Crazy Love for God

Confidence

2011-07-07T12:59:00.001-04:00

Yesterday my husband, Corey shared a verse with me that had really spoken to him and we decided to make that a memory verse for both of us. The verse is Jeremiah 17:7. Below is that verse in several different versions of the Bible.

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him." (NIV)

“ Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD." (NKJV)

“But blessed are those who trust in the Lord and have made the Lord their hope and confidence." (NLT)

Then this morning I was studying, Session 3 - Day 4 of NOGS (No Other Gods) for Tuesday Morning Bible Study and the author was asking "What do you put your confidence in?". How appropriate for what we were already meditating on! God wants us to put our confidence in him, not in everything else.

So I decided to look up the word "confidence". What does it mean?

a: a feeling or consciousness of one's powers or of reliance on one's circumstances

b: faith or belief that one will act in a right, proper, or effective way

I know that putting our confidence solely in God instead of those things (false gods) that we are used to can be scary. Also, in this section of the book "No Other Gods", we are reading 2 Chronicles 31 & 32. I will admit that I am definitely feeling like King Hezekiah right now. At the end of Chapter 31 in verse 20 & 21, Hezekiah is following God and then in the absolute next verse the scriptures talk about how a rival king is planning to attack and looking to take over. Here is verse 20 &21.

2 Chronicles 31:20-21 - This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.

I know that because we have made up our minds to totally surrender areas of our lives that have been controlling us and put our total confidence in the Lord that we are going to be attacked. Here is the next verse.

2 Chronicles 32:1 - After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.

We are going to continue to put our trust and confidence in our Lord because we know that he is on our side and he is watching out for us and we must surrender every area of our lives to him. Another scripture that really speaks to me and I have been meditating on recently is Daniel 3:16-18 which is below.

¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”

What faith and trust in God!!!! My prayer is that we will have faith like this. These men of God believed that God could save them from the fiery furnace but even if he didn't save them, they stood on the fact that he could have saved them. How many of us believe that God can save us from our circumstances and give us victory but even if he doesn't, we know that he can! Stand on that promise, we are!!!!!

Men Want Respect

2011-06-19T19:09:00.000-04:00

Do you agree or disagree?

If you were in church today, you know that Pastor Ken preached a message on "Men Want Respect". The message was taken from two passages in the scripture, Eph. 5:33 and 1 Peter 3:1-2.

Ephesian 5:33 - However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

1 Peter 3:1-2 - Wives, in the same way submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, if any of them do not believe the word, they may be won over without words by the behavior of their wives, when they see the purity and reverence of your lives.

As the service was over, I ran in to a friend who asked a question about what is the definition of respect. I took it upon myself to look it up this evening and have included some definitions of respect from an online dictionary below:

Respect:

- esteem for or a sense of the worth or excellence of a person, a personal quality or ability, or something considered as a manifestation of a personal quality or ability

- deference to a right, privilege, privileged position, or someone or something considered to have certain rights or privileges; proper acceptance or courtesy; acknowledgment

- the condition of being esteemed or honored

- favor or partiality.

- to show regard or consideration for

So ladies, the question I have for you is does respect have to be earned or should we respect the men in our lives no matter what? Biblically, there is no question that we must respect men (especially our husbands) no matter what. I realize that for some this can be easier said than done. However, if we do not than we are being disobedient to what the Bible says.

Some of you attended the marriage seminar at church recently or have read the book "Love and Respect". Are you applying these principles to your daily walk with God and in relationships with all men in your life?

Some of the ways that Pastor Ken mentioned that we can show men respect are as follows:

1. Tell them you respect them and why

2. Ask for their opinions

3. Honor and support them publicly, disagree privately

4. Thank them for working to support the family

5. If married, let them lead

6. Don't nag

7. Listen

8. Cheer their successes and good decisions

9. Minimize their bad decisions

10. Do activities together

11. If married, be physically intimate

12. If you want a solution, let a man fix the problem

13. Respect God

The one thing that I would add to this is pray for the men in your life (especially your husband). This is very important. It is not enough to love them and respect them but pray for them!

For some of you ladies hurting out there and not feeling loved especially from the men in your life or maybe they have betrayed you in some way, I am sure that it will be difficult to show them respect but I am praying for you! We cannot change our husbands, only God can! However, we can change ourselves and be obedient to what God is telling us and I would encourage you ladies to evaluate your own life as hard as it may be. God will give you the strength!

Beautiful Day

2011-06-02T12:16:00.000-04:00

This morning as I drove to a client site in Princeton, I felt a strong urge to not worry about my radio that was not playing music for some reason and just enjoy the quiet. It is very rare that I take that time in the car to just be quiet...that solitutude time! It is hard to find quiet time with three kids so I took advantage of this time. As I drove, I began to look around and really notice my surroundings and even though there was a lot of traffic that isn't what I was noticing. I was looking up in the sky and saw that the sky was a beautiful blue and I couldn't see a cloud in the sky. It was a beautiful morning and a big change from last evening's storm clouds! I had to take some time to just breathe it all in and stand in awe of God's creation! He is so awesome and is a great painter and artist! If I had the radio on, I don't think I would have taken the time to really soak in his presence. The other day, I was at Women's Bible Study at church and we watched a video called "Measureless Love" by Beth Moore. She spoke about the fullness of God spoke about in Eph. 3. Beth mentioned that the annointing is the measure and the overflowing of the fullness of God. How many times have tears come to our eyes and we don't even know why we are crying? I really believe it is like the measuring cup that Beth spoke about that has been filled by the presence of God and now it was overflowing as I drove! I am so looking forward to going away with a bunch of mommy friends this weekend for our MOPS Retreat....Ocean Grove hear we come! I am looking forward to being in God's creation and soaking in his presence and partaking in the fullness of God! Thanks to my wonderful husband for taking care of all three kids! I am truly blessed beyond words!!!!!

Great Devotional from Thriving Family Magazine

2011-05-30T17:52:00.001-04:00

Family Devotions: The Spiritual Discipline of Meditation

Talking to God

Thank God for the power of His Word. Ask Him to help you stay focused on His Word throughout the day so you can become more like Jesus.

Diving In

Put out a plate of snacks. Give everyone permission to dive in, provided they follow one important rule: Each bite of food must be chewed at least 20 times. After each person finishes one bite, invite him or her to describe in detail the different tastes and textures experienced.

Going Deeper

Sometimes people say, "I need to chew on that," meaning, "I need to think about that for a while." When we meditate on Scripture, we're taking time to think about it and "chew on it." If we ate our food without chewing it, we'd hardly be able to taste it. The more we chew, the more we enjoy the taste and gain strength.

It's the same with God's Word. When we take time to think about what it means and how we can use it in our lives, we benefit much more than if we just read it and never think about it again. Romans 12:2 says that we change our lives by renewing our mind, or changing the way we think about things. We can learn to think like God by meditating on His Word.

Talking to Each Other

•What things do you spend most of your time thinking about?

•How might your life change if you spent more time thinking about God's Word?

•What's one passage of Scripture you would like to begin meditating on?

Finishing Well

"Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful." (Joshua 1:8)

Copyright © 2011 by Renee Gray-Wilburn. Used by permission. ThrivingFamily.com.

Two Years Later

2011-05-30T09:36:00.001-04:00

So last night, we started another journey! After reading "Crazy Love" over two years ago, we finally followed God's leading to start a bible study/fellowship in our home to delve in once again! We have been prompted by the Holy Spirit for over a year & knew that we needed to stop walking in disobedience. God placed certain couples on our heart to take this journey with us. We are like-minded individuals & it is refreshing to be encouraged in our walk with God by other believers & to learn more about God together. Our prayer is that this journey will not only strengthen each individual's walk with God but also strengthen each marriage & family represented! We are excited to see what God is going to do & to hear the testimonies of how God spoke to each of us!

Give us our daily bread

2009-03-07T08:09:00.001-05:00

If you watched the video called "The Prayer that Americans refuse to pray" you will have been touched by Prov. 30:7-9 and it's message of asking the Lord for our daily bread. I would have to disagree a little bit with Francis Chan this time because people pray this prayer all the time but don't think about what they are praying. Let me explain!

The verse that is cross-referenced to Prov. 30:7-9 is Matt. 6:11 which is the portion of the Lord's prayer that says, "Give us our daily bread". Let's be honest, how many of us have prayed that prayer so many times that we couldn't count but never stopped to think about what it is really saying? It has become a routine but we never stop and realize that we are asking God to give us what we need just for TODAY!!! Think about it! What an awesome revelation and it definitely takes the routine out of the Lord's prayer for me and I hope and pray that it does for you too!!!

Joy comes in the morning

2009-02-28T09:28:00.002-05:00

Last night Corey came home from play practice sometime after 10 pm and shared about the awesome time they had! God is so good!!! Then I shared some of my struggles, we prayed and decided to start reading Chapter 5. By the time we got to bed it was after 11:30 pm and he had to get up early this morning! I thank God for speaking thru my wonderful husband because the joy began to return and it has really come back this morning!!! I have been listening to one Chris Tomlin song after another. I think it is so appropriate that he is the one that wrote the intro because he is a "true" worshiper! I can't imagine what reading this book must have done to his worship! Every song talks about how awesome, amazing, great, holy is our God!!! Thank you Lord!!!!

Taking words out of my husband's mouth, we are pursuing an extravagant, CRAZY love with our God and will die trying!!!!

Tough Week

2009-02-27T20:39:00.002-05:00

This week has been a tough week! I feel as if I have been starving......we have not been able to hardly read any portions of "Crazy Love" this week because we have had something going on every night and this weekend will not be any better. Then in the middle of the week I had to deal with a situation that I will tell you honestly I was not prayed up enough beforehand and I was blindsided. At first, I felt that this person stole my joy but the reality is that I let the devil steal my joy and I have been struggling ever since. Corey has been reading two other books (one is the Prayer of Jabez for the Easter Drama and the other is the book for the Worship Team bible study) and I know the first is a great book and I am sure the other is too! The problem is that this means that we have not been able to read "Crazy Love" and it is a bit frustrating.....but I am praying that God will give me what I need. I don't want to go ahead of him because we have been on this incredible journey together and so I am praying for patience! Honestly I have fallen in the trap of the "Lukewarm" Christan and have got caught up in my to-do list and the menial daily tasks and lost the focus on the big picture and I have lost my joy and therefore I am being disobedient to our Lord. He commands us to "Rejoice in the Lord always!". Earlier this week, I was led to a song by Chris Tomlin called "Holy is the Lord" and the lyrics are below. It reminded me of many things but especially that "the Joy of the Lord is our strength" and "the Earth is filled with His glory". We need to be reminded of this all time (especially me!!!!). See the lyrics below:

Holy is the Lord (Chris Tomlin)

We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He

And together we sing

[Chorus]
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory

We stand and lift up our hands
For the joy of the Lord is our strength
We bow down and worship Him now
How great, how awesome is He

And together we sing
Everyone sing

[Chorus]
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
Holy is the Lord God Almighty
The earth is filled with His glory
The earth is filled with His glory

It's rising up all around
It's the anthem of the Lord's renown
Repeat

And together we sing,
Everyone sing

[Chorus]

Understanding what you are reading

2009-02-20T13:42:00.002-05:00

I wanted to share with you what the Holy Spirit put on my heart. I will say that the comments that I am about to make is not directed at any person but, will cause you to "stop and think". We have reading through the Bible in a year and I am not saying that is a bad thing to do but, in order to get a cleary grasp an understanding and appreciation for the Word Of God we must take our time and meditate on His word. The same holds tgru for "Crazy Love". I am not comparing this book to the Word, there is no comparison, but what I am saying is that this is a book that you cannot rush through. If you intended to do that, then you should put the book away or give it to someone else to read. As well for those of us that are married we should read the book together and be patient. If either one of you are tired, had a long day or whatever it may be, DO NOT carry on with this book without your partner. Be patient and wait, afterall this book is meant for us to have a "Crazy Love" for Him so that we may love each other better.

For His Glory!!!!!!!

Chapter 4

2009-02-19T14:29:00.002-05:00

Wow.....we thought that things couldn't get more intense and then we read Chapter 4 the other night!!!!! The chapter is on being a Lukewarm Christian. We are going to have to reread this chapter as there was so much stuff in it and so many different passages of the Bible.......one right after the other!!!!! It has really made us re-evaluate our own lives and made us realize that before we began this journey that we were "lukewarm". OUCH!!!!!

Prayer that no one ever prays

2009-02-16T12:54:00.001-05:00

check out Francis Chan's blog at http://francischansblog.blogspot.com/ and view the video - The prayer Americans refuse to pray

Welcome

2009-02-16T11:52:00.001-05:00

What an awesome journey that Corey and I have been on these past few weeks!!!!! We are excited about what God has been doing in our lives and in our marriage. It seems that we are seeing everything with different eyes. Thank you Lord! This blog is a result of our discussions regarding the book, "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. Please feel free to post your comments.

Thanks to Ms. Grace for turning us on to this wonderful book!!!!!