7 days in Philemon :: Discussing Verses 8-22 08/19/2010
As I read this book aloud to my children, I couldn't help but notice how much of Paul's words need to be my own to the Lord and in this letter lie His reply as well. I've rewritten a portion of this passage to reflect the movement in my heart upon reading the words. Having to return my kids to His hands is heartbreak and hallelujah all at once. Verses 10-13 spoke for me, the words that will always encourage me in those moments when I must let go and let my children grow with God. Dear God, I am appealing to you for my children, Dade, Maxx, and Ella, whose mother I have become during my imprisonment to your Son, Christ Jesus. Formerly they were useless to you, but now they are indeed useful both to you and to me. I am sending them, that is, my own heart, back to you. I wanted to keep them with me, so that they might be of service to me in your place during my imprisonment for the gospel. Verses 15-16 held His reply: Dear Daughter, Perhaps this is the reason they were separated from you for a while, so that you might have them back forever, no longer as children but more than children, as beloved siblings--especially to me but how much more to you, both in the flesh and in the Lord. I know this isn't factual study of the Scripture, but when Jesus meets you on the page to hand-deliver an application to your heart, it means something more. Something I had to share with you all today. So, tell me, what did you find in your study time? *** Our Study Schedule I’ve broken it down by verses this way to reflect what we’ll be talking about from day to day, but you can study at any pace you like. I hope this allows us to really dig in and dig on what God is saying through Paul's words.
From there, I’d like to invite you to share your time in Philemon on your blog, facebook, twitter, or wherever you feel God prompting. I’ll be sharing here next Monday and you’re more than welcome to leave your links in the comments to that post. Some tools I use in studying are: Glo e-Sword Harper Study Bible Strong’s Exhaustive Bible Concordance My Wacky Wedding Story 07/16/2010
When my friend, Julie, asked if anyone might want to share their wedding story with her readers, I was all over it. I've never heard a story quite like the one my husband and I share. We're celebrating our 10th anniversary this year. On Halloween.  My husband, Jay, and I had planned the cutest little wedding two teenagers with a baby could afford—one paid for with money borrowed from his grandmother. The dress was bought, the invitations sent. We were all set to wed outdoors on a beautiful spring day…until we weren’t. If my husband were here, he’d start going on and on about how he’d been ready to marry me from the day we met and he’d even rat me out as being the one with all the doubts, but he’s not here, so we’ll just skip right over that bit. Sure, I’d been holding out for some swell mix of John Cusack and Jake Ryan to show up and profess his love for me over cake and under a boom box. Still, we were not ready to be married. We weren’t even ready to be parents, but that’s not something you can just run away from, and honestly, you wouldn’t want to if you could. From that first positive pregnancy test on, my future husband had been asking me to marry him, and I’d been semi-sorta-kinda-almost-respectfully declining. Two weeks before the big day, I came back to my senses, or maybe I freaked out a bit. Yeah, that’s right, I canceled the wedding 14 full days in advance.  Provoke One Another 06/03/2010
"And let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds" (Hebrews 10:24, NRSV). Giving consideration in this way doesn't merely suggest that we brainstorm new ways to encourage people, the deeper meaning is to perceive distinctly, to discern clearly how to provoke one another. You really have to know someone's heart and gifts in order to perceive and discern precisely how to best encourage them in their walk. While that makes it seem that we are quite limited in our ability to inspire, it is really quite the opposite. Our Father knows us each so well that He has numbered each and every hair on our head! Seek His wisdom and direction and He will help you push all the right buttons in order to provoke another to love and good deeds. You might not always know just what those buttons are, but the Lord won't let you miss them when you allow Him to do the pushing. Just keep in mind, sometimes you'll be the one who is encouraged by another to do what is right and good. "You use steel to sharpen steel, and one friend sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17, MSG). Let's dig further into Hebrews 10:24, taking a closer look at the word "provoke". Several translations have varying words in its place and this alone sheds some light on the deeper meaning implied. Really reflect on the implication of some of the various translations.
When I looked in the Greek text for the original word used and its meaning, I learned that this is the sole scripture in all of the Bible that used this connotation. The word was "paroxusmos", which translates to "contention", meaning a sharpening of the feeling or action, an incitement, and it was only used in this one verse. Doesn't that just speak volumes about the importance placed on this sharpening of one another? It screams of the value in learning that no man is an island and that we all have self-righteous tendencies when left unchecked by other Christ-biased people. It's easier said than done, understood than executed, and better to give than to receive; but this spurring is a real and necessary part of our Christian lives. We need to seek the Lord's help in embracing and relaying it as such. Oh Father, Thank You for the precious gift of each other! Help us to see how to best encourage and sharpen one another while always looking for Your direction and not our own. God, we just ask that You remind us of that time and again. Please work in our lives so that we can incite one another to Your good work. In Christ's name we pray for the wisdom to witness and provoke in the ways that will best reach out to one another. Please also instill in us the ability and willingness to receive Godly sharpening from the people You place in our lives. Amen. The Good Shepherd 04/23/2010
 'He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed. Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls' (1 Peter 2:24-25, NLT). The enemy has a nasty way of twisting matters important to us. Before we've even seen him slithering to and fro in our lives, he's made a mess of things. We've got to stop giving this guy a say. One such matter of import to me is to live honestly. Saying what I believe and living it out loud without filtering the whens and wheres of it all is more to me than all the Cinnamon-Spice-Dunkin'-Donuts-coffee-filled-Mary-Poppins-mugs in the world. I know, I should have warned you to have a seat before spilling them {coffee} beans. Someone should have warned me, too--that desire knocks me on my bottom more often than not. In the past, my pursuit of personal authenticity has led to much heartache. Having a half-working definition of a term I loved blindly, keeping it real really hurt. Anyone I encountered got to have all of me in some way or another. If we were talking, we were friends. If friends, good friends. Good friends well on the way to best. Best friends know each other and want only good for one another. Right? Wrong. The story reads much the same in family and in romantic relationships. If you chose me, I chose you back and we were 100% real with each other. I not only made the mistake of putting all of me out there, I also expected that meant everyone else did the same. Talk about setting myself up for a fall...and another...and another. It took devastation the likes of which I'd never even imagined to shake me from that thinking. And I wouldn't change it for anything. God's power is revealed in our powerless moments. God's power is also revealed when we simply await His arrival after asking Him to show up. I've had quite an attack this week. Which means that Christ has had quite a place to shine! Harsh words spoken in an argument with my husband started it all. I wish I could say those harsh words were all his, but really my own attitude startled me enough to give satan an opening. How could you tear your husband apart verbally while professing to love the Lord in written form? There's no reconciling that wrong. You're living an online faith and not applying it to real life. Hypocrite. The end. The following days were like any other...Bible study, devotional time, homeschooling my little ones, zoo trips and such. Still, there was this double life going on inside of me. You're living a lie and no one is fooled. It's so easy to be with God online, no one really knows you there. You don't have a real life faith in works. Where's your fruit? SonShines, I was ready to run for the hills in shame. I wasn't just believing these lies, I was agreeing with them and denying God's providence and sovereignty. I'd counteract these attacks by acknowledging them as such. Nothing changed. I'd fight them off with words of affirmation. Nothing changed. Finally, I just had to get real with my God. Finally. Shouldn't that be our first stop? I'm such a sheep sometimes...wandering off and waiting for God to find me instead of being still and knowing that my Shepherd is never out of sight if I'd just look around for Him. Thankfully, I'm like a sheep in other ways, and once I prayed for God to show up and handle this attack for me, I saw Him move. And I will follow where He leads, like a good sheep belonging to The Good Shepherd. Just when I had been ready to buy into the devil's accusations, God presented me with opportunities to allow His movement in, on, and through some real life relationships. By using me this week in ways He's been using me all along, our faithful Father showed me that the more I put myself out into the world, the more He will set me apart from it. He'd love to do the same for you.  Reuniting with My Father 01/22/2010
 Insanely picture perfect photo, isn't it? My favorite snapshot of my parents, hands down. Of course, I only have a handful to choose from, being as they separated when I was five or so. As a young girl, such moments worth capturing in time were my only glimpses of their marriage, which made it all the more difficult to understand why they didn't make it. It wasn't until shortly after my sixteenth birthday that it finally became real for me. Somewhere between my mother's misery and my father's absence and continued profession of love for my mother, I connected imaginary dots that pointed to a reunion. I can remember riding in the backseat of various cars, at various times, my eyes fixed on the sky. My dad, arms opened wide, was waiting for me in a continual fantasy just beyond the clouds. I would stare through the blue and fluffy white until I found him. We'd smile so big that our cheeks hurt and as he knelt on one knee, I'd run to him just as fast as I could. Lifting me in the air, we'd spin and grin and then hug a hug filled with all the love we had. Of course, there came a day when that dream faded and in its place grew Parent Trap-esque notions of how to heal this broken marriage--this broken home. It was surely a simple misunderstanding or an issue of pride and would all be swept away if I just tried hard enough. When I discovered that my parents had never gone through with an actual divorce, I was convinced they were deeply in love and that I could convince them of the same. I was in sixth grade then and had not heard from my father in months. Months became years and the dream didn't fade. Seeing the loving relationships between childhood friends and their daddies made it all the more worth hanging onto. With my father no where to be found and my mother down for the count emotionally, I found love where I could. Innocently enough, love from the parents of a best friend helped for many years. There were two families, in particular, that took me in and loved me to bits and saw something worth loving in me. Church and chores and dinners together and I was loved. For a few years, this kept me feeling worthwhile and special.  After not hearing from my father in five years, he called us shortly after my sixteenth birthday. On his own birthday. That day, my imaginary father died. My hope for family died. As an adult, I've learned the details of their split and I get it. I get the defeat. I get the struggle. I get the misery. I get the bitter resentment. I get the bridges lying in ashy ruins. I get it. What I don't get is how all of that mattered more than the four children they shared. I will never get that. My marriage has survived some ridiculous hardships, not dissimilar from the ones that plagued my parents. I'm not still married simply because I don't give up. No, my marriage is still going because God asks me to give it over and I do. I've stopped wondering why they didn't give their marriage to God, I get that, too. Instead I'm just so thankful to be spared that hopelessness. I give it all over to my real and true and trusted and faithful Father. The one that sent His only Son to save me from despair. To make me special and love me. To meet with me in the sky and spin me round and hug me with all of His might. To wipe away my tears and the heartache of a girl broken by a broken home and mended by the Living God! I'm all over the place today 12/22/2009
The Christmas preparations don't have my head spinning as I run from place to place. My husband's uncanny inability to pass up a good deal has spared me from any last minute gift shopping...God really works all things for good for those who love Him...even dealoholism! While I finish my cleaning, wrapping, grocery shopping, and botching batches of baked goods you can find me sharing some Christmas goodness over at Exemplify. Here is the Jesse Tree Carnival, in which we can each share a favorite passage of Scripture about our sweet Savior! Over here you'll find a special post in which my middle child demonstrates the true celebration of Christmas...I hope you'll read it! Love and stuff{ing}! Christmas Compassion Event Over at Exemplify 12/04/2009
 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' {Matthew 25:34-36, NRSV} As I read these words my prior notions concerning charity were washed away. All of this time I thought giving was simply about providing physical needs to those who weren't able to do so for themselves. As ashamed as I am to admit my shortcoming, I am amazed and humbled and moved by all that giving is meant to be! I'm rejoicing over yet another lesson in compassion, hand delivered by the Creator of the stuff! You'd think I'd get the message by now, but some learning has to be learned and learned again before it truly seeps in, and compassion is one of those areas for me. Head over here to read the rest and link to your Christmas Compassion post! Hope Does Not Disappoint 11/06/2009
"Therefore, since we are justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have obtained access to this grace in which we stand; and we boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God. And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us" (Romans 5:1-5, NRSV). SonShines, God is showing off again and you don't want to miss His glorious display of undying love and relentless faithfulness! I can't say more than you'll be reading from these beautiful women after God's own heart! Lauren of Living By Faith, a sister I've been blessed by so much in the short time we've been in touch, has the most beautiful testimony and news today, please stop by and celebrate our God with her--keeping this journey in your prayers and spreading the hope in her story! Also, Amy of Filled With Praise, an encouraging and inspiring woman who ministers so much to my spirit, is on a journey of blessing and hope that you will not want to miss! Her words on hope today just left me without words...and you know how I love me some words. Please keep her family in your prayers and tell a friend or 10 about what God is doing with our hope! The world would have us believe that there is nothing worth believing in and that hope leads to disappointment. That is the enemy's game. "But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more" (Psalm 71:14, NIV).  Christian Being 10/09/2009
 *A few changes after publication* "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance" (James 1:2-3, NIV). Praise God for grabbing a hold of my heart and my life and for changing me into a new creature--and praise Him for doing the same for you! When we accept the gift of salvation and we allow it to take us over, we are no longer a mere human being, we become a Christian being. I like that so much more than the term Christian. BEING implies actively doing, doesn't it ladies? It just speaks to the fact that we are currently existing as a slave to Christ. I don't know if that comes to life for you like it does for me, but man it speaks volumes! There are countless blessings while being in Christ, but sharing in His infinite wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are so beneficial to daily life and I'm seeing the need for them more and more. Love, patience, and peace are so key to being as Christ like as possible, but I believe they all begin with the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding of the Lord and His Word. *When stepping into the pages of Scripture, prayer is the only way to gain the Supernatural wisdom essential to understanding God's Word.* I was recently speaking with my son, Maxx, about how every bad situation in life is actually an opportunity to do good. It's a lesson that I learned while in the middle of the most difficult time in my life. Three years ago I wouldn't have been able to help him to understand how he is a vessel of God's light in this way, because I myself was clueless to the fact. It was God's gift of wisdom to share the knowledge gained from understanding His Word that afforded me the opportunity to teach my son the way he should go. Knowing that he is a work in progress in the Father's hands has opened up room for loving him through the trial, being patient as he grows in his understanding of the Lord, and having peace in the face of the adversity that is a natural part of life. I'll be honest, I don't think I could exemplify God's love, endure with godly patience, or live with His peace if I didn't first reach for His wisdom, dig for Christian knowledge, and cling to the understanding offered through our Savior Jesus Christ! The best news? All of these gifts are in endless supply! Passing the torch... * Which of God's blessings are you reaching for most often these days? How do you make sure to be available to receive gifts from the Lord? Have you seen blessings flow from the scars of lessons learned? *  Snapshots Saturday: Bubbles 08/29/2009
I love catching moments of time. Finding the perfect words to fit the perfect memory has always been a love of mine. Capturing fleeting bits of life through photography has become a love that I hope to continue exploring, click by click. I'm excited to begin sharing some thousand-word moments with you SonShines each weekend; nothing says quite what a picture can. Feel free to link up if you decide to post your own Snapshots Saturday. Join in the theme I'm sharing or go your own way! I can't wait to see what you're up to!           |  
© 2006-2010,
Victoria Bierman Jenkins. All rights reserved. ...just a sec...   a few of my posts
   Categorized Chaos
All                           |
Let the Son Shine--All Content by Let the Son Shine is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
