rules I *try* to abide by to keep myself from getting into too much trouble with people here on earth.
What's way more important is my relationship with God.
This post, I want to share some of the things I do to keep myself walking with God in the Spirit.
As long as I am walking with God, I am effortlessly able to keep myself from unnecessary trouble and maintain all my personal rules.

1) Read your bible and pray everyday.
This is a no brainer. Everyone knows you cannot have a relationship with someone without talking and listening to them. A relationship with God is the same way- reading your bible is reading His Word, praying is talking to Him. Yes He knows everything, but He wants us to talk to Him about it. Praying strengthens you in ways you'll never know until you start making a decisive effort to bend your knees and pray.

And Jesus answered him, saying, It is

written, That man shall not live by bread

alone, but by every word of God.

Luke 4:4

That's not hard to understand: we need the Word of God to live.

As newborn babes, desire the sincere

milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby:

1 Peter 2:2

We need it to grow. The more you read it, the more you desire it, the more you grow. Nothing bad comes out of reading God's Word.

This is something, my pastor's wife's father pointed out-

And it came to pass in those days, that

he went out into a mountain to pray, and

continued all night in prayer to God.

Luke 16:12

Jesus found praying more comforting than sleep! That is our example! If you are a Christian that does not think it's necessary to set time aside for prayer, there's something wrong.

2) Study your bible.

Reading is great! It is great for a baby Christian, it is great when your mind is tired, it is great to read as a family, but an older Christian needs strong meat. Strong meat comes from studying.

For when for the time ye ought to be

teachers, ye have need that one teach you

again which be the first principles of the

oracles of God; and are become such as

have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

For everyone that useth milk is unskillful

in the word of righteousness: for he is a

babe.

But strong meat belongeth to them that

are of full age, even those who by reason of

use have their senses exercised to discern

both good and evil.

Hebrews 5:12-14

Studying the bible means cross referencing, line upon line, comparing spiritual things with spiritual to find out what the bible really says. Something Paul may write two lines about in Ephesians may be given a full chapter in Romans.

In 1 Peter it says, 'for charity shall cover the multitude of sins', you wouldn't know the depth of what charity is unless you read about it in 1 Corinthians 13.

Lastly, and most importantly, God tells us to study:

Study to shew thyself approved unto

God, a workman that needeth not to be

ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

2 Timothy 2:15

3) Apply what you've learned

Submit yourselves therefore to God.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.

James 4:7

But ye, brethren, be not weary in well

doing.

And if any man obey not our word by

this epistle, note that man, and have no

company with him, that he may be

ashamed.

2 Thessalonians 3:14

But be ye doers of the word, and not

hearers only, deceiving your own selves.

For if any be a hearer of the word, and

not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding

his natural face in a glass:

For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his

way, and straightway forgetteth what

manner of man he was.

James 1:22-24

Those are just a few verses of many that talk about obedience, submission, and following after God.

The fact is, you cannot grow if you refuse to apply what you've learned. The more you exercise self control, the more 'natural' it becomes.

Tools to help with the three things above:

1- Set a specific time to read, study, and pray

You will not do it if you leave it up to 'if I have time'. You'll never have time. You'll keep coming up with things to do.

Get up early and do your devotions. If you can't, set aside a specific time during the day to study.

You must come to the realization that your relationship with God is THE priority in your life. If you have your relationship with God straight, all other areas of your life fall into order. My life is a testament to this; my pastor, pastor's I've listened to on this internet have preached on this.

2-Write down prayer requests and collect missionary prayer cards

I have a little book I write down prayer requests in and I get a hold of as many missionary prayer cards as I can. This helps me put thought and effort into praying for others. If I don't write it down I will forget. I've noticed too, if I'm not particularly interested in praying, I can't help but pray more and more because of all the requests given to me. I am constrained to pray about all of them. Make it a particular priority to pray for each request that comes up.

Praying always with all prayer and

supplication in the Spirit, and watching

thereunto with all perseverance and

supplication for all saints;

Ephesians 6:18

Confess your faults one to another, and

pray one for another, that ye may be

healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a

righteous man availeth much.

James 5:16

Those verses say it all.

3- Fast

This is actually a whole blog post in one point- one I do intend to write. For now, suffice it to say that fasting helps teach you to control your flesh. A great chapter on fasting is Isaiah 58. Here is a bit of it:

Is not this the fast that I have chosen? to

loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the

heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go

free, and that ye break every yoke?

Isaiah 58:6

Notice what fasting does: loose bands of wickedness, undo heavy burdens (are you hurting about something? fast), let the oppressed go free, break every yoke- fasting liberates us and builds our relationship with God.

4-Listen to sermons

I have learned so much from listening to sermons while doing chores, knitting, and so on. I've learned how to pray from hearing preachers pray, I've been reminded of hymns I once knew, I've been reproved, rebuked, exhorted, edified, strengthened, and blessed through preaching. If nothing else, it keeps my mind from wandering to places it should not.

5-Sing praises

If you're wondering how to make melody in your heart to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19), this is how. I take time, ideally every day but that hasn't been possible lately, to sing songs to God. Sometimes I go through a hymn book, sometimes I sing scripture songs, but I make sure to listen to what I'm singing and mean it. I find that at least one of the songs I sing remains in my head the rest of the day or through the week.

If you think this isn't important then you haven't read the book of Psalms at all.

Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto

the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy

endureth for ever.

Psalm 106:1

6-Memorize scripture

Knowing scripture will get you through every situation you will come across. The first year of my marriage I memorized Proverbs 31:10-31. I intend to be a virtuous woman and that passage has it all. I quote it to myself a lot because sometimes I really need to remember it.

I've quoted scripture to myself during scary situations in doctor's offices and hospitals, when I have trouble sleeping, and when I don't know what to think.
When I was in labour and my contractions were getting unbearable I would close my eyes and quote Proverbs 31. The pain was still there but it kept me from going crazy.
The more you read the bible the more you will know it the more it will come up every day.

Don't underestimate the power of knowing scripture. 

7-Go To Church

This isn't just a Sunday thing, it's a Wednesday thing, and every other time there is an activity or service at church.

Fellowship helps keep you faithful. If you don't believe me, stay away from church for a month and see what that does to your relationship with God. There is a lot you cannot control at church, and that is a good thing. To be exposed to preaching that God gave a preacher to preach to you is special. Not only that, there are people there willing to pray for you. Prayer is powerful and we all need as much of it as we can get.

There has been many times I have not felt like going to church but I've gone and never regretted it. God gave church to us for our benefit and His glory. Don't shun it.

BEWARE!!! If you find yourself too tired or busy to have personal time with God because you're too involved with church, cut down your church activities. It is very easy to go through the motions and look spiritual when you are actively involved at church but if you don't have a relationship with God that goes before those things, your work is dead. Being faithful to God and being faithful to church are two separate things.


I hope this was a help to you in some way!

Let Us Reason with Four Year Olds

The other day while at the playground I was pushing my son on the swing.
On the swing next to us was a little boy, probably four years old, being pushed by his grandmother. I guess they had been using the swing for a while because the grandmother started to say, 'it's time to get off the swing' every few moments.
Each time, her grandson would decisively shake his head and say 'no!'
Well, this went on for a while and eventually the grandmother started to say things like, 'we've been on here a long time. Other kids want to swing. We need to share,'
Still, the child would not yield.
Then she started to say, 'sharing is caring,'
Yeah, that didn't work either.
She kept saying, 'sharing is caring' but finally she stopped pushing him and knelt down in front of him.
I did not catch everything she said. I did catch a lot of it, though, and what she was doing was negotiating with the boy.
The boy couldn't care less that he was being selfish and disobedient. He had no desire to 'share'- it wouldn't do him any good to see another child on the swing.
His grandmother knelt there talking to him about the need to share for a good five minutes. Finally she resorted to bribery-
'We can play here all day if you want to. If you get off now, you can play on it later on,' and so on.
I'm not sure what she said to make him get off but he finally did, and happily.

Frankly, that was a terrible display of authority.

First off, the boy clearly has no fear in him.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom:

Psalm 111:10a, Proverbs 9:10a

There is such thing as healthy fear. The fear of God is the best fear anyone can have.
No, it's not God's fear, it is knowing exactly who God is, what He is capable of, and realizing that He will render to every man according to his work.
In other words- you transgress, you will be punished.
I expect my two year old to obey me. I know he won't always obey right away and with the right heart. I know he will do stupid things that are difficult for me to change because he isn't speaking much yet. However, my expectation that he must obey me is not unreasonable and not impossible.
From a young age we have taught our son that disobedience brings discipline.
One of the biggest things, to my husband and I, is that our son comes to us when we call him.
For a long time we would call his name and tell him to come but he would just stand there or continue with what he was doing.
One day, after the first time I called him, he did not listen so I immediately stood up and went to get him myself.
I disciplined him in love and, even though he's not perfect at it, more often then not he comes when we call him.
Think it's ridiculous for me to discipline a two year old for not obeying?
What if, one day, he's running straight toward a busy street, or a wall he can fall off of and I'm too far away to physically stop him? Being able to call his name and tell him to stop knowing he'll obey is a huge relief and blessing in that situation.
Training him early, during ordinary days, when it's not a matter of life and death will make a huge difference when it is.
The earlier you teach them that sin has repercussions, the easier, safer, happier it is later on.

Happy is the man that feareth alway;

Proverbs 28:14a

We do not think of fear bringing happiness, but the fear of the Lord can and will.

I am so happy when my son obeys me, and my happiness effects him and he becomes happy.

 A happy child knows what to do and that they are doing right. Training a child to fear authority gives them security and confidence.

By mercy and truth iniquity is purged:

and by the fear of the Lord men depart

from evil.

Proverbs 16:6

Secondly, that grandmother had no sense of authority.

Children, obey your parents

in the Lord: for this is right.

Ephesians 6:1

That grandmother was reasoning with a four year old.
Reasoning.
With a four year old.
They are very cute and sweet but logic and reason are not developed yet.
On Sunday I asked one of my students, a four year old, to join the others on the couch.
He just sat there angrily with his arms crossed.
I knelt in front of him and said, 'Am I your teacher?'
He said yes.
I asked, 'Are you supposed to obey your teacher?'
He said yes.
I said, 'will you please sit on the couch?'
And he complied.
I've watched his mother kneel in front of him to tell him that I am his teacher and he must obey me.
She gave me the right to instruct her children.
This student's parents teach their children about authority. The children know that they must be in subjection to their parents. The parents recognize their God given task of training their children and the authority that comes with that.
Both the parents and the children know their places- parents are the authority under God, the children are to obey.
I did not have to reason with him or bribe him into obeying, I simply had to remind him of the authority I have over him during Sunday School.
God put parents in charge. Parents have the freedom to hand over that authority to grandparents, baby sitters, Sunday school teachers and so forth.
That grandmother had no authority behind her because she did not recognize that her authority is God given and right. She approached the child like he was almost her equal.
Instead of suggesting it was time to get off the swing, she should have told him it was time. Instead of continuing to push him, she should have stopped the swing. Those small thing prove authority and shows the child who is in control.

Thirdly, the child had no sense of obedience
Clearly, the child is given the right to make most of the decisions.
'Which do you want, what would you like to eat, where would you like to sit, what do you want to do,'
Learning to be decisive and make choices are good things. We let our son pick out things when we can. However, we do not let him dictate what we are going to do- especially if he is trying to get his way by throwing a fit.
As parents it's our job to lead our children in the right things to do. For example, setting an example of family devotions. I realize that it can be very tedious to a child but family devotions could be the difference in your child's decision to serve God and reject the world. It made that difference in my life.
Sometimes Bo points to the TV and wants to watch, I often say no. It probably wouldn't be a bad thing for him to watch and it may give me a few minutes to get something finished, but I do not want him thinking he can choose to watch TV and I will comply. It gives him the idea that he is in charge. He needs to recognize, even at two, that he will not control what happens. He certainly effects what happens, but what we do will be decided by mom and dad because we know best (or at least better).
Not only that, TV isn't good for you. I'd rather he play with his toys to let his imagination and creativity flourish.
Yes, he is only two and does not understand that, but I tell you, it's easy at the mall when we walk by a toy store to say 'no, we're not going inside'. Though he may not like it, he listens (a lot of the time, not every time) because he's used to being told 'no'.
I am certainly not advocating saying 'no' for 'no's sake'. I am saying, use discretion and train your children to recognize that you are in authority, you know best, and they must learn to take no as an answer even when they do not understand.
The child must also learn that there are things we must do, even when they are not fun. Those things help us grow.
For example: I love volleyball. I played it throughout high school on teams and briefly on a club. The thing is, there are a lot of things I did not enjoy about playing for organized teams:
conditioning, tedious drills, getting benched.
Conditioning is hard work, doing the same drill for an hour is boring, and getting benched is frustrating and maddening.
But you know what? those things made me grow as a player.
Had I just gotten friends together and played I would not have grown as a player as I did with a professional coach making me do the boring stuff.
Getting benched makes real athletes mad. It forces us, though, to analyze ourselves honestly and improve the weak areas of our game.
Sharing the swing would not have been fun for the boy but it would have helped him grow as a person. He may have learned to take joy in making others happy or developed the strength to be considerate. Instead, he extracted a bribe from his grandmother to ensure his happiness continued.
Did he learn anything?
Yes he did- that if you hold out long enough you can have your cake and eat it too.

Train up a child in the way

he should go: and when he is

old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22:6

That is a wonderful promise. Put in the work now while it is time. Look well to the ways of your household (Proverbs 31), and chasten thy son while there is yet hope (Proverbs 19:18). This will give you joy in your later years and your child will rise up and call you blessed (Proverbs 31). Remember, a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame (Proverbs 29:15).

Guard your children from the world. Take care to correct their ways, with mercy, truth, and grace. God will bless your efforts and you will have an eternal reward.

A Virtuous Woman- The Strange Woman Part 3

For the lips of a strange woman drop as

an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother

than oil:

But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp

as a twoedged sword.

Her feet go down to death; her steps take

hold on hell.

Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of

life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst

not know them.

Hear me now therefore, O ye children,

and depart not from the words of my

mouth.

Remove thy way far from her, and come

not nigh the door of her house:

Lest thou give thine honour unto others,

and thy years unto the cruel:

Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth;

and thy labours be in the house of a 

stranger;

And thou mourn at the last, when thy

flesh and thy body are consumed,

And say, How have I hated instruction,

and my heart despised reproof;

And have not obeyed the voice of my

teachers, nor inclined mine ear o them

that instructed me!
Proverbs 5:3-13

Someone once asked me what the point of the book of Revelation is. Why tell us the ending?

It's so we know who wins. God is very open with us. He gives us more than enough information to help us make informed decisions.

He does the same thing here with the strange woman. He tells us her end:

Her end is bitter as wormwood

Word study: Bitter

Mentioned 38 times in 36 verses

First mention: Genesis 37:34-

And when Esau heard the words of his

father, he cried with a great and exceeding

bitter cry, and said unto his father, Bless

me, even me also, O my father.

Bitter here has to do with deep unhappiness and torment (see Exodus 1:14 for second witness)

Word study: Wormwood

Mentioned 9 times in 8 verses

First mentioned: Deuteronomy 29:18-

Lest there should be among you man, or

woman, or family, or tribe, whose heart

turneth away this day from the LORD our

God, to go and serve the gods of these

nations; lest there should be among you a

root that beareth gall and wormwood;

Clearly, whatever wormwood is, it is not good.

Last mention: Revelation 8:11-

And the name of the star is called

Wormwood: and the third part of the

waters became wormwood; and many men

died of the waters, because they were

made bitter.

These waters become poisonous because of wormwood.

Since wormwood makes water bitter I looked into bitter water in the scripture.

The law of jealousies in Numbers 5 came up. If a woman is suspected of adultery, her husband must bring her to the priest who will make her drink bitter water. If she is guilty her belly will swell and her thigh will rot. If she is innocent then she is free and can bear children.

I think it's interesting that bitter water is connected to adultery.

Sharp as a twoedged sword:
Phrase study: Twoedged sword
Mentioned: 4 times in 4 verses
First mentioned: Psalm 149:6-

Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them

sing aloud upon their beds.

Let the high praises of God be in their

mouth, and a twoedged sword in their

hand;

To execute vengeance upon the heathen,

and punishments upon the people;

To bind their kings with chains, and their

nobles with fetters of iron;

To execute upon them the judgment

written: this honour have all his saints.

Praise ye the LORD.

Psalm 149:5-9

God likes twoedged swords- they are his weapon of choice and connected to judgement. There is nothing sharper than a twoedged sword except God's Word:

For the word of God is quick, and

powerful, and sharper than any twoedged

sword, piercing even to the dividing

asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints

and marrow, and is a discerner of the

thoughts and intents of the heart.

Hebrews 4:12

Lastly, Jesus' tongue is described as a twoedged sword:

And he had in his right hand seven

stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp

twoedged sword: and his countenance was

as the sun shineth in his strength.

The end of this woman is bitter and sharp- like Jezebel. Read 2 Kings 9 for that story.
God's judgement on her was to be eaten by dogs- who return to their vomit (Proverbs 26:11)- and her remains were as dung upon the earth (2 Kings 9:37). Not only that- her name went from meaning 'purity' to meaning 'whore'. The name has such terrible associations, no one gives it to their daughters.
A bitter ending for a woman judged by the Lord.

Her feet go down to death; her steps take

hold on hell.

This passage is the second passage in Proverbs that mentions the strange woman. It is also the second time God points out this woman's connection with death.

First mention: Proverbs 2:18

For her house inclineth unto death, and

her paths unto the dead.

This woman makes her life in death.

What does that mean?

Word study: Death (in the book of Proverbs)

Mentioned: 18 times in 18 verses (6 times 3)

First mentioned: the verse above

I will not go into every mention of this word but I will hit the ones most relevant to our study:

Treasures of wickedness profit nothing:

but righteousness delivereth from death.

Proverbs 10:2

Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but

righteousness delivereth from death.

Proverbs 11:4

There is NO righteousness in this woman's life.  Think there may be an itty bitty bit of righteousness in her life?

In the way of righteousness is life; and

in the pathway thereof there is no death.

Proverbs 12:28

Those two paths: righteousness and evil do not mingle. They go opposite directions: one to life, the other to death.

The strange woman's path is very plain.

As righteousness tendeth to life: so he

that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own

death.

Proverbs 11:19

Do you realize that things we do are either evil or righteous?

For example: I love shopping

I will shop for anything

I am always in the mood to shop

I will spend all the money I have on things, clothes, yarn, books, toys, gifts, you name it

For me to pursue shopping is me pursuing death. I would be giving myself over to my flesh and spending my husband's hard earned money on fripperies.

That's right. Fripperies.

Of course, I'm a housekeeper and a caretaker: I need to shop. There is a very fine line, however, that I need to watch so that I do not fall into sin.

The end of me pursing shopping would be bitter unhappiness for my family.

What about you?

Maybe it's food- like chocolate.

Maybe it's gossipy magazines.

Maybe it's television.

Maybe it's social media.

Maybe it's a person who is a bad influence.

No matter how innocent something may be, pursuing anything to much will lead into apostasy and death. Be careful how much time and effort you put into your hobbies. Not only that, what thoughts do they produce? Are they edifying?

There is a way which seemeth right unto

a man, but the end thereof are the ways of

death.

Proverbs 14:12

Her steps take hold on hell.
Proverbs 5:5b

This reminds me of skis. You put the boots on then step into the boot binding and click them into place.

The boot binding takes hold of your ski boot- where the ski goes, your boot goes, you go. The strange woman clicked her ski boots onto hell bound skis.

Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of

life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst

not know them.

Proverbs 5:6

This is the only time the word 'moveable' is mentioned in scriptures.

This verse is incredibly straight forward- she is inconsistent. There is no rhyme or reason to her ways- habits, decisions, thought process- she has no foundation to guide her.

Which forsaketh the guide of her youth,

and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

Proverbs 2:17

I was reading Proverbs on the 24th and came across the following passage:

Fret not thyself because of evil men,

neither be thou envious at the wicked;

For there shall be no reward to the evil

man; the candle of the wicked shall be put

out.

My son, fear thou the LORD and the king:

and meddle not with them that are given

to change:
For their calamity shall rise suddenly;
and who knoweth the ruin of them both?

Proverbs 24:19-22

As I read this I was immediately reminded of this study.

God tells us not to fret because of evil men but to fear the Lord and the King. He then, in the same vein, tells us not to meddle with them that are given to change.

Word study: Meddle

Mentioned: six times in six verses

First mentioned Deuteronomy 2:5

And command thou the people, saying,

Ye are to pass through the coast of your

brethren the children of Esau, which dwell

in Seir; and they shall be afraid of you: take

ye good heed unto yourselves therefore:

Meddle not with them; for I will not gie

you of their land, no, not so much as a foot

breadth; because I have given mount Seir

unto Esau for a possession.

And when thou comest nigh over

against the children of Ammon, distress

them not, nor meddle with them: for I will

not give thee of the land of the children of

Ammon any possession; because I have

given it unto the children of Lot for a

possession.
Deuteronomy 2:19

Thou hast indeed smitten Edom, and

thine heart hath lifted thee up: glory of

this, and tarry at home: for why shouldest

thou meddle to thy hurt, that thou 

shouldest fall, even thou, and Judah with thee?
2 Kings 14:10

You can find the rest of this story here and in 2 Chronicles 25. What winds up happening is the king who was given the above warning, Amaziah, does not listen. All the gold, silver and vessels found in the house of the Lord and the treasures of the King were taken to Samaria because of Amaziah's meddling.

He that goeth about as a talebearer

revealeth secrets: therefore meddle not

with him that flattereth with his lips.

Proverbs 20:19

Proverbs tells us to not meddle with two kinds of people: talebearers (who are also flatterers), and those that are given to change. The bible never uses 'meddle' positively.

Do not place yourself in other people's issues. Unless it directly affects you and your family, it is none of your business.

Pray for them and shut up.

We know the strange woman is a flatterer and her ways are moveable. Moveable as in never the same as in ever changing.

Here is God's relationship with change:

For I am the LORD, I change not;

Malachi 3:6a

Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to

day, forever.

Hebrews 13:8

Did you know we can rely on God to be the exact way He describes himself in His Word?

It does not matter that it's 2015 and the world is changing.

JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAME.

What He wrote before, he means now. His Word is complete, He is complete, and He is holy. That means perfectly whole.

God is not one way today and a different way tomorrow. He is always the same.
Despite 6000 years of sin, tragedy, and death, He is still merciful, forgiving, and loving.
That is a huge blessing.

Back to Proverbs 5-

The Lord warns us:

Hear me now therefore, O ye children,

and depart not from the words of my

mouth.

Remove thy way far from her, and come

not nigh the door of her house:

Proverbs 5:7&8

God tells us to stay far from her, don't even come close, don't do business with her, don't stop by for a chat, don't hang out with people who hang out with her, just stay far far away. Clearly this woman is powerfully attractive. It is not physical attraction, it is her lips, mouth and words.

To deliver thee from the strange woman,

even from the stranger which flattereth

with her words.

Proverbs 2:16

For the lips of a strange woman drop as

an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother

than oil:

Proverbs 5:3

With her much fair speech she caused

him to yield, with the flattering of her lips

she forced him.

Proverbs 7:21

The mouth of strange women is a deep

pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall

fall therein.

Proverbs 22: 14

Men seem to be most susceptible to this woman but in Proverbs 5 God addresses the warning to 'ye children'. That means women and children can be taken in by her too. I do not mean in a perverted sexual way, but in friendships and influences.
Hollywood is full of beautiful strange women who can influence you without saying a word to you.

Notice what happens when you ignore and depart from God's words:

Lest thou give thine honour unto others,

and thy years unto the cruel:

Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth;

and thy labours be in the house of a 

stranger;
Proverbs 5:9&10

It occurs to me that this could be you if your wife or husband leaves you because of foolish meddling with a strange woman. You could lose your children, money, home, and all you hold dear. Your children could grow up in the house of a stranger. Your 'wealth' doesn't have to be money or precious items. It can be the life God blessed you with before you became entangled with the world.

My husband and I are not wealthy people but I consider myself richly blessed.

I have a home, a husband, a son. That is my wealth. I would hate to lose it because of foolishness.

And thou mourn at the last, when thy

flesh and thy body are consumed,

And say, How have I hated instruction,

and my heart despised reproof;

And have not obeyed the voice of my

teachers, nor inclined mine ear o them

that instructed me!

Proverbs 5:11-13

That is a sharp end, bitter as wormwood.

To be in torment as you die wishing you had done everything differently.

That is a terrible thing.

Word study: Instruction:
Mentioned: Thirty-three times in thirty-three verses
First mentioned: Job 33:16
Here are some verses more relevant to our study:

The proverbs of Solomon the son of

David, king of Israel;

To know wisdom and instruction; to

perceive the words of understanding;

To receive the instruction of wisdom,

justice, and judgement, and equity;

Proverbs 1:1-3

The proverbs were written to give instruction- it's obviously important.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of

knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and

instruction.

Proverbs 1:7

Take fast hold of instruction; let her not

go: keep her; for she is thy life.
Proverbs 4:13

versus

Her feet go down to death; her steps take

hold on hell.

Proverbs 5:5

Receive my instruction, and not silver;

and knowledge rather than choice gold.

Proverbs 4:13

Poverty and shame shall be to him that

refuseth instruction: but he that regardeth

reproof shall be honoured.
Proverbs 13:18

Hear counsel, and receive instruction,

that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end.
Proverbs 19:20

versus:

Proverbs 5:11

And thou mourn at the last, when thy

flesh and thy body are consumed,

For the commandment is a lamp; and

the law is light; and reproofs of instruction

are the way of life:

To keep thee from the evil woman, from

the flattery of the tongue of a strange

woman.

Proverbs 6:23&24

God says it over and over again, the way of instruction is life. The way of the strange woman is death. If you want to avoid this woman, if you do not want to become this woman: take fast hold of instruction.

All scripture is given by inspiration of

God and is profitable for doctrine, for

reproof, for correction, for instruction in

righteousness:

That the man of God may be perfect,

throughly furnished unto all good works

II Timothy 3:16&17

Fools despise scripture. Fools mock it, take it lightly, and cast it behind them.

My favourite preacher once said:

 'Christian's who do not take the Bible seriously should not be taken seriously as Christians 

and that's the truth.

One of the most frustrating things is trying to talk to a 'believer' who does not take the Bible as the pure Word of God. You can't see eye to eye on anything! 

But unto the wicked God saith, What

hast thou to do to declare my statutes, or

that thou shouldest take my covenant in

thy mouth?

Seeing thou hatest instruction, and 

castest my words behind thee.

Psalm 50:16&17

Right there God is telling us that people who hate his Word and pay no heed to them have no business even speaking God's words.

In conclusion:
It took me a long time to finish this study. I kept learning and adding to it. I think I could have written more but I'd like to move on.
This particular part focused a lot on the end of this woman. It is not pleasant. It is destitute, poor, and shameful. Her life may look glamorous and happy but it will come crashing down.
She has no foundation, everything she has, is, does is for her own pleasure and purpose.
It is superficial and vain.