Ephesians 2:19-20/NIV

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone.
Ephesians 2:19-20/NIV

Hebrews 12

Heb 12:1  The Lord's Discipline

    Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses,1 we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us,
Heb 12:2  keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God.2
Heb 12:3  Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up.
Heb 12:4  You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed3 in your struggle against sin.
Heb 12:5  And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons?
    "My son, do not scorn4 the Lord's discipline
    or give up when he corrects5 you.
Heb 12:6  "For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts."6
Heb 12:7  Endure your suffering7 as discipline;8 God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline?
Heb 12:8  But if you do not experience discipline,9 something all sons10 have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons.
Heb 12:9  Besides, we have experienced discipline from11 our earthly fathers12 and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life?13
Heb 12:10  For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness.
Heb 12:11  Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful.14 But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness15 for those trained by it.
Heb 12:12  Therefore, strengthen 16 your listless hands and your weak knees,17
Heb 12:13  and make straight paths for your feet,18 so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed.

Heb 12:14  Do Not Reject God's Warning 

    Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness,19 for without it no one will see the Lord.
Heb 12:15  See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God, that no one be like a bitter root springing up 20 and causing trouble, and through him many become defiled.
Heb 12:16  And see to it that no one becomes21 an immoral or godless person like Esau, who sold his own birthright for a single meal.22
Heb 12:17  For you know that23 later when he wanted to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no opportunity for repentance, although he sought the blessing24 with tears.
Heb 12:18  For you have not come to something that can be touched,25 to a burning fire and darkness and gloom and a whirlwind
Heb 12:19  and the blast of a trumpet and a voice uttering words26 such that those who heard begged to hear no more.27
Heb 12:20  For they could not bear what was commanded: "If even an animal touches the mountain, it must be stoned."28
Heb 12:21  In fact, the scene29 was so terrifying that Moses said, "I shudder with fear."30
Heb 12:22  But you have come to Mount Zion, the city31 of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the assembly
Heb 12:23  and congregation of the firstborn, who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous, who have been made perfect,
Heb 12:24  and to Jesus, the mediator32 of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks of something better than Abel's does.33
Heb 12:25  Take care not to refuse the one who is speaking! For if they did not escape when they refused the one who warned them on earth, how much less shall we, if we reject the one who warns from heaven?
Heb 12:26  Then his voice shook the earth, but now he has promised, "I will once more shake not only the earth but heaven too."34
Heb 12:27  Now this phrase "once more" indicates the removal of what is shaken, that is, of created things, so that what is unshaken may remain.
Heb 12:28  So since we are receiving an unshakable kingdom, let us give thanks, and through this let us offer worship pleasing to God in devotion and awe.
Heb 12:29  For our God is indeed a devouring fire.35

Two verses for today

Deuteronomy 31:8 (NIV)

⁸ The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”

 

1 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)

¹⁶ Beyond all question, the mystery from which true godliness springs is great:
   He appeared in the flesh,
   was vindicated by the Spirit,^[a]
was seen by angels,
   was preached among the nations,
was believed on in the world,
   was taken up in glory.

Psalm 48 (New International Version)

Psalm 48

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah.

 ¹ Great is the LORD, and most worthy of praise,
       in the city of our God, his holy mountain.  ² It is beautiful in its loftiness,
       the joy of the whole earth.
       Like the utmost heights of Zaphon ^[a] is Mount Zion,
       the ^[b] city of the Great King.
 ³ God is in her citadels;
       he has shown himself to be her fortress.
 ⁴ When the kings joined forces,
       when they advanced together,
 ⁵ they saw her and were astounded;
       they fled in terror.
 ⁶ Trembling seized them there,
       pain like that of a woman in labor.
 ⁷ You destroyed them like ships of Tarshish
       shattered by an east wind.
 ⁸ As we have heard,
       so have we seen
       in the city of the LORD Almighty,
       in the city of our God:
       God makes her secure forever.
       Selah
 ⁹ Within your temple, O God,
       we meditate on your unfailing love.
 ¹⁰ Like your name, O God,
       your praise reaches to the ends of the earth;
       your right hand is filled with righteousness.
 ¹¹ Mount Zion rejoices,
       the villages of Judah are glad
       because of your judgments.
 ¹² Walk about Zion, go around her,
       count her towers,
 ¹³ consider well her ramparts,
       view her citadels,
       that you may tell of them to the next generation.
 ¹⁴ For this God is our God for ever and ever;
       he will be our guide even to the end.

Footnotes:

1. Psalm 48:2 Zaphon can refer to a sacred mountain or the direction north.
2. Psalm 48:2 Or earth, / Mount Zion, on the northern side / of the

Romans 13 thoughts this morning.....

if we (Americans) really comprehend what it means to not resist the authority that God put in place.


ESV:
Rom 13:1 Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.

Rom 13:2 Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.


Does not resisting simply mean not breaking the law or does it include our speech and thoughts? Are we allowed to verbally resist simply because our American citizenship allows us freedom of speech and the opportunity to vote?

I know it's real easy to grumble and complain about the leadership of our country, state, and cities. I do it more than I feel I should. My earthly citizenship will fall away one day. Should I really invest so much energy into it? I know that some would say the key is balance, but how can we balance our duties and not forget where our true citizenship lies? From Scripture, we see that Paul didn't utilize his Roman citizenship unless it advanced the Gospel. Can we really say that involvement in American politics are advancing the Gospel?

Just thinking out loud.......

Romans 13 (ESV)

Rom 13:1  Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.
Rom 13:2  Therefore whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment.
Rom 13:3  For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval,
Rom 13:4  for he is God's servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God's wrath on the wrongdoer.
Rom 13:5  Therefore one must be in subjection, not only to avoid God's wrath but also for the sake of conscience.
Rom 13:6  For because of this you also pay taxes, for the authorities are ministers of God, attending to this very thing.
Rom 13:7  Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed.
Rom 13:8  Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.
Rom 13:9  For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet," and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Rom 13:10  Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Rom 13:11  Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.
Rom 13:12  The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.
Rom 13:13  Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy.
Rom 13:14  But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

Strange day.

It was a good day, but everything felt strange.  I keep expecting to need to do something for or with Smokie, but she's not here and no longer needs me.  Little things remind me of her, like the thunder tonight (which she hated), her collar, or the tree she loved to lie beneath. I keep expecting to need to say "Look out" before I open the fridge as she always laid in front of it.  She's not there. 

I've lost other pets (all much younger), but this one seems to be hitting me harder than the rest.  Maybe it's my age or the fact that I am not as able to occupy my thoughts as before when my son was little and life was super busy?  I don't know.  Maybe I am just having a hard time reconciling my feelings with the fact that she was a dog not a human.  My grief is stronger than I imagined it could be. 

My Secret Sister sent me a condolence e-card tonight that had this verse on it.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4 (New International Version)

The God of All Comfort

 3Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.

What a sweet verse and very helpful. 

Scriptures......

Be generous...
Blessed is he that considereth the poor:
the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
The LORD will preserve him, and keep him alive;
and he shall be blessed upon the earth:
and thou wilt not deliver him unto the will of his enemies.

Psalm 41:1,2 KJV

__________________

The poor are shunned even by their neighbors,
but the rich have many friends.

He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is
he who is kind to the needy.

Proverbs 14:20,21 NIV

__________________

Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully. Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that always having all sufficiency in everything, you may have an abundance for every good deed;

2 Corinthians 9:6-8 NASB

__________________

Thanks be unto God for His wonderful gift:
Jesus Christ, the only begotten Son of God
is the object of our faith; the only faith
that saves is faith in Him.

I noticed something tonight.

Tonight while having fellowship with some ladies from church, I noticed that I am rather negative when speaking about my son. When asked how he is, I have been answering "crabby" or "typical teen." I don't know where this terrible habit came from, but I am going break it.

I have never been one to believe in the rotten teen years. We've had some pretty great ones. I think that is in large part due to my attitude going into this time.

Mom's good attitude + Great kid = Great teen experience

I always knew there would be unique challenges being a single mom rearing a son, but I always disliked the negativity that surrounds teenagers. I have always felt it wasn't deserved. I didn't want to assume my son would be rotten or unbearable. I wanted to think the best of him. Somewhere I lost track of that.

Pro 10:19
In the multitude of words, sin is not lacking; but he who holds back his lips is wise.

Pro 16:24
Pleasant words are like a honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.

Pro 18:8
The words of a talebearer are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly.

Ecc 10:12
The words of a wise mouth are gracious; but the lips of a fool will swallow him.

Jas 3:1-18
My brothers, do not be many teachers, knowing that we shall receive the greater condemnation.
For in many things we all offend. If anyone does not offend in word, the same is a full-grown man, able also to bridle the whole body.
Behold, we put bits in the horses' mouths, so that they may obey us, and we turn about their whole body.
Behold also the ships being so great, and driven by fierce winds, yet they are turned about with a very small rudder, where the impulse of him steering desires.
Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. Behold how little a fire kindles how large a forest!
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So the tongue is set among our members, spotting all the body and inflaming the course of nature, and being inflamed by hell.
For every kind of animals, and of birds, and of reptiles, and of sea-animals, is tamed, and has been tamed by mankind.
But no one can tame the tongue, it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.
By this we bless God, even the Father. And by this we curse men, who have come into being according to the image of God.
Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.
Does a fountain send forth at the same hole the sweet and the bitter?
Can the fig tree, my brothers, bear olive berries; or a vine, figs? So no fountain can yield both salt water and fresh.
Who is wise and knowing among you? Let him show his works by his good conduct with meekness of wisdom.
But if you have bitter jealousy and strife in your hearts, do not glory and lie against the truth.
This is not the wisdom coming down from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
For where envying and strife are, there is confusion and every foul deed.
But the wisdom that is from above is first truly pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.