Chapter Two: My Worship Awakening

This week at Abide we discussed Chapter Two of our book study.  Here are my notes summarizing this chapter:

My Worship Awakening

(Chapter Two)

All the earth will worship You,

And will sing praises to You;

They will sing praises to Your name

Psalm 66:4

Linda began Chapter Two referring to the clip that we just watched from The Miracle Worker and likened her own personal worship awakening to the physical and sensory awakening Helen Keller experienced in relation to her understanding the concept of water.  Just as Helen was overwhelmed with the knowledge she finally received, Linda longed to be awakened and overwhelmed with God.  In this chapter Linda shares with us how she grew in ”awe, astonished wonder and adoration of God” and how we can as well.

Growing in Awe

Scripture, for Linda, was the key to a deeper understanding of God’s holiness.  She shared two passages that significantly opened her eyes to God in a fresh new way.  The first passage was 1 Chronicles 29:11-14.

In these verses, David acknowledged that everything belongs to God – greatness, power, majesty and splendor.  Everything David possessed (and everything we possess) is a gift from God.  This is cause for worship – don’t you think?  Read verse 13 again.  We thank and praise Your glorious name… for everything – our homes, food, family members, friends, our gifts, talents and abilities… and even the storms we face in life too.  They’re all a gift from God and our worship is one way we can give back to God what He’s lavishly given to us.

The second passage Linda referred to is a well known passage in Isaiah 6:1-8:

In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple.  Above him were seraphs, each with six wings:  With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying.  And they were calling to one another: 

"Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD Almighty;

the whole earth is full of his glory."

  At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke.  “Woe to me!” I cried. “I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”  Then one of the seraphs flew to me with a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with tongs from the altar. ⁷ With it he touched my mouth and said, “See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for.”  Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?”    And I said, “Here am I. Send me!”

Oh what a vision God gave to Isaiah.  Seraphim hovering over God’s throne calling out “Holy, Holy, Holy” to one another while God’s radiant presence filled the Temple.  Like Isaiah, I’d be undone too.  Wouldn’t you?

I can remember one time during sacred assembly years ago having a tiny glimpse of a vision like Isaiah.  It was overwhelming to see with my spiritual eyes His glory and the only thing I could think to do was kneel at the altar and give Him all of me at that moment.  Nothing else existed or mattered in that moment in His presence.  All I could do was just kneel before Him in awe.

Linda calls this type of moment “spirit to Spirit communication” – where our spirits flow to His and His Spirit flows back to ours.

When we experience God on this level, like Isaiah we are compelled to fall to our knees and we’re forced to look at our lack of holiness as Isaiah did in vs5 where he says, “Woe to me.  I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.”

Linda states that “Looking inward, Isaiah was overcome by his own sinfulness.  Graciously God cleansed Isaiah’s heart and then he was able to look outward and respond to God’s call to “go”.  Isaiah was changed in God’s presence”.

What do we do when we encounter God’s holiness?  Do we look inward and see the filth of our own lives up against the purity of God’s holiness?  Do we allow God’s cleansing to change us so we can look outward and go in obedience to where God is calling us?

Our response to seeing God’s holiness should be, deep respect and reverence.  Linda shares that “the Hebrew word for worship shachah means to fall prostrate or bow down.  When we worship, we are literally prostrating ourselves before God – submitting our intellect, future, and pride to God.”

Watchman Nee gives an interesting statement on worship:  “In worship I acknowledge my limitations.  In worship I also acknowledge that God has no limitations.  I bow before Him.  He is beyond me in everything.”.  That really captures Isaiah’s response in Isaiah 6, doesn’t it?

Linda suggests that our posture in prayer and worship is important.  She writes, “When I bow, I submit my sense of superiority, because to worship is to acknowledge an inferior before a superior”.  So whether you sit, stand, bow, kneel, fall prostrate or lift your hands in praise to the Holy One, it’s the attitude of the heart in worship that God cares about most.

Growing in Astonished Wonder

Linda’s worship was also awakened as she grew in astonished wonder.

A.W. Tozer writes “It is always true that an encounter with God brings wonderment and awe”.

If you worked through your homework this week you’ll understand this quote more so after going for a nature walk with God this week.  Did you see God in wonder this week as you watched the leaves blowing in the wind?  How about listening to the sweet serenade of the songbirds?   In Psalm 19:1-4 David wrote about the wonders of God.

God’s creation shouts out praise to the Creator.  There is no language barrier between God and nature.  All creation was a symphony to David, singing God’s praise.

When you look up to the heavens, do you see the glory of God?  Do you experience wonder at the intricate beauty of nature?  If you’re missing out, then pray and ask the Holy Spirit to pour wonder into your heart… and wait to be amazed.

Sometimes we can feel frustrated because we wonder why we aren’t feeling anything in our worship times with God.  Linda suggests that our “spiritual senses aren’t tuned to God’s presence”.  As our bodies have senses, so do our spirits.  It is by those spiritual senses that we are “made conscious of the presence of Christ”.  Linda believes “we can’t see God with our physical eyes, touch Him with our physical hands, or hear Him with our physical ears, but the sense of our spirits can see and touch and hear Him”.  Have your spiritual senses been tuned into the Spirit’s lately?

Growing in Adoration

Lastly, Linda found that her worship was awakened as she grew in adoration of God.  She asks, “Did you know that worship originates in God’s great love for us?  Our Abba (which means Daddy) loves you and me with abandoned delight … did you hear that… ABANDONED DELIGHT… and He longs for you and me to be abandoned in our love for Him.”

Linda states that “the Holy Spirit is profoundly committed to restoring the first commandment to first place in our lives.  He longs that we grow in adoration of the Holy One.”  

A.P. Gibbs’ words pierced Linda’s heart and should pierce ours as well.  He writes, “In prayer we are occupied with our needs, in thanksgiving we are occupied with our blessings, but in worship we are totally occupied with God Himself.”  Totally occupied with God.  Wow!

In Psalm 63:1 Davide writes, “My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you”.  That’s adoration.  So Linda asks us… Do you adore God?

Tozer writes about adoring God:

When we adore God, all of the beautiful ingredients of worship are brought to white, incandescent heat with the fire of the Holy Spirit.  We love Him with fear and wonder and yearning and awe.  When we adore Him, worship becomes a completely personal love exchange between God and worshipper!

Linda now reserves the words “adore” and “awesome” for God alone.  She shares with us her favourite quote about worship:

Ultimate worship takes place when we, like children, find ourselves climbing into the lap of our heavenly Father with the desire just to be with Him.  At that moment there is no agenda other than to sit in His presence, to love Him, to whisper in His ear our gratitude, to feel His face, to hear His heart, to rest in His embrace, to enjoy the moment, and to understand more fully the God who yearns to enjoy us.

Linda suggests that “worship is our love responding to God’s love… and the beautiful thing is God comes to us when we worship.”

Read Psalm 22:3.  Linda’s Bible translates this verse as “God is enthroned in the praises of His people” while another English translation says, “God inhabits the praises of His People”.  The Japanese Bible says it this way – “When we worship, we build a big chair for God to sit in.”.  When I read that translation I got a picture of a proud Papa, sitting in the center of the room on a chair, with His children joyfully singing songs and dancing around Him… and He loved it!

So practically speaking, Linda closed this chapter with something she called the ABC’s of Worship.  Did any of you try it in your homework this week? If not, I’ll quickly explain. Linda suggested that in our times of worship we begin with the letter A (example My God is AWESOME) and then declare other attributes of God using the same letter and then work our way throughout the whole alphabet using each letter to declare praises to God.  It’s a little daunting at first to say the least but a good practice in focusing our worship time on God’s character and attributes.  The more you do it, the easier it is to find the words to praise His Mighty Name!

May God awaken our hearts in worship to His Holy Name.  Let’s pray together Linda’s prayer at the end of chapter 2:

Holy One, draw us to you.  Let us see you high and lifted up in all your glory.  Give us astonished wonder over your creative creation.  Teach us the great joy and privilege of bowing our knees in worship and declaring “You O God, are worthy”.  We pray this is your Holy, Holy, Holy name.  Amen.

Next week we'll find out how to clear the clutter in our minds and lives so we can experience more of God's presence in our lives.

Chapter One: My Thirsty Soul

This week at Abide we dove into Chapter One of our book study.  It was a great evening (Abide PM) and morning (Abide AM) of discussing what God was teaching us about worshiping Him and praying together.  Here are my notes, summarizing Chapter One:  My Thirsty Soul:

My Thirsty Soul

(Chapter One)

O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; 

My soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you,

in a dry and weary land where there is no water

Psalm 63:1

The dictionary defines “thirst” as “strong or eager desire; craving (as in craving knowledge).  This is the kind of thirst David speaks of in Psalm 63.

In the first few paragraphs of chapter one, Linda Dillow recounts the wedding celebration of her son and daughter-in-law.  She details how they were oblivious to their guests as they drank in one another at the altar, uniting together as one.  Linda then asks us a very pointed question: Don’t our hearts clamor for deep soul satisfaction, for a oneness that quenches our thirst for closeness and satisfies our empty places?

As women, I think that we all could say that we long for what Linda calls “face-to-face” intimacy.  We seek it in relationships with the opposite sex in marriage and with other women.  We quickly find though that amidst those relationships we often times still come up empty.  What our souls are really searching for is that kind of intimacy with God, yet even in our relationship with Him intimacy is still elusive and instead of knowing God we settle for serving Him.

In Matthew 22:37-39 God’s word clearly states that our first and most important aim is to love Him and then secondly, to love others.    Too often we reverse these commandments, don’t we?  Linda suggests that “all of us need to be lovers who work, rather than workers who love.”   When we mix these up the results are usually spiritual and physical exhaustion.

In your walk with God do you find yourself thirsty for more of Him?   Do you long for a personal encounter with Him?  Do you yearn for joy unspeakable?  Do you desire for face-to-face intimacy with God?  I do!  Linda believes that we can never experience face-to-face intimacy with God until we put Him first and service second.

God desires intimacy with us.  Scripture tells us this.
Jeremiah 31:3 (God loves us with an everlasting love.  He loved us first)
2 Corinthians 11:2 (He calls Himself the Bridegroom and He calls us the bride and He is a jealous Bridegroom)
Isaiah 57:7 (God calls idolatry “adultery”).

The Lord desires that we be as close to Him spiritually as a husband and wife are physically.  He chose the closest, most intimate act on earth to portray the holy beauty of spiritual intimacy with Him.  And this face-to-face intimacy with Him is a choice.

Linda gave a great illustration in this chapter defining the four levels of intimacy.  I’ve put them here on the board for us to see as Linda described the levels of intimacy the Israelites had with God.

 

The general Israelite population represents the outer circle – this is the largest group and the furthest from God.  These people could see God’s visible presence on Mt. Sinai, but they were forbidden to come near Him.

The priests and elders represent the second circle of intimacy.  They must have felt the presence of God and they experienced more than the outer circle folks, but even seeing God didn’t really change their lives.  Not long after they experienced God, they were back to worshipping the golden calf.

Moses and Joshua represent the third circle, closer still to God.  Joshua often lingered in God’s presence and he longed to be where God manifested Himself.

Moses alone represents the inner circle: that face-to-face intimacy.  Moses was a friend of God.  They communed together alone on Mt. Sinai.

These same levels of intimacy can be found in the New Testament between Jesus and His disciples.  The outer circle represents the 70 men Jesus chose and sent out two-by-two.  His 12 disciples were his inner group (second circle)  Peter, James and John represent the 3rd circle as they shared greater intimacy with Jesus.  And one disciple (John), refered to himself as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (inner circle).

Linda challenged us in this chapter when she stated, “Intimacy is a choice.  We either do the work required to keep the fire alive, or we don’t”.  This statement is true in marriage and it’s true in our relationship with God.

In order to make this important choice we, like David, need to passionately pursue “one thing”.  Psalm 27:4

Author Sam Storms observes in his book “Pleasures Evermore” that “is not only beholding the beauty of the Lord indescribably enjoyable, it is profoundly transforming.”.

Linda concurs with his statement and writes, “As we behold Christ, we are changed.  Transformed.  As we meditate on the beauty and character of Christ, some of His goodness rubs off on us.”.

Have you ever found that to be true in your human relationships: That the more closely you know someone, the more you become like them?  What about in your relationship with God: As you meditate on Him and His word, do you see His goodness rubbing off on you?

As Mary of Bethany sat at Jesus’ feet while Martha bustled around in the kitchen growing more agitated, Jesus reminded Martha that only one thing was necessary: choosing face-to-face intimacy with Him.

So the question is … How do we become like Moses, John, David and Mary?  What is the path to face-to-face intimacy with Jesus?

Linda shared that her path came through God’s Word and the example of her friend.  She stated that “Those who know the Lord intimately, often make us painfully hungry for a deeper experience of Christ.”  Have you ever felt that way?  I know I have every time I watch Beth Moore speak!  I wanna love Jesus like Beth!

Psalm 89:15 tells us that through the act of worship, God can become a reality to us.

I read earlier, from Psalm 63:1 that worship can satisfy our thirsty souls.
Psalm 16:11 tells us that soul satisfaction comes from knowing God’s presence.

Linda concluded from these Scriptures and the testimony of others that “Worship is the path to experiencing the presence of God, the way to face-to-face intimacy”.

So, what is worship?  Linda believes it’s a “multifaceted diamond”.  She believes it isn’t a specific act, but also a lifestyle.  It is the act of bowing our knees and declaring “holy, holy, holy” and bowing our lives and living “holy, holy, holy”.  Plainly stated, she says, “Worship begins in holy expectancy and ends in holy obedience”.  It is the lifestyle of a grateful heart.

The benefits of bowing our knees and lives: our service flows from a different place ~ from a heart saturated with worship.  Our prayers flow more naturally out of our worship as well.  And our obedience is elevated through a heart of worship.

So again, Linda asks,  “Are you thirsty?”  As we become worshippers, our lives will change, we’ll know God’s presence anew and we’ll experience face-to-face intimacy with our Heavenly Father.

Psalm 95:6 encourages us to “Come let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord Our Maker for He is our God.”

In Chapter 2 we’re going to experience a worship awakening!  I can hardly wait.

Are You Thirsty?

This is the question posed to the women of Chartwell Baptist Church ~ Clarkson Village this September as we set out to launch our new Fall Abide season and study.  This year we chose Linda Dillow's book, "Satisfy My Thirsty Soul:  For I am Desperate for Your Presence".

For those unable to join us at Abide, or perhaps you've had to miss a week, I'll post the weekly overview of the chapter shared at Abide AM and PM.  Here's our introduction to the study from September 15:


Satisfy My Thirsty Soul:
For I am Desperate for Your Presence

INTRODUCTION TO STUDY:

Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord.  They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation.  They exult in your righteousness.  You are their glorious strength.  It pleases you to make us strong.

Psalm 89:15-17 NLT

Wonderful promises spill forth from Psalm 89.  The verses declare that those who worship will walk in the light of God’s presence.  They will be filled with rejoicing over who God is all day long.  They will delight in God’s attributes and the Lord God will become their strength – not just ordinary strength but glorious strength, because the Holy One delights to make His worshippers strong!

That’s the introduction Linda Dillow gives of this study in the companion journal “My Worship Journey”.  Ladies, we are about to embark on a magnificent journey to plunge deeper into the well of Living Water Jesus promised in John 4 when speaking with the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well.

For the past year in Abide, Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer and Beth Moore have been encouraging us to go “Deeper Still” with God.  This summer, the Abide team met and prayed about where to go this Fall.  We felt God asking us to “go deeper still” and the “words” we felt God speaking to us that day were, “Abide” and “Thirst”.  In searching for how to implement these words into a study, we continued to seek God and decided to break from the fantastic DVD studies we’ve done for the past few years, and dig deeper into God’s word on our own, using this book by Linda Dillow.

In her book, “Satisfy My Thirsty Soul: For I am desperate for Your presence”, Linda divides this experience into two major categories:

Part One:  Waking up to Worship
and
Part Two:  Walking in Worship

In the first four weeks of our study we’ll cover Part 1:  Waking up to Worship.   Linda defines our thirsty souls as a clamor for deep soul satisfaction, a oneness that satisfies our empty places.  This thirst can only be quenched by deep intimacy with our Lord.  But to do this, we must make the choice to seek Him first and that is done through face-to-face time spent with Him in worship.  She defines worship through 3 major components:  digging into His Word, prayer and music.  She gives practical exercises in worship that some of us may have never heard of or thought of before.  Linda teaches us how to awaken our awareness of the Holy Spirit within us, leading us to deeper worship and experiencing God’s fullness in our lives.  We will grow in astonishment of God’s character and we will learn to sit and abide in the stillness of His presence.   We will learn to seek God’s refuge from the external and internal clatter and clutter within our lives and souls.  We will be freed through the power of the Holy Spirit to utilize our entire body, soul, spirit and minds in worship.

After this first section we’ll take a week to put into practice what we’ve been learning through a special worship morning.

Then the following weeks we’ll head into Part 2:  Walking in Worship where we will learn to live out a life of worship.  We will learn to bow our lives in surrender and obedience to God.  We will learn to bow our words turning them into blessings to God and to others.  We’ll learn to bow our attitudes from whining to worship, from grumbling to gratitude.  And we’ll learn to bow our work to the Lord, whether we’re at home or in the outside workplace.

Linda’s writing is an “easy read” so I’m sure you’ll enjoy her style filled with examples and personal stories from her own worship experiences with God, as well as from friends and others.  She implements some really practical ways to enrich our personal worship and quiet times with God.   It is a 12-week study, but we are just going to cover the first 8 chapters of the book this Fall and then in January, we’ll start off the new year completing the last 4 chapters.

Each week in preparation for the following Wednesday/Thursday, you’ll want to read the chapter in the book (she recommends twice but if you only have time for one read-through that’s great).    The evening/morning of Abide, either I (or one of you if you’d like) will summarize the chapter we’re on.  This will allow those who weren’t able to read the chapter to still participate and “catch up” on the chapter.

When we break up into small groups each week, you’ll have time to discuss a couple of the questions in the study as well as share what God’s been teaching you and pray together

The study guide questions are at the back of your books.  They may seem overwhelming but try and do as many as you can or have time for.   You will get out of this study what you put into it and I have read up to chapter 8 so far and believe me, you don’t want to miss a single opportunity to get the most out of this study!

With the purchase of your book, you also received a journal.  This is yours to journal along the journey into God’s presence.  Use it to put your study answers, or to journal what God’s been speaking to you about in the book.  Write your prayers to Him in it.  Let God lead in how you use your journal.  I’ve copied a page from Linda’s companion journal, My Worship Journal, that you can purchase separately (I got mine at christianbooks.com) where Linda shares some journaling tips.  You may find these helpful.

I have to be honest with you, this is going to be a stretching experience for some of us.  I know because I have struggled with this area of my spiritual life for a long time.  Some people are more natural worshippers.  Others, our minds wander easily or we lose focus on the One who we’re to worship.  My prayer is that we, as women and daughters of the King, will have the courage to go deep with Jesus, allowing Him to change us like never before.  May we fall deeper and deeper in love with Him in the coming weeks and months and may He receive ALL the glory!

I want to close with a passage from Sarah Young’s fabulous devotional, “Jesus Calling” from September 14:

WORSHIP ME by living close to Me.  This was My original design for man, into whom I breathed my very breath of Life.  This is my desire for you:  that you stay near Me as you walk along your life-path.  Each day is an important part of that journey.  Although you may feel as if you are going nowhere in this world, your spiritual journey is another matter altogether, taking you along steep, treacherous paths of adventure.  That is why walking in the Light of my Presence is essential to keep you from stumbling.  By staying close to Me, you present yourself as a living sacrifice.  Even the most routine part of your day can be a spiritual act of  worship, holy and pleasing to Me.

Baby Shower Invitation for ALL Ladies of Chartwell Clarkson Village

Julie Evans and Emily Eager are hosting a Baby Shower for Kaitlin Schulz (husband Tim) on Monday, February 7  at the church starting at 7:00 PM.  They are expecting their first child, a son, at the end of February.

Kaitlin and Tim are a young couple who have been attending Chartwell ~ Clarkson Village for about 3 years.  They have become good friends of Julie and Nat, Emily and Brad over this time.  Many of us haven't had the chance of knowing Kaitlin and Tim, but Kaitlin has been involved in the ZOOM program, teaching the Gr 4s and 5s, so many of the children and their parents have met her.

It is Julie and Emily's hope that Kaitlin can feel the blessings of love, friendship and community from our church family by the showering of this young couple with gifts in preparation for their new journey of parenthood.

Julie is asking women to RSVP (with their contributions if wanting to participate in the group gift) no later than THIS Sunday, January 30th.  Kaitlin and Tim are registered at Babies 'R Us as well.  Group contributions can be left in a marked envelope in the church office, handed to Julie or Emily at church as well.

If you would like to help with the food, please contact Julie or Emily. Their phone numbers are in the church directory!

Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed: Session Six ~ God is Gracious

Kay started off Session 6 with a little review.

1.  "Sin will take you further than you ever expected to go; it will keep you longer than you ever intended to stay, and it will cost you more than you ever expected to pay."  Kay reminded us that according to Numbers 32:23, "your sin will find you out".  I loved this quote from Kay:  "God is so holy that He doesn't try to protect His reputation by covering our sins".  In other words... because God is Holy and cannot look on sin or endure it, He will allow the consequences of our sins to play out... even if it makes Him "look" unjust, mean, or unkind.

King David's sin with Bathsheba had huge consequences.  In 2 Sam 12:10-14, Nathan the prophet reveals to David just what his sin will cost him (which as we've learned is more than he expected to pay).  He was told that the sword would never depart from his house (vs 10); rebellion would come within his household in public view (vs 11); this would happen in broad daylight (vs 12); David understands the severity of his sin yet Nathan assures him God has forgiven him (vs 13); but Bathsheba's child will die (vs 14).   As you continue to read David's story in the subsequent chapters, you will find that all of these consequences came to be.

Yet, despite the devastating consequences, David at this crossroads, where he could have been tempted to turn his back on God, he chose to go "deeper still" into the grace of God by confessing his sin (vs 13). 1 John 5 tells us "there is a sin unto death".  Kay told us that when we mess up in sin that we can give up or we can embrace God's grace and move forward to be used of God.  He won't remove the consequences, but He can make something of our past sins.  It is through this type of awakening and realization of his actions, and his acceptance of God's grace, that King David wrote Psalm 51, one of our most beloved Psalms.

2.  What is grace?

Kay told us that grace is what saves us through faith, but it doesn't end at salvation.

3.  Grace is favor (benefit, kindness)

Charis is the Greek word - it means free, unearned, in contrast to something you would earn or something you would work for.  How freeing to know we don't have to earn God's grace.  He freely gives it to us!

4.  Grace is available because God is gracious

This is part of His nature.  It's Who He is!  Grace and Truth come through Jesus Christ.  Psalm 84:11 tells us that God has always been gracious.  So when we find ourselves in sin, are we going to go into depression, anxiety, self-pity or are we going to tap into God's grace?

1 John 1:9 tells us what we can do with our sins.  It assures us that God is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness.  Kay told us He bathes us... scrubs us clean.  She said, "you mention everything you know (sins) and He covers what you don't because He knows your heart".  She went on to ask us, "Are you moaning/groaning about past sins?  (that is a sin!).  If God has forgiven us, that is enough.  We don't have to "forgive" ourselves".

5.  Grace is power (2 Cor 12:7-10)

God's grace is powered through the Holy Spirit and He gives us the power not to sin.  He gives us the power to take us through anything and everything.  His power is perfected in our weakness, Paul tells us in 2 Cor 12:9.  His grace will get us through any situation and God won't give us anything we can't handle.

6.  Grace is previous. (Eph 1:3)

Kay explained this point by saying, "If we stop groaning about our past, He'll use it to help others not want to go where we've been."  God is our Redeemer!  That's why Kay shares her testimony, sins and all.  In Eph 1:3, God knew we were going to sin before the foundations of the world and He planned our redemption right from the start.  He is going to redeem our sin!  We can't change the past.  We can spend our lives long for what could have, might have, should have been, but we can't move forward in that.  We need to "forget what's behind and press forward" (Phil 3:13)

In King David's life you can see how God's grace is previous clearly. In 2 Sam 7, David was promised by God a "house/dynasty".  He was told that his anointed son would build the temple.  This was told to him previous to his sin with Bathsheba.  The son God was calling to this task of building the temple was Solomon, a son given to David and Bathsheba after their sin, after that first child was dead and buried.  That, my friends, is grace!  Because of David's sin, he himself was not able to build God's temple due to the bloodshed at his hand, yet God allowed David to plan the temple details and allowed his son, Solomon to be the one to build God's home.  Grace indeed.

God wants you and I, no matter our past sins, to be His instruments of sharing His truth and to act in His image.  We have been bought with a price.  I Cor 15:10 tells us that by grace "I am what I am".

Joy truly does come in the morning, if we will believe God and if we will appropriate and walk in His grace.  Will you do so today?

Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed: Session Five ~ Sin is Deadly

I'm very late in getting these last two sessions up on our blog but that in no way suggests that they weren't important to our study or to our lives.

In Session 5 Kay Arthur was our teacher and she started her time with us by asking a few very pointed questions before leading on us in our study on the life of David.  She asked, "Does your spiritual walk lack a zeal?  Are you weary?  Is your guard down?  Are you tempted to indulge the flesh?  Overwhelmed?  Disappointed?"  She then went on to share her burden for North America.  She so strongly feels that we have sunk into a pit that we've made with our own hands.  The North American church is at a crossroads.

King David in 2 Samuel 11 was at a crossroads.  As Kay read the story of David and Bathsheba each and every step of the way David made a decision that would ultimately snowball him into one huge regret after another.  Each step took him farther and farther into sin.  Kay told us that at these "crossroads, every single step there is an opportunity to stop and make a choice - do we choose sin or do we choose to go 'Deeper Still' with God?"  We can choose at that crossroads to go God's way or our own.

Kay lead us to 4 passages defining what sin is.  (Be sure to look these passages up for yourself!)

1.  James 4:17 ~ Sin is to know the right thing and no do it.

2.  1 John 3:4 ~ Sin is lawlessness.  It means that you are not going to keep the law of God.

3.  1 John 5:17 ~ All unrighteousness is sin.  To not do what is right in the eyes of God is sin.

4.  Romans 14:23 ~ Whatever is not of faith is sin.

I think after No. 4 we can ask ourselves, what is faith?  The book of Hebrews (chapter 11 specifically) tells us that (and we'll be studying the book of Hebrews with Kay in our first 2 sessions of our Winter/Spring semester starting late January).  We can also ask ourselves, what can we put in this category of "whatever is not faith"?  In my small group our minds first thought of doubt and worry as fitting into this category.  Can you think of any others?

Kay shared with us 5 things about sin taken from David's life in 2 Samuel 11 and 12 and 1 Chronicles 11:41.

1.  Sin will take you further than you ever intended to go.

At each of David's "crossroads" of decision, he sunk further and further into a pit he made of his own hands.  He should have been at war, not wandering around his roof that day.  He should have turned away when he saw Bathsheba bathing on her roof, not asking for information about her.  He should have run to God in his moment of temptation, not summoning Bathsheba to his palace... and bed.  He should have dealt with her pregnancy honorably, not trying to trick Uriah into going home so it would seem the baby Bathsheba was carrying was her husbands.  On and on poor decisions were made by David until he goes from being an adulterer to a murderer.

It's easy enough for us to get caught up in a similar trap though our descent doesn't end in murder like David's.  We begin to read or watch things we shouldn't.  We begin to feel things we shouldn't.  Next thing you know we are so far down a path that we don't know where we are or how we got here but there usually is a path of destruction left behind us.    Oh yes, sin will take us further than we ever intended to go!

2.  When you sin, you are despising God (2 Sam 12:9)

When we choose to willfully despise the Word of God and God Himself we can be sure trouble is up ahead.  Kay asked us a rather convicting question at this point.  She asked us, "Do you have time for other things (reading novels, t.v. etc), but not time for studying the Word of God?"  Ouch!

3.  Sin is evil (2 Sam 12:9)

David thought that he had every base covered along the way but we can't cover our sins from God... and we certainly can't expect God to bless us in the midst of blatant, sin.  David's actions were evil in the sight of God.  God sees it all.  Nothing is hidden from God's sight... right back to the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve tried to hide their sin from God... right up to today.

God sent the prophet Nathan to confront David on his sin.  Nathan told the king a story about a rich man stealing a poor man's beloved sheep and then killing it.  David was furious at the outcome and told Nathan that any man who could do such a thing deserves to die.  Nathan revealed to David that he, the king himself, was that man.  David found himself at yet another crossroads at this moment, didn't he?  Does he take this revelation and humble himself, or does he deny it and sink deeper into the pit?

We are always confronted with that same dilemma when confronted with sin.  What are we going to do?

4.  The temptation to sin is not more than you can bear (1 Cor 10:13)

Kay defined temptation to us as trials, testing, knowing to do good and not doing it.  She reminded us that God is Holy.  He is faithful and promises to not tempt us beyond what we can bear.  Temptation is not unique.  That verse in 1 Corinthians calls it "common to man".  God promises us there is a way of escape from our temptations.  He will enable us to endure it ("it" being the temptation).  Kay encouraged us that the way of escape is by walking in the Spirit (Gal 5:16), not by the flesh.  The way we do that is to tap into the Word of God, clinging to His promises!  Can you think of times where you saw this verse come to life in your own life?

5.  Sin costs you more than you expected to pay. (Num 32:23)

David thought he had covered his sins, but that verse in Numbers tells us that "be sure your sin will find you out".  The cost of his sin was the life of that baby Bathsheba conceived. It also cost him in more ways as God, through Nathan revealed the consequences of his sin, which Kay covered in Session 6.

Kay left us with a really thought provoking question.  She asked, "What do we miss from God at the crossroads of life, when we walk away and start doing our own thing?"  Our sin really does cost us more than we expected to pay and it is in those things that we'll never fully know or understand, those blessings from God we miss when we walk away in rebellion that are lost.

Where do we go from here?  Ahh... that's the Great News of Jesus Christ.  In Session 6 Kay shares with us about God's grace.  He doesn't leave us in that pit of our own making.  Let's see how God redeems King David so we understand more of how this "sinner" could be called "a man after God's own heart".

Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed: Session Four ~ Moving On With Brave Obedience

If I can begin with a little personal reflection before jumping into notes from Beth's second session with us on becoming "Transformed", I need to tell you how incredibly moved I was watching this DVD. Tears burst from my eyes as I became overwhelmed with just how AWESOME our Transforming God is, and just how much what Beth has to say can become anyone's reality because it was mine.

Beth started our session recapping where she left on DVD 3, asking "What do we do when God doesn't do what we expect? What has the enemy done to twist our thinking?" As she discussed being devastated by God she told us that the "enemy is banking on you never getting over the devastation in our lives, BUT (and this is a big BUT) our calling is on the other side of the devastation".  Did you hear that??  She went on to say (and I really need to bold this I think) "The greatest work God will ever do in you is on the other side of that personal devastation".  I sure don't want to miss out on that.  Do you?  Beth continued to warn that if we let the enemy hold us in that place of devastation, then we'll be stuck there for who knows how long and it will all be in vein.  It'll be like we've missed the boat.  We'll miss out on being used by God AND we'll miss out on the blessing that God wants to shower on us.

Romans 8:28 in The Message reminds us that "That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good."  We have got to move past our devastation or we aren't really living are we?  Beth reminded us that "we WILL have the opportunity to have our trust tested to be offended by God.  We're going to trust something - either God or not."

Psalm 126:5,6 gives us a tremendous promise in that "Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy.  They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest".  I don't know about you, but I want to return from the harvest singing my heart out!

In Session 3 Beth asked us what it will take for us to experience our "this far" moment.  After we move past our personal devastation with God, we have got to return to whole-hearted obedience where JOY is coming!!  Beth reminded us that we are MORE than conquerors - more than an "overcomer".

Returning to the text in 1 Chronicles 15:12-15, Beth reminded us of how the Israelites returned to obedience when preparing to take the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem.  They knew the consequences of disobedience (think Uzzah) and King David was determined to do it right this time.  Once he got past his personal devastation with God, he recalled God's character.  God is GOOD and His presence BLESSES!

Beth took a moment at this point to remind us that devastation doesn't always come as a result of sin or disobedience.  It may have nothing to do with it, yet... devastation often leads us to disobedience and sin.  She took us to a passage in Song of Songs 6:12 where she pointed out that when we pull our hearts back from God, the enemy comes and carts our passions off in a cart, ending in devastation and disaster.  When we try and carry God's work on our own strength we do the same thing with the same results.  We don't want that do we?

Beth encouraged us to seek Him and find Him and to seek Him with our whole heart through studying His Word and prayer.  This led to her third point in our lesson:  to "have the courage to see the fulfillment of God's promises to us".  She told us that if we'll invite God to bless us so that HIS name will be great, then we will be blessed.  If we ask God to bless us so that our name will be great, the blessing just seems to fall flat doesn't it?  It's all about HIM!

Beth guaranteed us that the enemy is banking on us staying "stuck" and she challenged us by asking if we have the courage to walk past the offense we feel with God.  Are we willing to accept His promises?  Our God IS TRUSTWORTHY!!!


I personally loved when she said that "we don't need to understand the devastation to get through the devastation".  We may never know the "why's" of what God does in our lives, but we don't need to have all the answers to move on.  In 2 Samuel 7:20-29 we see a post-trauma David praising His God and we can take his example and do likewise post-devastation in our own lives.

Beth told us that "it isn't less hard to stay offended.  You're still stuck.  It's time to stand up and take courage!"  Worship is never a risk and oh what joy comes from laying down our pain and disappointment with God.  In our notes Beth pointed out Your God has good things for you - not painless things for you, but good things.  Don't you want to receive those?  I know I sure do!

Beth reminded us that as the Ark of the Covenant (God's presence) was carried on 2 poles and we too have 2 "poles" to carry God's presence in our own lives - His Word (our Bibles) and Prayer.  Without those two "poles", God's presence will topple in our lives and disappointment and devastation are sure to follow.

So as we leave our time with Beth let's recap:

If we want to experience the "this far" moments with God, where we sit back and go "Whoa God... look where You've brought me!", then we need to get past our devastation with God and return to whole-hearted obedience so we can gather the courage to see the fulfillment of His promises to us.  I'm in... how about you?