Remove the dross

Posted by Admin on Jul 29, 2013 in Reflections in the Word | Comments Off on Remove the dross

“Take away the dross from the silver, and there comes out a vessel for the smith.” Proverbs 25:4, NASB

“Remove impurities from the silver and the silversmith can craft a fine chalice.” Proverbs 25:4, Message Bible

“First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.” Matthew 23:26, NIV

“Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something.” Matthew 23:26, Message Bible

The good news is this: “If a man is in Christ he becomes a new person altogether—the past is finished and gone, everything has become fresh and new” (2 Corinthians 5:17, Phillips).

If you are a new creature and your sin nature is gone, then two questions come up: 1.) Why do you still get tempted to sin? 2.) Why should you even be concerned about sin if everything has been covered by the sacrifice of Jesus?

To answer the first question, in Christ you are forgiven and your past is washed clean. Yet you have this thing called a soul, made up of your mind, will, and emotions. Although your soul is eternal, it was not recreated like your spirit was when you received Christ, and therefore is liable to make wrong choices. Your mind is to be renewed (see Romans 12:2) and your soul is to be saved by receiving God’s Word with a humble heart (see James 1:21). Philippians 2:12-13 says that you are to work out your salvation with fear and viagra 100mg turquie trembling; the good news is that God works inside you to help you to be willing to obey Him.

Why should you be concerned about sin? The Apostle Paul asked the same question. “Well then, should we keep on sinning so that God can show us more and more of his wonderful grace?” (Romans 6:1, NLT.) You can almost hear the apostle blowing a gasket as he answers his own question in verse 2, “May it never be! How shall we who died to sin still live in it?” (NASB.)

Your actions, thoughts, and words build your life. They also affect everyone around you, for good or for ill. You are accountable for the choices you make, the words you speak, and the thoughts you think. But because of your faith in Christ, the God to whom you will give an account is the same One who works within you both to will and to work for His good pleasure! He has rigged life in your favor! Only a mindset of rebellion, apathy, or self-importance on your part can gum up the flow of His wonderful grace on your life. If these attitudes arise within you, God is still present; He has not ceased to love you, and He will be ever-ready to work kindly within you to bring about repentance and change in your heart. Help with these destructive mindsets is just a prayer away.

Why exert so much attention on the topic of personal accountability when the world is spinning out of control? Perhaps if more attention had been paid to this subject, our world would not be in its current disastrous condition .

At the beginning of today’s entry the proverb states, “Take away the dross from the silver, and there comes out a vessel for the smith.”  Impurities in silver decrease its reflective properties. Unconfessed sin in your life decreases your ability to reflect the Lord to a hurting world around you. Unchecked rebellion, apathy, or self-importance will block the clear leading of the Holy Spirit when you need it the most. As ungodly attitudes remain in your heart, they become weights to you, and life becomes burdensome, the call of Christ grows more and more faint, and the light that is in you becomes dim, hidden under a pile of flesh and unrestrained soul.

However, if you become aware of “dross” in your life, simply yield it to the Silversmith, and He will gladly remove it from you.

You were created in Christ Jesus to be a vessel for honorable use. Let God take away any dross cropping up in you, for it’s time for you to shine. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, KJV).

Let nothing cloud your light any longer!

Dorothy

Weekend: Delivered unto a life well-lived

Posted by Admin on Jul 27, 2013 in July 2013, Weekend | 2 comments

Our God is a deliverer. Throughout the history of the planet He has come on the scene to rescue those who trust in Him. His greatest act of deliverance happened about two thousand years ago in a little place called Israel. He Himself took on flesh and walked the earth, preaching a message of repentance and forgiveness, salvation and healing. And as many as received Him and believed in His name, to them He gave the right to become the children of God (see John 1:12).

There is nothing quite like knowing that you are not only forgiven and made brand new by the Creator of the universe, but also that He  has pledged never to leave or forsake you and to be with you always, even until the end of the age (see Hebrews 13:5 and Matthew 28:20).

How the God of all things can care about small, insignificant humans is beyond the comprehension of many of us. But He does. David declared in Psalm 18:35, “You have also given me the shield of Your salvation, and Your right hand upholds me; and Your gentleness makes me great.” I imagine David was in awe of God’s amazing intervention on his behalf and that of his nation; but this verse reveals something even more amazing about God. When David praised God for His gentleness, he was extolling the fact that the Creator Himself, the Mighty One of the Universe, in humility, meekness, and an act of condescension, made him—insignificant David—great.

God rescues us. He delivers our lives from destruction. He saves our souls and welcomes us into His family. He is with us at all times and will continue to be right there until the end of our lives or the end of the age—whichever comes first! And to top it off, He gently humbles Himself to grant us greatness in our little time span.

But there are hindrances and obstacles to a well-lived life. And those hindrances don’t have all that much to do with whether or not your dreams were fulfilled the way you had hoped—no; such disappointments have less impact upon the quality of your life than you would imagine.

The hindrances and obstacles that must be conquered in the well-lived life have everything to do with the mind and attitude, beliefs and reactions, flexibility and resolve. Upon what do you meditate? What is your prevailing attitude toward work, responsibility, or others? What is your belief system—beyond your faith in Christ? Do you believe easily that He will cause all things to work together for your good, or do you think bitterly, probably not—nothing works out as I want? How do you react to stress? Do you seek Him and trust, or do you fly off the handle in fear, panic, or rage? Can you deal gracefully with changes in plans, whether short-term or long, or do you stew over the unfairness of it all? When options present themselves that violate your convictions, do you follow your conscience or do you fudge, just this once—it won’t hurt anything?

These are the things that determine whether your life is well-lived. Dreams fulfilled, desires met—those are icing on the cake.

This weekend, I urge you to spend some time with your Deliverer, Rescuer, Redeemer, Forgiver, Healer, and Savior. Pour out your heart to Him and allow Him to touch any encumbrance in your life that, if left untouched, would hinder you from having a life well-lived. Let Him do what He loves to do: to bring light to entanglements, to deliver you from hindrances, and to remove every obstacle that would disqualify you from having that life well-lived. Don’t put it off; He who saved you is delighted to bring you to full maturity. Remember, it is His gentleness, meekness, and humility directed toward and in you that will make your life, when all is said and done, not only well-lived, but great.

And, on that Day when you see Him face to face, may He look you in the eyes and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Happy weekend, happy life, happy eternity!

Dorothy

Defeating evil surmisings

Posted by Admin on Jul 26, 2013 in Victory over evil surmisings | 2 comments

Evil surmisings—unfounded suspicions about fellow believers—can plague the mind of even the most consecrated Christian. 1 Corinthians 10:13 spills a secret: “No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man.” Therefore, since evil surmisings qualifies as a temptation (of the mind more than the flesh), you can bet that you’re not the only one getting tempted to submit to such suspicions.

Evil surmisings come in an assortment of shapes, sizes, and colors, with one custom-made for you. These thoughts can be subtle—he’s so boring; he can’t possibly be used of God or blatant—I know she’s jealous of me; she’s operating in a controlling ‘Jezebel spirit’. The types and textures of evil surmisings are indeed without number.

How do you distinguish between an evil suspicion and the leading of the Holy Spirit? It’s usually not clear-cut at the outset, so from the get-go, the method of attack you need to take, of course, is to first of all, pray. Lift up the individual or group to the Lord; you even have permission to complain to Him if you must, but He will, nonetheless, expect you to come to the point where you will believe the best of them and let your faith work through love (see 1 Corinthians 13:5-6 and Galatians 5:6).

God is good and quite practical. He isn’t pleased when you are hurt; however, neither will He coddle you or entitle you to cling to your resentment. If you do feel entitled to your bitterness or hatred toward someone—an individual or an entire group—God’s not in that. You will find yourself stuck in one place without growth or further grace when you cling to the title deed of your resentment. Is that really what you want for your life?

What if the suspicion is actually the prompting of the Holy Spirit, warning you to avoid a certain business, fellowship, relationship, or endeavor? Whether the thought arises from the Lord or not, first of all, pray. The Spirit of God knows how to make clear to you the way in which you should go, and at times He will steer you away from people or places in order to protect you or to aid your growth in grace. When you recognize His leading and obey it, much hinges on what you do next. Will you continue in life, thankful for His direction, and refuse to entertain suspicions about the detour He prompted? Or will you use His kind re-routing as an occasion to badmouth and spread suspicions about a fellow believer or church?

Again, even if God reveals something to you as you follow Him, does that mean He wants it blabbed all over town or posted on Facebook? Does that mean you’ve become some sort of spiritual swami, given access to the secret intentions of others? Are you so impressed with your hearing from God that you think you are some kind of spiritual prodigy? As ugly as it sounds, these are some of the snares any one of us can stumble into after hearing from God. You must be alert, both coming and going.

God’s plan is to lead you and me throughout our lives. This is His idea of the normal Christian life. His will for you is to be shrewd in discernment so you can avoid pitfalls, distractions, and deception. But His will is also for you to be harmless as a dove and to walk in a high level of forgiveness, love, and respect for others (see Matthew 10:16).

You can live this way by refusing to yield to the lure of evil surmisings. Pray, forgive, and follow God. It’s your mind, and you have the right to take control of the mental strategies the devil has designed against you to pull you off course. Martin Luther said it something like this, “You cannot control the birds flying over your head, but you can stop them from building a nest in your hair.”

The degree to which you resist evil surmisings and choose rather to pray, forgive, and obey the Lord will also be the degree to which you will grow in accuracy and the clean discernment of God.

“…pulling down of strong holds; casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.” 2 Corinthians 10:4b-5, KJV

Praise God for the defeat of evil surmisings!

Dorothy

Evil surmisings

Posted by Admin on Jul 25, 2013 in Victory over evil surmisings | Comments Off on Evil surmisings

We all mess up with our words at times, and none of us can claim a perfect track record with what we’ve said. The Bible underscores this fact. “For we all stumble in many ways. If anyone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well” (James 3:2). The Message Bible says it this way: “We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths.”

Because of this, the Psalmist prayed, “Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips” (Psalm 141:3).

Sometimes doctrinal differences become the topic of conversation between you and another believer. This doesn’t have to spin out of control into strife. We all have  differences with one another–sometimes on points of doctrine. The apostles held rational discussions concerning  serious deviations in doctrine that were being preached when the Church was in her infancy (see Acts 15). By tackling these issues head-on, they were able to be proactive, and they brought clarity to the confusion hitting the early Church.

However, discussion and debate without principled desire for truth and the genuine good of the other person will quickly deteriorate into selfish maneuvering to be right. The Apostle Paul showed great disdain for such wrangling about words. In 1 Timothy 6:3-6, he described the individual who flat-out refused to hear sound doctrine. “He is conceited and understands nothing, but has a morbid interest in controversial questions and disputes about words.” Envy, strife, abusive language, and evil suspicions permeate this kind of undisciplined, self-promoting wrestling match (see 1 Timothy 6:4).

But unfortunately, that’s not the only time envy, strife, abusive language, and evil suspicions crop up in the Church. When you think someone is wrong about anything, big or small, take it to the Lord in prayer and guard against suspicious thoughts gaining control of your mind, heart, or behavior.

Evil suspicions are also called evil surmisings in the KJV. When you surmise, you infer something without having sufficient evidence to support your suspicion. You come up with a conclusion based on unfounded feelings.

When you develop a “me against you” or an “us against them” mentality, there’s a very good chance you’re entertaining evil surmisings.

When you think someone doesn’t like you and you “know” what they’re thinking, there’s a good chance you are entertaining evil surmisings.

When you hear yourself saying things like they think they’re too good for me or they always ignore me, you are probably entertaining evil surmisings.

Entire fellowships have been destroyed because of evil surmisings spoken as fact. These juicy tidbits of suspicion have an uncanny way of undermining the lives of good, solid people. God does not take lightly the wreckage of lives devastated by even one whisper of evil surmising.

Stand against anything that would bring dishonor to the name of another believer. Don’t give the devil an opportunity with words of insinuation; refuse to be a party to promoting unsubstantiated evil surmisings, and flee from stripping a fellow believer of his or her dignity before others.

Run from the assumption that you know the thoughts and hearts of those around you. If you recognize you’ve fallen into this snare set for you by the devil, cry out to God for mercy and repent—the quicker the better!

None of us have lived a flawless life, including you. Therefore, instead of evil surmisings, give mercy, freely and from your heart. Make mercy your habit; make it your lifelong passion. You will never regret it.

“For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment.” James 2:13

“There is one who speaks rashly like the thrusts of a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” Proverbs 12:18

On accuracy, the love walk, and joy

Posted by Admin on Jul 24, 2013 in Everyday Observations, July 2013 | Comments Off on On accuracy, the love walk, and joy

Yesterday’s blog was about joy, but I didn’t plan to write on that subject. I intended to continue Monday’s topic by investigating ways to overcome obstacles that arise when believers don’t see eye to eye on points of doctrine.

Instead, I was attacked out of the blue with a migraine and couldn’t get my mind to think about much of anything. That’s why I wrote about joy. When I undergo a physical attack, I’m learning to relax, trust God, smile, and laugh a lot. So, aided by the Word of God and a migraine-busting ice pack, I rejoiced in God and wrote about joy. And the joy of the Lord was my strength. No more ice pack!

As I thought about the unconnectedness of Monday’s and Tuesday’s blogs, it dawned on me—they are very connected in a way that can help us to stay on track.

Christian life is about doctrine. Christian life is also about the attitude of the heart. Yet where do we as believers get gummed-up so much of the time in church life? In the areas of doctrine and attitude! When we think someone’s doctrine is off, if we don’t catch ourselves first, we’re liable to push Jesus off His seat at God’s right hand and pronounce judgment on the offender ourselves!

However, as you endeavor to be accurate both doctrinally and spiritually, the Father also holds you accountable to pursue and excel in love as well (see 1 Corinthians 14:1 and 1 Thessalonians 4:10). You are called to walk in both accuracy of discernment and a high level of love, but this takes a lifetime of practice.

Conflicts will  arise between Christians over doctrine. You will observe from time to time that someone is not behaving according to Scripture. You may even recognize that different ministers of the gospel are over-balanced in one direction or the other. Do you address any of it? Should you remain silent? What if someone else wants to discuss it with you? How do you guard your discernment and desire for accuracy without violating the law of love?

This is where the joy of the Lord comes in. It is your strength. Conflicts like these can weigh you down and wear you out over time if you don’t hold tightly to your joy. As you navigate through what can feel like shark-infested waters, you are not alone; Jesus is by your side. You have every right in the midst of conflict to praise Him; you have permission in the storms of strife to think on His goodness and rejoice, and you have the privilege when all hell breaks loose to ask Him to intervene in the situation and show you what to do. It is His good pleasure–His joy and delight–to come on the scene of your conflict when you ask Him to.

The Lord may lead you to confront someone about their error; the Lord may direct you to keep quiet. He may even correct you on the issue! But know this: the Lord is for you and not against you. As you seek Him in your pursuit of both doctrinal purity and love, He will instruct and teach you in the way which you should go; He will counsel you with His eye upon you (see Psalm 32:8).

And through it all, remember this: the joy of the Lord will always be your strength.

Dorothy

The power of joy

Posted by Admin on Jul 23, 2013 in Everyday Observations, July 2013 | Comments Off on The power of joy

One of the most unsung pieces of artillery in the war chest bequeathed to us by God is joy and good humor. As a melancholic personality-type (someone with a natural tendency to view the glass as half-empty and then to agonize over it long after the glass has been washed and put away), the good humor of joy has pulled me out of quite a few downward spirals. Does it sound odd to you that a melancholic-type can use joy as a weapon of warfare? It works—that’s why I use it!

As with every good thing we receive from God, Satan has devised a clever counterfeit for true humor and joy. Although I’m not addressing joy’s counterfeit here, suffice it to say that no one—including the devil—counterfeits worthless items. It is obvious, then that joy and good humor are very valuable when used in the right way.

A much-quoted Scripture declares at the end of Nehemiah 8:10, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.”

How does this joy—and its sidekick, good humor—work to strengthen you? Well, first of all, let me state something very clearly. I’m not referring to pretend “smiley-ness” and “praise the Lord-iness” that we can sometimes hide behind (I’ve been guilty, too) to make others think we’ve got it all together. No. The joy of the Lord which releases the strength of God is confrontational joy and humor—not exercised to impress others—but exerted in confrontation against the enemy—and against your own negativity, pain, or depression.

When you confront the devil with the joy of the Lord, he cannot stand against the strength that God imparts through it. Joy released during times of stress, pain, torment, or any other negative mindset or emotion empowers you to resist the devil, forcing him to flee from you.

However, sometimes an even more formidable foe stands between you and the attainment of God’s promises—you. How can you operate in joy when your mind or emotions scream in agony against the universe–or your neighbor–or your boss–or your body, racked with pain? It is at times like these when joy–and more simply, humor–can be among your most valuable assets.

When I catch myself becoming uptight and taking myself too seriously, I’ve learned that the quickest path out the inevitable downward spiral is through exercising the joy of the Lord and good humor. At first I have to force myself to participate in the process, but when I do, true joy always takes over and I am strengthened and refreshed. Remember—this is confrontational joy, and the target of this confrontation is yourself.

I have exercised this confrontational form of joy against my own negativity more times than I can count. Allow me to embarrass myself as I share some examples.

• During times of emotional overload in my twenties, I accidentally discovered that if I forced myself to look in the mirror when I was crying, I would end up laughing—especially if I made faces at myself. And as I laughed at myself in the mirror, I got tickled by the absurdity of it all, and stress and pain seemed to fade away. Then trust in God would return to me along with real joy. I challenge you to try this technique if you feel yourself sinking into self-pity. It has worked for me.

• Driving home after one of those days as an eighth-grade teacher when no one would listen and the paperwork piled as high as Mount Rushmore, the Spirit of God prompted me to smile. I did so, then stopped, and resumed complaining to Him. No, He urged; keep smiling—all the way home. I felt like an idiot with a big fake grin plastered on my face for the next few minutes. But it wasn’t long until the power of those smile muscles started oozing sunshine down into my grumpy soul, and by the time I reached my driveway, I was rejoicing. Again, I have exercised this technique often since then. It is extremely powerful when used against frustration, stress, or an overall negative attitude; and I guarantee that if you stick with it, you’ll end up smiling for real.

• At times in bed when pain attacked my body and I couldn’t sleep, I realized that surely I must have stirred up a hornet’s nest somehow by my life or prayers, and that the physical symptoms were a clue to me that my enemy was not pleased. And I laughed. And laughed. And laughed. As I laughed big, hearty, belly laughs there in bed, pain-induced anxiety lifted and symptoms subsided. I laughed big laughs one night not too long ago at pain immobilizing one of my hands—and that pain simply drained out and vanished, and I fell asleep, a happy camper.

The joy of the Lord is your strength. As counter-intuitive as it may feel—especially to a melancholic personality-type—confronting yourself with joy and good humor when in the pit of despair, self-pity, or pain is exactly what the Great Physician ordered. And as you allow yourself to participate in confrontational joy, you will find the negativity fade away, and in its place will be the strength that can only come when you exercise the joy of the Lord.

May you be strengthened as you confront negativity with joy!

Dorothy

What’s in your coffee?

Posted by Admin on Jul 22, 2013 in Everyday Observations, July 2013 | Comments Off on What’s in your coffee?

Yesterday morning I enjoyed a cup of coffee as I prayed in my prayer room. I usually share this room and my morning prayer time with one of my cats who is on a special diet. Although he’s humungous, he’s the youngest and my smaller male pulls rank every time and barges right in, gobbling down that inticingly forbidden special food. To avoid that, my prayer room doubles as a private feline cafe.

As I was finishing my time with the Lord, I drained the last gulp or two from my coffee mug. Something with the texture of a crumbled dunked cookie flowed into my mouth with the last slurp. That’s odd, I thought; I didn’t dunk anything.

I spit out the remaining liquid and crumbly stuff into a napkin over the sink. And there, right before my eyes, were small chunks of cat food. Yikes! And contrary to the label, it did not taste like chicken.

As I spit and rinsed, spit and rinsed, and spit and rinsed again, I wondered how it happened to find its way into my coffee. Earlier in the morning, I had dished out the chow for my cats while simultaneously making my coffee. Evidently, something went terribly wrong in the preparation.

And two thoughts came to me.

1.  In our own lives as we go about our daily routines, things can get misdirected, lines might get crossed by accident, and we end up with less than pure intake. In fact, at times we eat “cat food” in life without even knowing it. Things may not seem quite right with what you’re hearing; the input from others may seem funny to the taste, but on you roll at the speed of light without giving it a second thought.

This is why it’s so important for you, in your busy life, to test all of your intake with the Spirit of God and His Word. If something doesn’t “taste”, “smell” or “feel” right to you, lift up a quick prayer and ask God to sort it out for you. Then later, if the Lord hasn’t brought clarity to you yet, spend some more time in prayer and look into the Word to find out what God says about it.

A man of God I highly respect used to say that when we listen to sermons or read Christian literature, we were to “have as much sense as an old cow; eat the hay and spit out the stubble.” I would add, this pertains to everyday life as well.

There’s a lot of cat food out there and there’s a lot of stubble. That’s why you need to be spiritually alert. Know what you’re hearing; know what you’re receiving as “the way it is”.

2.  You will survive with cat food in your stomach; you will survive some stubble. You just won’t receive the pure nutrients of the Word of God by consuming these things, and therefore, you’re not going to be nearly as strong as you could be in your walk with God.

If you go to church and find that you’ve been fed some stubble with your hay, just spit it out; don’t blast the messenger as a false teacher. Does Flossie the cow start an email campaign alerting the other cattle that Farmer Smith is a false farmer because she found some stubble in her hay last week? No, she eats her hay and spits out the stubble.

There’s a difference between stubble and poison. There’s a difference between cat food accidentally dropped in a cup of coffee and the intentional twisting of doctrine. You’re not only responsible to train your senses to discern between true food and stubble or cat food; but you also need to train your senses to discern between stubble and poison, cat food and toxins. The differences may seem subtle to you, but to God the differences are huge—as different as human misunderstanding versus the purposeful twisting of truth.

You are accountable every day you mature in Christ to develop discernment and to walk in it. When you are presented with stubble in your hay–or cat food in your coffee–spit it out! However, if you are fed a constant diet of stubble or cat food, you may want to find another place to dine.

On the other hand, don’t make the mistake of labeling those who have served some stubble or cat food in their messages as false prophets or teachers, or as those who preach “another Jesus”. Maybe they just had a bad week or a rough year. If you spend some time praying for them in love, you just might be blessed to learn how powerfully on-target they can preach.

It is my conviction that, as Christians, we need to refrain from labeling ministers and other believers in a knee-jerk reaction. Yes, we are to discern what we hear, but not everything that contains some stubble or bits of cat food is heresy; and not everyone out there who is labeled as false is, indeed, false.

And if you drop by my house for coffee, I’ll do my best to give you the straight stuff, cat food-free.

Dorothy