October Color

Sharing some of the beauty of the season around our house...

Tim started these from seed.

View by our porch

View from the kitchen window in the early morning

Autumn Beauty

Promise remembered

This morning I awoke to this and thought of God's promises:

Recital

My daughter had her piano recital today.  She did beautifully.

View the recital performance here:   http://youtu.be/-wVq1fMpcQM

Irises, weigela, and foxglove

My 94-year-old grandmother gave me these bulbs,
which were her mother's,
so they are over 80 years old.

The weigela is just starting to bloom.

Turn your head to see the foxglove.

Spirea

The bridal veil spirea has bloomed!

2 Corinthians 9:7-15

Book:  Money and Possessions:  The Quest for Contentment

Pages: 89-91

Scripture:  2 Cor 9:7-15

God is working through Paul in Asia Minor to draw others to Christ so they can become a part of the Church, His Body.  Now Paul is encouraging others to join in God's work through Paul.  Patricia's summary during Days 3 and 4 starts us off with Paul's appeal to the people.

Then in verses 7-15, I'll paraphrase Paul's inspired words:

V7: "I know you have made a commitment to further God's work of drawing others to Jesus so they too can become a part of the Church.  Cheerfully give!  God sees your heart and loves it when you give cheerfully.  I'm not compelling you to give, so don't give grudgingly thinking, 'Paul is just trying to push me into giving.'  You know I'm not.

Flowers

These wild dogwoods grow in our forest/

We visited my mother-in-law today,
and she gave us her mother's old vase.
 I knew just the thing to place inside:
Those fragrant lilacs!

Orchard and Vineyard

Just sharing a little more of spring.

The apple orchard in bloom

More Flowers

My 15-year-old daughter tells me I need to wear my glasses when I take these photos :-)

I told her blurriness is artistry, not bad eyesight.

Please appreciate the artistry in these photos!

Exquisitely designed bleeding hearts

RedBud

Finally, my redbud tree looks pretty.

Spring!

Finally, spring has arrived here.  Enjoy this season of life.

The Widow's Mite

Book:  Money and Possessions:  The Quest for Contentment

Pages: 71-72

Scripture: Mark 12:41-44

Instead of answering the leading questions for today, let's take a different approach.  Let's begin reading at verse 38:

"And in His teaching he was saying, 'Beware of the scribes who like to walk around in long robes and like respectful greetings in the market places, and chief seats in the synagogues, and places of honor at banquets, who devour widows' houses, and for appearance's sake offer long prayers; these will receive greater condemnation.'"

Before the widow's mite story, Jesus is addressing the prideful hearts of the scribes.  Note that He comments on how the scribes devour widows' houses.  To drive home this point about the scribes' taking advantage of widows, of all the people who were putting money into the treasury, Jesus comments to His disciples on the poor widow (whom the Scribes made poor perhaps by their oppressive teachings?).  

Tithe

I enjoyed a little study this afternoon on tithing. 

Looking at tithing in the O.T., I see that God provided Himself as an Inheritance to the Levites (Numbers 18:20); therefore, they had no land on which to grow food to feed themselves.  So God instructed the other tribes to give a tenth of their food to the Levites (Numbers 18:21-24).  And under the Law, the Levites then took a tenth of that tenth and gave it to the Lord (Neh 10:38).

But the best part of this study was Genesis 14:20 coupled with Hebrews 7 where Paul reminds the Hebrews that the Levites had the right to receive a tenth from each tribe (Hebrews 7:5), according to the Law.  Paul goes on to tell the Hebrews (and us) that there has been a change in priesthood and, therefore, a change in the law (Hebrews 7:12, 18).  Jesus is a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Hebrews 7:17) because the Law made no thing perfect (7:19); He is the guarantee of a better covenant (7:22).

Since there is a change in the priesthood and the law, we must look to the N.T. for the teaching on tithing.  There is none. The tithe does not apply to the priesthood (that's us with Jesus as the High Priest) of today.

Thank You, Lord, for this revelation.

Linda

Moderator

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TruthHimself/

Cherry Blossoms

We were so blessed to spend some time with friends enjoying the cherry blossoms in Washington D.C.

Contentment, Part 2, a prophecy from Malalchi 1

Book:  Money and Possessions:  The Quest for Contentment

Pages: 66-67

Scripture: Malachi 1:1-2a, 11-14

This post is Part 2, a prophecy, from the study from MalachI 1.  

Some personal findings unrelated to the questions for this day:

As I studied this section of Malachi, I found a prophecy in verse 11 that really blessed me:

"For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be offered to My name, and a grain offering that is pure; for My name will be great among the nations," says the Lord of hosts."

Contentment: Week 5, Day 1

Book:  Money and Possessions:  The Quest for Contentment

Pages: 66-67

Scripture: Malachi 1:1-2a, 11-14

Hello, everyone!

Thanks for your grace in postponing this week's study as I took a few days to visit Patricia and her family.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time together.  The weather was perfect for viewing the peak cherry blossoms in D.C.   I'll try to get some photos posted when I can.

Now to Week 5 of our study.  I'll post in two parts: 

• Part 1;  Answers to the questions from the book
• Part 2:  An insight about a prophecy in Malachi 1

I had never done in inductive study on the Book of Malachi, so this was all new to me and so enlightening.

Who is speaking in this passage and to whom?

God is speaking to His people.  Malachi is the conduit who is writing down God's Words.

Contentment Study: Week 1, Day 2

Book:  Money and Possessions:  The Quest for Contentment

Pages:  6-9

Scripture : Luke 19:12-25

Ten servants received one mina each, according to verse 16.

The nobleman distributed these minas before he left to receive his kingdom.  My observation:  Christ "distributed" His Spirit after He ascended, so I do believe this verse confirms that the mina represents, among other things, the Holy Spirit.  Perhaps it is a stretch to say that "the minas represent the Holy Spirit, among other things," although I'm not quite ready to let go of that thought. Here's why:   As I go about the Master's business, if I don't rely on the Spirit Whom He has freely given, I'm sunk :-)  When the Lord gives "minas" (possessions, money, relationships, talents, abilities), He doesn't leave us without His Spirit.  So that's where my thinking was as I looked at this passage. 

The servants were to do the nobleman's business while he was away, but the treasure/minas belonged to the nobleman.  The servants were only stewards.

Contentment Study: Week 1

Book:  Money and Possessions:  The Quest for Contentment

Pages: 4-5

Scripture:  Luke 19:11-15

Verse 11

Jesus was near Jerusalem when He spoke this parable.  He spoke the parable because the people supposed that the kingdom of God was going to appear immediately.

Verses 12-15

Before the nobleman left, he did three things: 

• He called his bondservants.
• He gave his bondservants a trust; in this case, money.
• He said that His bondservants should carry on His business with what He had given them.

When the nobleman returned, he summoned his bondservants to give an account for what they had done.

What did we learn by marking the references to nobleman?

Contentment Study: Prayer

Good morning!

I wanted to share my prayer for this upcoming study.  It's the prayer that I often pray for people I love, people I want to see grow into Christ their Head, women like you on this list who desire to see TruthHimself and follow Him.  It's based on this Scripture:

"When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!'  The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, 'Take off the grave clothes and let him go.'"  ~John 11:43-44

A little background, so bear with me, please :-) 

Throughout my 20 years of homeschooling, I have learned that I cannot bring my children (or anyone for that matter) alive from the dead, spiritually speaking.  As we learned in our last study about prayer, I can set the table through prayer and discipleship in my own life so that people I love have not only the choice of walking away from Jesus but also the life-giving choice of walking to the feast He offers (Psalm 34:8).  But ultimately, each person I love must choose to respond to Jesus' calling them out from their spiritual deadness; I cannot choose for them. 

Contentment Study: Intro

Hello!

I'm getting excited about this study! And I want to share some thoughts with you as we begin again, using the Precepts study book Money and Possessions: the Quest for Contentment.

First thought: When you read the Scriptures outlined in the book, use your own Bible and read the context around the selected Scripture. Make notes in your own Bible. This is especially easy if you have an inductive study Bible with wide margins.

Second thought: Take a day or two to simply meditate upon the Scripture you've read, praying that God will reveal TruthHimself to you as well as any principles that you can apply to your own life. 

Third thought: Finally, whatever the Lord has revealed to you, meditate on that for a few days and see if you can summarize in a few words what God is teaching you. This step helps to personalize your study, as you learn to listen to the Spirit-in-you and then follow Jesus.

I hope these three thoughts benefit you in some way as we move forward in our personal walks with the Lord, as His bondservants.

Linda
Moderator
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TruthHimself/

A Hoarder or Minimalist

My husband is at work, my two older children are at college, my third child is working his part-time job  this morning, and my two younger ones are just waking up… so I have a little more time for sharing!  :-)

Yesterday my three younger children and I began a study by Denver Sizemore called 13 Lessons in Christian Doctrine.  I had the opportunity to share a metaphor with them that I'd like to share with you as well.

When we become born-again Christians, God places us right in the center of Christ's holiness (as we learned on this list from our first study).  We simply (but not easily) need to abide there and live out Christ-in-us. 

Often though we can't see that Treasure that is in us because we are too clouded with self.  I used the example of two homes with which my children are familiar:  their grandmother's home and their siblings' apartment. 

Sabbath Keeper

Hello, everyone,

Just sharing what the Lord affirmed in my heart this morning:

As a disciple, a Sabbath keeper does not rest on one day of the week but rather rests in Christ's finished work every day of the week.  He is our Sabbath!

Thank You, Lord, for affirming what You placed in my heart years ago (Christ is my Sabbath) with a deeper revelation of how to practice this principle:  do not strive to do Christ-like things but rather rest in Christ's finished work every day.

In one word:  abide!