Fun Day!

I had so much fun today hanging out with my Aunt Blanche, and my cousin Kim. My Aunt Blanche had surgery for a carotid artery but she is doing so well.
As we were taking selfies, we were laughing so hard that we had to keep retaking the picture over and over!

I do not see my extended family very much, because I tend to isolate. However, that is going to change. There is nobody who understands and connects with you like your family!

I am going to make a concerted effort to stay in contact with my family! Especially after today!

By the way, I have almost 40 first cousins, and yes, that only includes first cousins!😀

Sermon

Today Pastor Storms preached from Revelation 6:9-11. It's entitled "The Voice of the Martyrs."

He shared a story about a 16 year old Pakistani boy who was killed 3 weeks ago by his classmates, because he refused to renounce his faith. His name was Sharoon Masih.


Pastor Storms also shared some statistics; more than 100,000 Christians died for their faith during the last ten years. That means that on average there is one Christian killed every five minutes. These martyrs know three things to be true; God is on control, God is holy, and God is true.

Pastor Storms concluded the sermon by saying, "I grieve for the parents of Sharoon Masih. Their pain and suffering and sense of loss must be incredible. But if there is any comfort for them it is in knowing that their son was counted 'worthy' to suffer for the name of Christ. Like the martyrs in Revelation 12, Sharoon did not love his life even unto death. And as horrific as his death was, he 'conquered' Satan 'by the blood of the Lamb' and 'by the word' of his 'testimony' ( Rev. 12:11).

Facebook

I joined Facebook today. I had been hesitant to do it, because the last time I got so obsessed with it, that I had unsubscribe.
My publisher told me how useful social media is for promoting books, so I decided to join.

I talked to my accountability partner. We made a deal that I would check it for ten minutes in the morning, and ten minutes in the evening. I will text her every night to let her know how I did that day.

I couldn't have been more blessed today! I was able to connect with one of my twins (Josh) on Facebook! We both said how happy we are to be Facebook friends and that we look forward to getting to know each other better! So amazing!! 💙💚💛💜

Something I need to keep in mind is that I have been imparted with self-control by the Holy Spirit. I have self-control with food, gossip, drugs, and yes, Facebook too!

Putting off the old and putting on the new

I had lunch with my accountability partner. Both of us talked about our struggles and our victories. The main thing I am struggling with right now is gossip. So I made a commitment to text her every night to let her know if I gossiped or not.

Aside from gossip being a sin, the biggest problem with it is that that is not who I am anymore, so I feel convicted every time I do it. God convicts me, not so I will feel guilty, but because I am acting in complete contradiction to my new identity. This is what God says about my new identity:

I am a holy priesthood
I am dead to sin
I am a slave to righteousness
My old self was crucified on the cross with Christ
I am seated with Christ in the heavenlies
I have self control
I am perfectly loved, accepted and forgiven

I am realizing more and more that the key to not sinning is not about working harder or trying to get right with God. I became right with God the moment I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. It's about believing what God says about me. When I believe what God says about me, which is the truest thing about me, I live according to my new nature. And my new nature is dead to sin and a slave to righteousness.

Scripture verse:
"Put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness" ( Eph. 4:22-24).

Book update

I met with my publisher today.

I am very excited! We are meeting with the cover artist on Friday at 2. I have seen some of his book covers and they are amazingly intricate.

I am so excited to see what he comes up with for mine! 😀

All the forgiveness you will ever need

In the book, "Relaxing with God" Andrew Farley says this,

"Jesus was the propitiation (1John 2:2), meaning 'the gift that satisfies completely.' This is precisely why passages in the New Testament that discuss our forgiveness expresses it in the past tense. It's past tense because nothing new is going to happen."

"The phrase 'ask forgiveness' and 'ask for forgiveness' do not appear even once in the New Testament."

"What should we do when we sin? Stop. Turn from it. Act differently (Eph. 4:28). Seek repair with those we've hurt. Still, in all of this, we don't have to ask for God to forgive us. Instead, we simply recall that our confidence is in the once-for-all sacrifice of his Son, and we thank him that we are forgiven people. That is how we truly honor the finished work of Christ."

"The requirement for our forgiveness and cleansing from God has already been met on the cross. So there is nothing we can do to make our forgiveness any more real than it already is right now."


Scripture verse:

"For by one  sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy" (Hebrews 10:14, italicize mine).
 

Relaxing with God continued

I just finished chapter 4 of "Relaxing with God." There are a few things that really stood out to me in this chapter:

There are 613 laws total in the bible. Our flirtation with any portion of the law reveals our total disrespect for its perfection. Only those who opt for grace truly respect the perfect and impossible standard of the whole law.

The law did not die, but we died to the law. Our role now is to act dead to it, because we are dead to it. It's simply not for us as believers.

The law is still around. It's holy and perfect in every way (Romans 7:12). It is super useful in pointing out the grime on the face of humanity. It's just not any good at wiping it off!

In other words, the law makes us aware of when we have missed the mark (sin), but it is the love and grace that is lavished on us by God that enables us not to sin.

I have been studying law and grace for a couple of years. It is a real area of struggle in my life; to not try to prove my worth or goodness out of some obligatory act or performance.

From around the age 7, I remember being called a "mistake." Since that time, I have repeatedly tried to prove that my very existence was not a mistake. That has manifested in attempting to gain approval by works or performance.

But I am under a new covenant; the covenant of grace, which says I am perfectly acceptable and worth because of the shed blood of Jesus on the cross. God has declared me (and all other believers) worthy and acceptable. I can relax in the knowledge of this truth! 😊

Sermon

Today, Pastor Storms taught out of Revelation 6:1-8.

Here are some things that stood out to me:

• Revelation is not concerned merely with events at the close of history. There are multiple sections of the book that recapitulates (reiterates) one another. Each of which begins with the first coming of Christ and concludes with the second coming of Christ and the end of history.
• The book of Revelation is built around three series of seven judgments.
• There is no mistaking that these judgments proceed from Jesus Christ. Each seal is broken, and thus its judgment unleashed on the earth by the "Lamb" (v.1).

The First Seal (6:2)

The identity of the first horseman is most likely a Satanic parody or imitation of Jesus, and is interpreted as evil.The language of "conquering" is also used in Revelation of the beast oppressing and persecuting the people of God ( 11:7; 13:7). The "bow" is the symbol of intention to conquer by military might and tyranny. Nowhere in Revelation or in the NT does Jesus carry a bow. He is pictured with a sword.

The Second Seal (6:3-4)

The second horseman has power to take peace from the earth so that people kill one another. This may also include persecution of Christians since the word translated "slay" is literally "slaughter."

The Third Seal (6:5-6)

The third horseman is the agent for famine. The overall picture here is of both scarcity and plenty, an economic imbalance in the supply of food and the necessities of life.

The Fourth Seal (6:7-8)

This horseman is given a name: "Death". "Hades". This horseman is given authority from God to inflict death by four means: sword (war), famine, pestilence, and wild beasts. These judgments are limited in their scope, touching only 1/4 of the earth.

Our reaction to these judgments should be gratitude and evangelism. First, the fact that you have trusted Jesus to endure in your place the wrath and judgment you otherwise deserve to experience ought to awaken profound thanksgiving for the forgiveness of sins. Believers will not have to endure these judgments. Second, countless individuals still abide under the wrath of God. If ever there were an incentive to take the gospel to men and women around us, this is it.

Relaxing With God

I am reading a book by Andrew Farley entitled, "Relaxing With God."

I am only on chapter 3, but it is proving to be a great book, and something that is really needed in my life. It's about trying to prove your worth or goodness by works.

He says, "We start to think that we need long list of instructions to be "good" Christians-to get right and stay right with God."

In chapter 2, Farley asks two questions:
1. Do I genuinely believe that God's message through Jesus is supposed to be simple?
2. Do I genuinely believe that the gospel is designed to bring me to a place of real spiritual relaxation?

He goes on to say that the kind of works that please God actually come from relaxing with him.

This is why the author of Hebrews tells us to "make every effort to enter that rest."

Making an effort to rest may sound like a completely paradoxical statement, if it weren't for the fact that it takes a "concerted effort on our part to get to the place where we can truly relax with God."

My Obsessive Compulsive Disorder has always been motivated by not feeling good enough. Several times , I have taken the standard diagnostic test for OCD.
The questions usually assume that someone with OCD is motivated to act out their compulsions because, if they don't, something horrible will happen.

However, that has never been the case for me. I don't fear some catastrophic event or life threatening illness if I do or don't do certain things. When asked by therapists, the same phrase always comes to mind, "I haven't done enough." In other words, if I don't don't engage in certain compulsive behaviors, then I'm not good enough. In reality, it's that I believe that God is not enough.

I have to continue engraving God's truth on my heart and mind. I am completely worthy and acceptable, not because of my performance, but because of Christ's performance on the cross. When I come to a place of complete acceptance of this truth, relaxing with God won't seem like such an effort.

Scripture verse:

"Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls" (Matthew 11:29).