Abundant Blessings - Friends
Nov. 23, 2009
The Cross and the Nature of God
JESUS IS COMING SOON! MARANATHA LORD!
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Hi friends, if you need to silence the music just hit the play/pause button on the player in the right sidebar, just below the black horse and the copyright notice.
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1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2 the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us. (1 John 1, New King James Version)
Jesus always was and always will be. He is the Word of life (See JOHN 1:1 and JOHN 1:14) He is that eternal life who was with Father from all eternity, and was manifested in the flesh to us, in order to fulfill the law and take the consequences of our sin upon Himself, so that we can enter into His presence and have fellowship with Him and with each other as His children. Knowledge of what He has done for us will bring us to a point of true joy. However, many people gravely misunderstand exactly what He has done, and so misunderstand the nature of God.
Jesus revealed the nature of God, that there is no darkness in Him. That He is pure light, pure goodness, pure love. It is this purity, this holiness, that destroys what is ugly and evil in His presence. Light abolishes darkness, it eliminates it. We are full of all manner of sin and darkness, hatred, lust , and covetousness. If we try to claim otherwise, we are calling God a liar, and deceiving ourselves. So since we are full of darkness, we cannot enter into His full presence on our own. His absolute pure, unfiltered radiance, pure love, and pure beauty would destroy us. This is the reason for the cross of Christ.
The cross is perhaps one of the most misunderstood events in the Bible. Many people are under the impression that God the Father was so angry over our sin that He had to take it out on someone, and so He took it out Jesus in much the same manner as someone who is so angry at someone that they can only calm down enough to forgive if they first kick the dog to vent their anger. Yet God does not tell us to forgive that way, He does not tell us to forgive others by venting our anger on an innocent victim. Surely, God is not asking of us that which He is incapable of doing? No, this is a misunderstanding, not only of the cross, but of the very nature of God.
The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are ONE. Three persons, yet just one God, they are one in essence. This is a mystery which we can not fully understand, but which we must keep in mind to even begin to grasp what took place on the cross.
The cross is not an incident of God looking at our sin, and becoming so angry that He looked around, saw Jesus, and said, "Either you pay the price for these people or I will destroy them!" Jesus Himself is God (See COLOSSIANS 2:9), every bit as much as the Father and the Holy Spirit are God, the three persons of the trinity were in complete harmony when God decided to do this. So God did not look outside of Himself and find someone to "take it out on", rather God looked within Himself, to sacrifice of Himself, for our good.
Knowing that imperfect, sinful human beings full of darkness could not stand in the presence of His pure light, He made a way for our cleansing. And that way was a rending of the very heart of God. First, Jesus laid aside that glory, in order to walk among us, then when Jesus hanging on that cross, He said, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” (Mark 15:34) At that moment, the Father and the Son were were separated. The Godhead itself, until that point existing throughout eternity in perfect unity and harmony, in complete togetherness, was torn apart, and for the first time the Son knew what it was to separated from the the father. Just as all of us are born with a sinful nature, separated from being able to experience the full presence of God, unable to have fellowship with Him, so now the Son took our sin upon Himself, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5:21 that He became sin so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, so for the first time He had the stench and filth of sin upon Himself, and the Father looked away. In that moment, violence was done not only to the Jesus, but against the Triune nature of God.
Exactly what happened is somewhat of a mystery beyond our comprehension, but we do know in that time, the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, who are one, were torn apart from each other. Our language fails to express how this provided our cleansing, and our minds could not fully grasp it even words were found, but somehow this rending of god not only forgave our sin, but cleansed away the very stain of it from our souls so that we could enter into God's presence.
Just as our sin was placed on Jesus, destroyed on the cross, and then left behind in the grave when He rose again, His righteousness is placed upon us when we receive Him, this enables us to enter into the Holy light, the pure, full presence of God, and not be utterly destroyed.
Heaven is the place where we will experience the full pure, unfiltured presence of God, a place where no evil or sin exists, or can exist. It is pure light, pure joy, pure love.
Hell is the place for everything that cannot be in His presence. A place separated from God and His love. Hell is the absence of God and all that He is. No good thing exists there, no joy, no light, no love. Only hatred, sadness, pain, and utter loneliness and regret, there is nothing in hell that is in any way desirable. Yet people choose it.
There are only two options for the eternal soul, one is heaven, in Holy Presence of God, bearing the righteousness of Christ which has been given to us as a free gift, and the other is hell, apart from God and all that is good. When a person rejects God and His solution to the problem of sin, they are, by default, choosing hell. There is NO third option. It would be foolish for a cancer patient, after his doctor tells him that there is a cure, to become angry that there is only one cure available. The logical response would is to be overjoyed that one is available, and to take it without hesitation. Yet people reject Christ, and become angry that there is not another solution to the disease of sin.
There is no question that we have all sinned, the Bible is clear on that, and if we deny it we call God a liar. Through Christ, God offers forgiveness, He offers cleansing, He offers to cover us in His own righteousness since we have none of our own. We are offered this greatest gift, and the only question remaining is, will we accept it?
Lord, I thank You that You have shown me my own sin, and brought me to the point of being willing to confess it, and agree with you that I am a sinner incapable of cleansing myself. I thank You for the gift of salvation through Christ. I ask Lord, that if there are any who read this who do not know You, that you would use it to speak to them, and draw them to Yourself. Amen
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Monday, November 23, 2009
A Copybook of Thanksgiving
I have been absent from most of the internet world because I have been recuperating from an appendectomy. Before I went into the hospital I had told some of my Facebook/work buddies that I would make some copywork pages about thanks. I know these are probably late, but I am posting them anyways. There are actually copybooks with 31 pages of Scriptures and a blank page to have your child write their own prayer of thanksgiving. Even though Thanksgiving is only a few days away, giving thanks is timeless.
You may choose which style you need for your family:
A Copybook of Thanksgiving-Manuscript
A Copybook of Thanksgiving-Transitional Manuscript
A Copybook of Thanksgiving-Cursive
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Nov. 23, 2009
Menu Plan Monday Thanksgiving Week
This week, I am doing a pantry challenge for the days we're home to eat dinner, except for Thanksgiving day, of course.
The kids created the Thanksgiving menu this year. So if it's carb heavy, no, I don't need a lecture. The Chicken Paprikas dish is something I used to make when it was just my husband and I. It sounded good, so I thought I'd try bringing it back into our menus. It harkens back to the days when I used to read Bon Appetit magazine regularly. The alfredo sauce is a natural mix I get from my food co-op.
We'll be spending Wednesday making pies and a salad. We created a Fire & Ice centerpiece yesterday using items my boys and I found at our local park. Daughter and I put it together last night. It's looking good. For more inspiration, check out the holiday baking and crafts issue of Taste of Home Magazine. We were inspired!
Here's my menu for this week:
Monday: Smoked sausage, peas and pasta with alfredo sauce.
Tuesday: Out to pizza with friends for a birthday party.
Wednesday: Chicken paprikas over buttered noodles with roasted green beans.
Thursday=Thanksgiving Day: Turkey, Mashed Potatoes & Gravy, Macaroni Salad, Stuffing, Shrimp Caesar Salad, Heather Hash, Yams, Hawaiian Rolls, Veggie Tray, Martinelli's Sparkling Apple Juice, Dutch Apple, Buttermilk and Pumpkin Pies.
Friday: Same deal.
Saturday: Pancakes & Bacon, Fruit
Sunday: Pot of Beans, Corn Bread, Fruit
For more menu planning inspiration, check out the Organized Junkie.
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Saturday, November 21, 2009
I get to host the Homesteading Carnival again!
I hosted the 101st Homesteading Carnival back in June, and I'll be hosting the 123rd edition of the Homesteading Carnival coming up on November 30th!
If you have an article/blog entry for the November 23rd Homesteading Carnival, please use this form before tomorrow afternoon. It's being hosted by The Homesteading Carnival themselves!
This week's Carnival was hosted by Catherine at Seeds of Love.
Please let me know your thoughts! Thanks!
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Nov. 19, 2009
Last Days
JESUS IS COMING SOON! MARANATHA LORD!
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Hi friends, if you need to silence the music just hit the play/pause button on the player in the right sidebar, just below the black horse and the copyright notice.
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1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3 knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. (2 Peter 3:1-9, New King James Version)
Scoffers abound in these last days, they call the Bible an ancient book that has no bearing on our lives today. They laugh and say that it has been so long since Jesus lived on earth, and that if He was going to return He would have done so already. They scoff at us Christians for continuing to put our faith in Him and in His promise to return. They claim that the earth has continued on as it is now from the beginning. They refuse to believe in the creative power of God. They willfully ignore all evidence that does not support their view. They ignore overwhelming EVIDENCE OF A GREAT FLOOD and FOSSIL EVIDENCE INDICATING THAT LIFE APPEARED SUDDENLY, ABRUPTLY, in complex forms. They ignore the COMPLEXITY OF A SINGLE CELL, and they ignore the scientific concept of IRREDUCIBLE COMPLEXITY.
They do all of this willfully, it is not that they can't believe, it's that they won't believe. Harvard University Biochemist Dr. George Wald admitted to this when he said,"When it comes to the origin of life there are only two possibilities: Creation or spontaneous generation. There is not third way. Spontaneous generation was disproved one hundred years ago, but that leads us to only one other conclusion, that of supernatural creation. We cannot accept that on philosophical grounds; therefore, we choose to believe the impossible: That life arose spontaneously by chance!" (George Wald, "The Origin of Life", Scientific American May 1954.) So they laugh and call Christians irrational, they say that Jesus has been gone to long and we are foolish to watch and wait for Him, and all the while they knowingly ignore mountains of evidence against the very base of their theories, and choose to embrace what they know is a scientific impossibility.
But God is not mocked, and neither is He late. Things are happening right on His time schedule, 2000 years is not a long time to Him, after all, in comparison to eternity what is 2000 years? He isn't taking this long because He has forgotten, rather He is giving humankind time to repent. He is giving time for us to fill ourselves up with our wickedness to the point that we are sick of it, and turn to Him. Many are turning to Him, and many others continue to fill up their iniquity to their own judgment.
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. (2 Peter 3:10-18, New King James Version)
Although God is patient, and although He waits to give us time to repent, He will not wait forever. He will return, at which time the chance to repent will be gone, it will time for judgment.
We Christians need to keep in mind that this earth will not last forever, it and all the sin and sadness on it, are temporary. We need to live our lives focused on eternity, in obedience to God, with our eyes on His Kingdom. Looking forward to the time when He makes a new Heaven and a new Earth, one without sin or all of the sadness, sickness, hatred, strife, and death that sin brings.
We must live for God, not for our own selfish desires and dreams. We need to become living sacrifices, aware that we are here to bring God glory, aware that we exist for Him, and not He for us. We need to realize, that while God does love us, while He does desire to bless us and give us joy, He doesn't exist for that, He doesn't exist in order to please us, we exist in order to please Him.
We need to keep in mind that the suffering of Christ is our salvation, we did not earn it, and have no reason to boast.
We need to study diligently, and guard against false teachers who twist scripture. We must look at all scripture in context and in light of what the rest of Scripture teaches. We must examine all teaching in the light of God's word. We need to apply God's word steadfastly and pray, and "grow in grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
Lord, I thank You that You love me, even though You are not obligated to at all. I thank You that You have given me Your word, even though You did not owe me a thing. I thank You that forgive me even though I don't deserve anything from You. I pray Lord that You will take me and form me into the person You created me to be. I pray that You will do what You want with me, and that I will not get in the way. I give myself to You Lord, do Your will.
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Nov. 19, 2009
FMSC
FEED MY STARVING CHILDREN
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Nov. 19, 2009
Young Adult Conference
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Nov. 19, 2009
Mill (aka my house)
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Nov. 19, 2009
Enjoying Fall
A 13-year old young man with a camera who is also our friend took these pictures. :o)
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Nov. 18, 2009
Homeschoolers and Health Care
For all my homeschooling friends who think ObamaCare will solve their financial and health insurance woes, think again. It may give you temporary relief for your financial headache, but it may also invite government nannies into your home to improve your child's well-being and health.
HR 3200 that passed the House of Representatives, currently has a provision for funding states that implement a "voluntary" home visitation program for parents with young children or who are expecting. (See Sec. 1904 sec. 440) The intended purpose is to " improve the well-being, health, and development of children by enabling the establishment and expansion of high quality programs providing voluntary home visitation for families with young children and families expecting children." In America we used to believe that was the role of the parent, but now it's the role of our benevolent and compassionate Uncle Sam. A gaze over the Atlantic will show us exactly where we're headed, "Health and safety inspectors are to be given unprecedented access to family homes to ensure that parents are protecting their children from household accidents.
New guidance drawn up at the request of the Department of Health urges councils and other public sector bodies to “collect data” on properties where children are thought to be at “greatest risk of unintentional injury”.
Council staff will then be tasked with overseeing the installation of safety devices in homes, including smoke alarms, stair gates, hot water temperature restrictors, oven guards and window and door locks.
The draft guidance by a committee at the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice) has been criticised as intrusive and further evidence of the “creeping nanny state”.
Where are the safety devices for the "creeping nanny" who keeps sticking her nose into our personal lives?
Why homeschoolers support this bill or President Obama is beyond my understanding.
-Spunky
Cross-posted, with permission, from SpunkyHomeSchool
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