Thankful for My QuiverFull!

Grown daughters of QuiverFull families are also known as “Quivering Daughters” in some circles. My daughters and sons grew up with fundamentalist, patriarchal, homeschooling parents. But I wouldn’t describe them as “quivering”. They are arrows going forth into the future, sharp, straight, and true.

Four of the eight children of my Full Quiver are majors (over 18) and this post is dedicated to them. In some respects, I have grown up with them because I have learned so much from them: by their character, by the ways in which they challenged me to re-think my theology.

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My firstborn, Hannah, went away to a conservative Christian college down south. I remember when she came back for her first Christmas break at age 18 with so many opinions, so outspoken, I thought they had turned her into a “feminist”. Even as I corrected her for “disrespecting her father”, for “questioning authority”, something deep inside me admired that she had such freedom and assertiveness.

During her senior year, Hannah took a semester off to participate in medical missions. Nowadays, she is married and in her third year of medical school.

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Daniel is gifted in carpentry and participated in two building related mission trips. He went to Alaska at age 13 with a group of mainly adults and senior citizens and helped build a house for a pastor. And he built a play structure for a Christian school in Nicaragua. Nowadays, Daniel is married and walks in Jesus footsteps in a myriad of ways including working in the carpentry field.

 

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Joanne had her own opinion about fashion since she was 3 .

When she was a young teen, I was very harsh with her. Used to search her drawers and confiscate forbidden tank tops. She also broke all my dating rules. She started sneaking around with a 17 year old boy when she was 14. No matter how much I grounded her, she went right back to it again.

Nowadays, Joanne wears tank tops without condemnation and is happily married to her high school sweetheart (whom I love dearly. He has forgiven me for being “the gestapo”) . She has served on two medical missions in the DR and is finishing up her PA.

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Karen was world class opinionated in High School. When she got accepted to world class Harvard, some homeschooling friends (whose son she liked) spoke to me of their concern that the liberal climate of Harvard would corrupt her. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that the most heated discussions around our dinner table involved her political clashes with her conservative parents. She supported Obama (though she wasn’t old enough to vote for him). And I know Karen. Some people would call her a “rebel”. If anyone tells her what to think, she is likely to think the opposite. Her first time home from college, she said “Mom, you are not going to believe it but since I’ve been at Harvard, I’ve become more conservative.”

Karen has expressed a desire for ministry in Asia. Here she is- looking right at home- during a CCC summer leadership training program.

As a YoungLife volunteer in an ethnically diverse school district, here is Karen as camp counselor.

 

 

 

 

 

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I’m excited that all four flying arrows will be headed this way for Thanksgiving. The married three will be accompanied by their spouses.

Although known as “minors”, rest assured that my younger four are not “minor” to me. Pray for me and my husband, that we may receive a second wind and an abundance of God’s grace and mercy so that they can be well launched.

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Don’t you see that children are God’s best gift?
the fruit of the womb his generous legacy?
Like a warrior’s fistful of arrows
are the children of a vigorous youth.
Oh, how blessed are you parents,
with your quivers full of children!
Ps 127:5 (The Message)

 

Indeed, I am blessed!

Become as little children…

Foundational to the recovery of our spiritual inheritance in Christ is that we “become as little children” (Matt 18:3). My children are equally valuable, equally loved, equally respected, and equally heard. God has chosen to adopt us to be co-heirs with Christ and to be conformed to HIS image “that He might be the firstborn among many brethren” Rom 8

Eph 1:18-2:6 talks about “the riches of His glorious inheritance” and goes on to describe how we are (RIGHT NOW-see Eph 2:6) seated with Christ “far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come.” (see Eph 1:21).

Doesn’t that mean that God intends for us to be dwelling above earthly “power struggles”? I believe it does, and I believe He will empower me to do that as I become like a little child with HIM, trust HIM completely, and walk hand in hand with HIM throughout each day.

One of the promises for overcomers is: “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” Rev. 3:21
That strikes me as intimacy. I can sit in His lap… “as a little child”.

Lesson from “The Chronicles of Narnia”

Timothy saw this on my other blog and enjoyed it so I decided to put it here for you all.

Is Lewis promoting Hierarchy in his “Chronicles of Narnia”?

Not the hierarchy of age, class, gender, power, etc. etc. etc. . .

We have a VERY dog-eared fat copy which contains the entire series. I have read through the entire series out loud twice with different groups of my 8 children when they were in the 8-12 year old range. And several of them have re-read the series on their own.

I don’t find the hierarchy of which Robin Phillips speaks. Quite the opposite. In a prologue to the book “The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe”, Lewis’ intended audience is quite clear: his young Goddaughter, Lucy Barfield.

My Dear Lucy,

I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be your affectionate Godfather, C. S. Lewis.

— C.S. Lewis to Lucy Barfield (The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe)

Not coincidentally, in the story, the character Lucy is the youngest of four children, the lowest in the “hierarchy” so to speak.

Yet she is the one who first experiences the Kingdom of Narnia, and she is the one who sees Aslan with the most clarity. And she is also the one who is disbelieved, dismissed, and chastised by the hierarchy of older brothers and sisters,

not to mention betrayed by older brother Edmund who is captivated by the White Witch and his lust for the magical Turkish Delight which never satisfies.

In the final story “The Last Battle”, three of the Pevensie children of the Wardrobe adventure meet the children of other Chronicle adventures in “Aslan’s country” (heaven). One of the four children is not there. Here is what Lewis writes about that:

“My sister Susan,” answered Peter shortly and gravely, “is no longer a friend of Narnia.”
. . .

“Oh, Susan!” said Jill. “She’s interested in nothing nowadays except nylons and lipstick and invitations. She always was a jolly sight too keen on being grown-up.”

“Grown-up, indeed,” said the Lady Polly. “I wish she would grow up. She wasted all her school time wanting to be the age she is now, and she’ll waste all the rest of her life trying to stay that age. Her whole idea is to race on to the silliest time of one’s life as quick as she can and then stop there as long as she can.”

The “hierarchy” of Lewis’ Chronicles is one where children are powerful in the kingdom of Narnia; a kingdom which they can no longer visit once they are past a certain age- until the final journey which has no return. Narnia is a kingdom where children have inspiring, courageous faith and wisdom which- at least in Susan’s case- does not endure into “adulthood”.

I am reminded of Jesus’ words “”Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” Luke 18:17 and “behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last.” Luke 13:30. In Narnia, “hierarchy” is upside-down just like it is in the Kingdom of heaven. We must all become as children.

Is Church leadership restricted to males?

“Let the deacons be the husband of one wife” 1 Tim 3:12 

ONE exception and we err to make a rule that “husband of one wife” is a restriction upon females.

Phoebe provides the exception.
Quoting the old Young’s Literal Translation because I think it conveys respect for Phoebe’s church leadership more than other translations:

 

“And I commend you to Phebe our sister — being a ministrant [DEACON] of the assembly that [is] in Cenchrea –
that ye may receive her in the Lord, as doth become saints, and may assist her in whatever matter she may have need of you — for she also became a leader of many, and of myself.” Romans 16:1-2 YLT

Chains are Broken: Redux

Since coming out of the fog in 2004  some things have become clearer and clearer to me so I want to set the record straight.  When I wrote this apology letter to you, my children, there is still an element of “blaming” the woman for provoking male lust via “immodest dress”.

Nowadays, I think that a Christ-like man should be able to see a woman in the most provocative dress and seductive expression or even in erotic nude porn and not feel lust, but feel sad for her captivity and pain.

And nowadays, I think that girls and women should be able towear a tank top and shorts, or a lovely little evening gown guilt free.  For more on enjoying God’s creation without crossing the line see http://mychainsaregone.org/

Some of my daughters went with me to a “Purity’s Power” seminar by Lisa Bevere on dvd.  She spoke of the “packaging” and had a liberating message against the legalism of hard and fast “clothing rules”.

As I was contemplating this update about how my views have changed since 2004, I also thought of one of my daughters’ favorite books “Redeeming Love”, and how Angel was dressed up like a harlot and paraded in front of a leering crowd, but her modest spirit rose above it and shone with a heavenly glow to that lost crowd.

In “Redeeming Love” by Francine Rivers, Jonathan escorts Angel and two captive children out of the brothel where the chief pimp had forced her onstage:

“I really must ask, Jonathan.  What were you doing in a place like that?”

He laughed softly and kissed her forehead.  “I don’t really know, my love. . .  It was a strange day, Priss.  Something gnawed at me from noon on.  I couldn’t put my finger on it. . . I simply felt the need to walk. . . I was passing by that place and heard that devil making a speech.  The place was such a ruckus, I went in to hear what he was saying.”

“But why?  You loathe him.”

“I don’t know why.  I just felt compelled.  He was introducing Angel.  It was obscene.  It wasn’t his exact words.  It was his manner, the insinuation.  I can’t explain.  I felt like I was standing in a pagan temple and he was the priest introducing a new temple prostitute.”

“Why didn’t you leave?”

“I thought of it, but every time I did, something told me to wait. Then Angel came out.”

“She is very beautiful,” Priscilla said quietly.

“It wasn’t her beauty that held me, my love.  She was so young, and she walked to the center of that stage with such quiet dignity.  You can’t even imagine it, Priss.  Those men, they were like all the hounds of hell baying at her.  And then she sang.  She was so quiet at first, no one could hear her.  Then the noise died down until the place was silent except for her.”

He felt his throat constrict and tears burned.  “She was singing ‘Rock of Ages’”

Jesus and Women- Ben Witherington III of Asbury Theological Seminary

Jesus and Women from CPX on Vimeo.

Why did my children turn out so GOOD?

Originally Published November 25, 2008

Yesterday I went to teacher’s conferences and one of Sarah’s teachers- the mother of young children- said that she wanted to just sit and ask questions because my children have turned out so good! She said that we “must be doing parenting right”!

If she only knew…

Anyway, I told my children when we were sitting around the fire and they laughed and laughed! The 16 year old said, “yeah people are so surprised when I tell them how my parents fight and all the stuff that goes on here. They assume that we have this ‘perfect life’” She said if she was an only child she would be totally screwed up. Its because the children work together, support each other.

It occurs to me that they are like a union- organized to negotiate with those holding power over them. So, when I get unreasonable with one of them, the others are right there defending their sibling. At another teacher’s table, I mentioned that Sarah is really enjoying cheerleading with his wife- the coach. This teacher had Joanne too and knows that Joanne always dissed cheerleading and cheerleaders. I told him I was totally shocked that when I was reluctant to let Sarah cheerlead with the skimpy clothes and all, JOANNE came right to her defense and convinced me that I needed to let her do it.

Cheer!

And thank GOD for our firstborn, Hannah! When she was a late teenager, she told me that I need to give the children some money and let them choose some of their own clothes. She said when she was in elementary school (at a private Lutheran School) the other children would tease her and were mean. She thinks its because she was a misfit because I “dressed her up in dead old lady clothes”. Every child of mine since has had that privilege (within tight financial constraints so they are good thrift store and sale shoppers). Here are my older two daughters. Thanks to Hannah’s intervention they overcame their mother’s dumb and dowdy style. (see also Body Image- “extreme Mom makeover”? they haven’t done the makeover… yet )

They turned out GOOD- (which is more important than beautiful)

May the Chains of the Sins of the Parents be Broken!

Some formerly QF Mom’s have compiled their apologies to QF Daughters. I am not sure that any of my daughters or sons would identify with those apologies or not? But it reminded me that I wanted to post this here for you? I don’t know if you will remember when I gave this to you or not, but I post it here for you with much love. I do not consider myself among the “formerly QF”. I remained QF in the sense that I had as many children as my body could bear and I have no regrets for that. Each one of you are priceless. (Just pray for Daddy and I to get a second wind so we can be good parents to the younger ones!)

Summer 2004

Dear H, D, J, and K (teens at the time of this writing)

I need to tell you about something that my counseling has turned up because it has affected you too.

I knew my mother was pretty non-functional. She spent the year, just before her pregnancy with me, institutionalized for psychosis. She recovered enough to be back in reality to some extent, but wasn’t nurturing. She is attached to things, not people. Last time we visited, I spent a portion of our “vacation” cleaning her house because the social worker said she can’t get around the clutter with the walker. I snuck 10 garbage bags full of mildewed old clothes, some from when I was a teenager, out the window. She was mad at me cause she knew some things were missing..

As a child, my mom didn’t have friends and I was her best friend and confidante, her emotional crutch. She often cried and it was my responsibility to comfort her. She even shared details of her and my dad’s intimacy problems which were beyond my innocent comprehension.

My mother is so profoundly mentally ill that I could be compassionate.

At S* [missionary candidate interview], the psychologist kept pressing me about whether I had been sexually abused and I said no. Now I know that something in my testing was telling him differently. A week or two later, I was talking to my sister on the phone and she told me that in processing through her own recovery, she was troubled about something. She said she used to feel so sorry for me because Mom was so jealous and hostile when Dad would dress me up and take me out as if I was his date.

I developed early and was often taken for 16 when I was 12. My dad bought me a new, immodest wardrobe, dressed me up with makeup and hairdo and took me on dates. He used to go to his condo in Puerto Rico alone for awhile every year. When I was 13, he took only me (and my wardrobe). I was supposed to be there alone with him for a month. He took me to an R-rated movie with full frontal nudity. I was very uncomfortable because I had never seen any woman except my mother. He had pop fiction novels with sexually explicit passages. As an avid reader, naturally I picked up what was there. I was not very happy or cooperative and somehow I made my dad mad and he sent me home after a week.

When I was 14 my dad shipped me to an all girl’s Catholic boarding school.

When I was 18, he married a 22 year old.

During my teenage years, I dressed immodestly and was molested on dozens of occasions by boys and men groping at my private parts.

I told Sandy about my Dad’s treatment and said, “But he never DID anything”. She said, looking a bit angry, “He DID do something.” What my mother and father each did to me is a form of emotional abuse which profoundly affected me.

I immediately realized how it has influenced me with my teens. I wounded all of you by expressing hatred for teenagers. I am so sorry. Please forgive me. I love all of you and regret wounding you. It was my own teenage experience for which I was expressing hatred.

Because my boundaries were violated by others, I felt an overwhelming burden to protect you and was exceedingly harsh and controlling when it came to boundary issues.

I have been so intense and harsh about modesty (right standards but bad delivery). I have ranted and raved about R-rated movies. If it had been up to me, we never would have had them in the house. I am still very uncomfortable about it so I struggle, fight, and yell when R-movies are present. I think my behavior may have affected Joanne the most because she is considered “hot” and took an interest in boys so early. I am NOT sorry for setting boundaries which protect you, it would be a failure on my part not to set boundaries. But I have done so in a harsh, angry way and I am so sorry. Because I was so hurt by boys and men as a teen, I think I have subconsciously viewed any boy who approaches Joanne as a threat. For this reason I have failed to embrace Rob and make him feel welcome.

For all of this and whatever other negative impact this may have had on you, I am sorry. And I pray that you will be able to forgive me and not carry hurt in your spirits. May the chains of the sins of the parents be broken!

Much Love,

Mom

Paul’s Use of “Husband of One Wife” Cannot be used to Exclude Women

This series is inspired by my daughters. Of my 5 daughters, Sarah (15) and Keren (18) have recently expressed an interest in attending seminary and pursuing some form of full time ministry. Because they grew up hearing (from my husband and I) that women are excluded from leadership positions in the church, I want to set the record straight.

As recently as last week when my husband repeated it, I’ve heard the argument that because 1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Tim 3:12, and Titus 1:6 use the expression translated as “husband of one wife” therefore, deacons, elders, bishops are unqualified unless they are MALE. People assume the expression “husband of one wife” means women are excluded.

However, God’s Word does not contradict itself.  Paul- under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit- would not contradict himself.  Therefore “husband of one wife”  cannot mean the exclusion of women from the role in question. If it did, Paul would be contradicting himself by appointing and commending Deacon Phoebe.  Despite the obscuring of her deacon identity by English translations, she is commended by Paul in Romans 16:1 using the exact same “diakonon”[deacon] word he used in Rom 15:8 for Christ, Romans 15:25 for himself, and 1 Thes 3:2 for Timothy.  (see link)

And there is this from 1 Tim 3:1 “ei tis episkopēs” translated “if any man desire the office of bishop”.  Click the link to look at other occurrences of ei tis.  It doesn’t mean “any man“.  It means anyone!

Personally, I feel much safer and more confident with GOD’s own Word and Paul’s practice/interpretation of his own words rather than the way a church, interpreter, tradition, or commentary has taken them.

The Place of Ministry

by Oswald Chambers “My Utmost for His Highest”
He said to them, ’This kind [of unclean spirit] can come out by nothing but prayer and fasting’
—Mark 9:29

His disciples asked Him privately, ’Why could we not cast it out?’ ” ( Mark 9:28 ). The answer lies in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. “This kind can come out by nothing but” concentrating on Him, and then doubling and redoubling that concentration on Him. We can remain powerless forever, as the disciples were in this situation, by trying to do God’s work without concentrating on His power, and by following instead the ideas that we draw from our own nature. We actually slander and dishonor God by our very eagerness to serve Him without knowing Him.

When you are brought face to face with a difficult situation and nothing happens externally, you can still know that freedom and release will be given because of your continued concentration on Jesus Christ. Your duty in service and ministry is to see that there is nothing between Jesus and yourself. Is there anything between you and Jesus even now? If there is, you must get through it, not by ignoring it as an irritation, or by going up and over it, but by facing it and getting through it into the presence of Jesus Christ. Then that very problem itself, and all that you have been through in connection with it, will glorify Jesus Christ in a way that you will never know until you see Him face to face.

We must be able to “mount up with wings like eagles” ( Isaiah 40:31 ), but we must also know how to come down. The power of the saint lies in the coming down and in the living that is done in the valley. Paul said, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” ( Philippians 4:13 ) and what he was referring to were mostly humiliating things. And yet it is in our power to refuse to be humiliated and to say, “No, thank you, I much prefer to be on the mountaintop with God.” Can I face things as they actually are in the light of the reality of Jesus Christ, or do things as they really are destroy my faith in Him, and put me into a panic?

The Assigning of the Call

by Oswald Chambers “My Utmost for His Highest”

I now rejoice in my sufferings for you,
and fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ,
for the sake of His body,
which is the church . . .
Colossians 1:24

We take our own spiritual consecration and try to make it into a call of God, but when we get right with Him He brushes all this aside. Then He gives us a tremendous, riveting pain to fasten our attention on something that we never even dreamed could be His call for us. And for one radiant, flashing moment we see His purpose, and we say, “Here am I! Send me” ( Isaiah 6:8 ).

This call has nothing to do with personal sanctification, but with being made broken bread and poured-out wine. Yet God can never make us into wine if we object to the fingers He chooses to use to crush us. We say, “If God would only use His own fingers, and make me broken bread and poured-out wine in a special way, then I wouldn’t object!” But when He uses someone we dislike, or some set of circumstances to which we said we would never submit, to crush us, then we object. Yet we must never try to choose the place of our own martyrdom. If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed— you cannot drink grapes. Grapes become wine only when they have been squeezed.

I wonder what finger and thumb God has been using to squeeze you? Have you been as hard as a marble and escaped? If you are not ripe yet, and if God had squeezed you anyway, the wine produced would have been remarkably bitter. To be a holy person means that the elements of our natural life experience the very presence of God as they are providentially broken in His service. We have to be placed into God and brought into agreement with Him before we can be broken bread in His hands. Stay right with God and let Him do as He likes, and you will find that He is producing the kind of bread and wine that will benefit His other children.

Mary Magdalene and Jesus: Reversing the Fall

from

Befriending the Beloved Disciple: A Jewish Reading of the Gospel of John

By Adele Reinhartz

“The garden setting in which Jesus and Mary are alone together calls to mind other Biblical gardens, in particular the primordial Garden of Eden in Gen 2-3 and the garden that symbolizes the female lover in Song of Songs. A Genesis connection is perceived by many scholars. Sandra Sneiders points out that God walks around in the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:15-17; 3:8 ) just as the risen Jesus walks about the garden that holds his tomb. Nicholas Wyatt argues from Biblical and post-biblical literature that the Garden of Eden was profoundly associated with royal motifs. He suggests that from a Christian perspective the cross is the tree of life from which the first man had been driven away. After his death Jesus becomes the new gardener of Eden reversing the decree of banishment that had been passed on the first Adam. The allusion to Eden in John 20 also recalls the creation symbolism and imagery of the Johannine prologue. (1:1-18 )

Does reading Jesus as the new Adam transform Mary into the new Eve? The passage does not portray her using the familiar Genesis images. She does not evoke the woman who was made from Adam’s body, converses with the serpent, eats the forbidden fruit, offers it to Adam, and is banished with him from the garden. Nevertheless, some echoes of Genesis may be heard. Jesus calls her “woman”, just as the first man called his mate “woman” in Gen 2:23. Jesus then called her by name, just as Adam called the first woman by name (Gen 3:20). Jesus directive that Mary not cleave to him challenges the physical basis of the male-female relationship described in Genesis 2:24, according to which a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife and they become one flesh. This echo suggests a contrast between the sexual relationship that developed between the first man and woman and the relationship of devotion between Jesus and Mary”

Feeling God

The first commandment- according to Jesus- is to LOVE the Lord your GOD.
NOT just with the mind
but with the heart, soul, strength

HEARTlessness is a problem which I think is rampant in the church
Romans 1:31
(NIV)they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
(KJV)Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

Matt 24:12Because of the increase of wickedness,

the love of most will grow cold,

“The heart is deceitful…”
logismos is deceitful too

2 Cor 10:4-5 (For the weapons of our warfare [are] not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds) Casting down logismos, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;

“sets itself up against the knowledge of God“
KNOWing God is not just about the mind
any more than biblical KNOWing my husband in marriage is merely about a mental “connection”
“adam KNEW his wife Eve and she conceived”
That is why I compare contemplative prayer with sex
I make an intimate deep connection EMOTIONALLY with God
I FEEL God
and I feel sorry for those who don’t. I wish everyone could FEEL God.
I believe this is available to ALL the saints, but logismos gets in the way:

Eph 3:16That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man; 17That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
18May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
19And to know the love of Christ,
which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.
20Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 21Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.

in Mary Magdelene’s sandals…

Mary Magdalene has
an intensely intimate encounter
with the Risen Lord
in the Garden.
HE calls her “woman”.
She thinks he is “the gardener”
HE calls her “Mary” and she KNOWS…

Whoosh, I suddenly realized that the moment harks back to the first Adam and the first woman in the Garden.
Adam was assigned to be the KEEPER of the garden
He failed
Jesus is the KEEPER who fulfills the assignment flawlessly.

Biblically, I don not consider accidental that the term “KEEPER” is used of man, woman, God, Jesus in the Garden…

Adam’s assignment:
Gen 2:15 - 08104 shamar {shaw-mar’}
AV – keep 283, observe 46, heed 35, keeper 28, preserve 21, beware 9,
mark 8, watchman 8, wait 7, watch 7, regard 5, save 2,

~~~~~~~

of a wife:
Titus 2:5- “keeper at home”
3626 oikouros from 3624 and ouros (a guard, be “ware”)

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of God:
1 Peter 1:5 – kept/guarded/protected
5432 phroureo {froo-reh’-o} AV – keep
from a compound of 4253 and 3708 horao {hor-ah’-o}

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Mary Magdalene thinks of Jesus is:
John 20:15- “a keeper of the garden”
2780 kepouros {kay-poo-ros’}
from 2779 and ouros (a warden);; n m

I identify with walking in Mary Magdelene’s sandals.
I can walk in the Garden with JESUS, the second Adam, the KEEPER who will not fail.
I can partake of intimacy with my risen Lord in the garden.
I can feel the intense gratitude for His mercy,
the intense security of His perfect love.
I can wash His feet with my tears and wipe them with my hair,
I can pour out my inheritance, my alabaster box of precious ointment… upon my Lord.
HE is worthy
HE is good

I LOVE YOU, LORD!

John 20:11 but Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

15“Woman,” he said, “why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?”
Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”

16Jesus said to her, “Mary.”
She turned toward him and cried out in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).

17Jesus said, “Do not hold on to me, for I have not yet returned to the Father. Go instead to my brothers and tell them,

God hasn’t put a period at the end of our sentences yet…”

from Beth Moore’s “Beloved Disciple” (pg 153 )

“Read John 3. List each person identified and write a brief description __________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Imagine being named in a letter that turned out to be inspired Scripture for all the world to see! Whether in commendation or criticism, having your name immortalized in scripture is a heavy thought! When I see a portion of Scripture with brief testimonials similar to the segment we’re studying today, I almost shiver… At times I would have been anywhere from devastated to humiliated over what might be written in my life’s theoretical one-sentence statement. I love knowing that as long as we’re kicking and breathing, we can change the course of our testimonies. God hasn’t put a period at the end of our sentences yet…”

I love the SKY…

“To the Overcomers” (lyrics)

To the Overcomers
I know your deeds, I’ve seen your service
I recognize the reputation of your lives
But I know you live near Satan’s shadow
And I have seen your faithful struggles to survive

And to the one who overcomes I’ll give the manna
He’ll have a pure white stone with his own secret name
She will possess the morning star in all its splendor
All this and more for them because they overcame
All this and more for them because they overcame

So just hold on, do not grow weary
For I am He who searches hearts and minds
Behold I’m standing at the door and I am knocking
And the one who hears and opens it will find

That the one who overcomes will rule the nations
On the throne he’ll sit beside me dressed in white
She will become a column in God’s holy temple
They will all eat freely from the Tree of Life
They will all eat freely from the Tree of Life

The overcomers come to understand
That they are precious poems printed
In the palms of His hands

And to the one who overcomes I’ll give the manna
He’ll have a pure white stone with his own secret name
She will possess the morning star in all its splendor
All this and more for them because they overcame

And to the one who overcomes I’ll give the manna
He’ll have a pure white stone with his own secret name
She will possess the morning star in all its splendor
All this and more for them because they overcame
All this and more for them because they overcame
All this and more for them because they overcame

“overcome”- greek word study

Rom 12:21 “Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

overcome- nikao (link to Blue Letter Bible- every occurance of the word)

AV — overcome 24, conquer 2, prevail 1, get the victory 1

What kind of vessel will I be?

20 In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for disposal of refuse. 21 Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. 2 Tim 2 (TNIV)

According to 2Tim 2:20-26- (Click here for a parallel view of several versions) we have the opportunity to become a transformed vessel! We can be transformed from a dirty pot full of “refuse”(TNIV), an “ignoble” (NIV) or “dishonorable” (NASB) vessel, to a “vessel fit for the master’s use”. Interesting how the master has both “in HIS house”. I think some people will choose to remain an unclean vessel their whole life and go to heaven that way. They are, after all, “in HIS house” according to the scriptures.

I have wondered if the unclean pot might be a bedpan or a chamber pot? Did they have those in NT times? “The Message” puts the pots in the kitchen:

“In a well-furnished kitchen there are not only crystal goblets and silver platters, but waste cans and compost buckets—some containers used to serve fine meals, others to take out the garbage. Become the kind of container God can use to present any and every kind of gift to his guests for their blessing.” 2 Tim 2: 20-21 (the Message)

I’ve been in the process of having the uncleanness purged out of the vessel that is ME. The process is not easy, but it it GOOD!
Oh, LORD, please keep up the scrubbing until I am utterly and completely purged of all the garbage! I have an inkling that the junk is burned off too, through a process of fiery trials…

When through fiery trials thy pathways shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.

I found a wonderful Ray Stedman sermon “Fit to be Used” which quotes John Stott saying: 

If the promise is to be inherited (‘he will be a vessel for noble use’), the condition must be fulfilled (‘if anyone purifies himself from what is ignoble’).

and this is Ray Stedman:

The great question, however, is to what end, for what purpose is he using you? Here the apostle is pointing out to Timothy that it is for one of two purposes. “In every house,” he says, “there are vessels.” That is true of all homes — we have “vessels for honor,” i.e., dishes we eat from, pots and pans we cook in, decorated vases, etc., are all vessels unto honor. They are not only useful but they are preserved, they are permanent, we want to keep them. But every house also has “vessels for dishonor” — we have garbage cans, slop buckets, bedpans, trash barrels, wastebaskets, etc. We do not display them. They are useful, but they are not presentable. We may even intend to dispose of them, sometimes after only one use. Those are vessels of dishonor.

Winter

I AM…

Hosea11:4
I led them with cords of human kindness,
with ties of love;
I lifted the yoke from their neck
and bent down to feed them.

Thank YOU, Lord for your tenderness.

Thank YOU that YOU are…
…the Bread of Life Jn 6:35
…the Light of the World Jn 8:12
…the Door of the Sheep Jn 10:7-9
…the Good Shepherd Jn 10:11-14
…the Resurrection and the Life Jn 11:25
…the Way, the Truth, and the Life Jn 14:6
…the True Vine Jn 15:1,5

Lord, you said that
one who comes to YOU shall never hunger
one who believes in YOU shall never thirst…
and you told the woman at the well “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
Lord, I ask YOU.. please Lord, may I have LIVING WATER?
Lord, help me to come to you that I may partake of Bread of Life…
LORD, I hunger
LORD, I thirst
LORD, I KNOW YOU are the ONLY ONE who can fill every empty place in my being.
Satisfaction, Life, Fullness is ONLY IN YOU!

Psalm 63
My soul thirsts for You;
My flesh longs for You
In a dry and thirsty land
Where there is no water.
2 So I have looked for You in the sanctuary,
To see Your power and Your glory.

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

6 When I remember You on my bed,
I meditate on You in the night watches.
7 Because You have been my help,
Therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice.