Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Acts 1:15-26
This week's schedule:
Wednesday (tomorrow): Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 103:1-20
Thursday (May 17): Reading 2: 1 John 4:11-16
Friday (May 18): Gospel: John 17:11-19
Thanks for checkin back! I'm excited to get into the book of Acts. For some reason, it is just one of my favorite books--I guess I just really enjoy reading about the early church and what it looked like.
With that, let's get into it, shall we?
Pray:
Lord, I thank you so much for your Word. You are the author of all things--those things written in ink as well as those that are only written on your hearts. Guide us as we study your Word today. Speak to us and lead us according to your great will. In Jesus' name, AMEN!
Read Attentively:
Acts 1:15-26
15 During those days Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons in the one place). He said, 16 “My brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled which the holy Spirit spoke beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was numbered among us and was allotted a share in this ministry. 18 He bought a parcel of land with the wages of his iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out. 19 This became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem, so that the parcel of land was called in their language ‘Akeldama,’ that is, Field of Blood.
20 For it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘Let his encampment become desolate, and may no one dwell in it.’ And: ‘May another take his office.’ 21 Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.” 26 Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.
My immediate thought here is ... wow... they sure did move on quickly from telling about how Judas died to filling his office--especially after so gruesome an explanation of the death (bursting open and all his insides spilling out and all ... ). I also think it is interesting that they are recounting the way he died, almost as if on purpose--to remind everyone of what befalls those who betray the Lord. Maybe not, but that's just my take on it at the moment.
I also find it interesting the way they went about deciding on the new apostle to take Judas' place--they prayed a simple prayer and then went on to "cast lots" or vote. And Matthias won the vote, so he was counted as one of the apostles.
Imagine/Meditate: It's like they just trusted God to work inside their daily routine--not asking for anything special or some miraculous sign. That's pretty amazing to me--I think so often, we get caught up in this idea that God has to speak in some out of the ordinary way...but isn't God's voice usually that still quiet whisper??? Doesn't He bless us daily in the sunrise and sunset? Doesn't He guide us by the windows that open and the doors that close, rather than yell out "HEY YOU--TURN LEFT!! TAKE THAT ROAD!!!" His voice is often quiet and "ordinary"...it beats within our own heartbeat, whispers within our own thoughts.
Our God is a God of order--just look at creation...it is incredibly orderly and logical; one thing leading to the next and all interdependent on each other.
Apply:
We got to stop looking for the "signs" and "miracles"...at least the way that we think of those things...we have to look closer; listen more intently; find the joy and the MIRACLE in this everyday thing we call LIFE. It's true--God DOES sometimes speak to us loudly or amaze us with His miracles that bend the laws of nature...but if you think about it, usually that is when we are REALLY off course and in a heap of trouble and He is trying to get our attention...it's kind of nice not to be in a place where God has to YELL for me to hear Him.
I think I'll wait here a while ... basking in the miracle of the morning sunlight and listening to the whispers on the wind.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Ephesians 1:15-23
Pray: Father God, as I approach your Word today, open my eyes, that I might see your face; open my ears, that I might hear your voice; open my heart, that I might accept what you have for me today. Let my love for you ever increase and let my life be forever changed by this washing with Your Word. In your name, I pray, AMEN.
Read Attentively:
Ephesians 1:15-23
15
16171181920212223
Read Attentively:
Ephesians 1:15-23
15
15 Therefore, I, too, hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and of your love for all the holy ones, 16 do not cease giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, 17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. 18 May the eyes of [your] hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, 19 and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, 20 which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, 21 far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22 And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.
Ok..so from the beginning, I notice one thing--there are a LOT of comma splices and run-on sentences here. (English geek, I know...) That means that this passage can be difficult to understand unless you understand the purpose for all of those commas.
As an overview, I can tell that this is a prayer or blessing that the author wrote for the reader. I know this because the author starts off saying that he always remembers the reader in his prayers and then goes on to say HOW he does so and what he prays for.
When I run into a bunch of run-ons and comma splices, I understand that the author is sort of "listing" a bunch of things that are all related. SO, I find it helpful to LIST the things in order that I find in the passage, often using the commas to help guide that list. Here's what that might look like. (Keep in mind, these techniques are not always perfect).
I am going to start off where I see the first "that", because THAT is where the list really begins. I am also going to OMIT the "asides" caused by comma splices because they make the passage confusing. These "asides" are marked by commas--->one at the beginning of the aside and one at the end of the aside. Finally, I will INDENT and add an arrow after the quality or virtue that is being prayed for so the extra words don't confuse our list. We can come back to the post-amble later, but for the moment, I just want to get down to the bare bones-->what is this guy asking God for here??
SO...I'll summarize that first run-on sentence as a starting point...
I always give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, THAT:
-The God of our Lord Jesus Christ...may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation
---> resulting in knowledge of Him
-the eyes of your hearts be enlightened
----> that you may know:
-what is the hope that belongs to His call
-what are the riches of glory in his inheritance...
-what is the surpassing greatness of His power...
STOP. These are the 2 things that the author is praying for--that God would give the reader a spirit of wisdom and revelation and that their eyes would be enlightened. Everything that comes after "power" is a SUB-POINT of "what is the surpassing greatness of His power"...it is an explanation or an expansion of that power. The author is EXPLAINING to the reader exactly what that power entails. We could make a new list about that power like this:
What is the surpassing greatness of His power:
-raising Him from the dead
-seating Him at His right hand in the heavens
-far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name...
-put all things beneath His feet
-gave Him as head over all things to the church...
-the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way
All of these things literally are describing and explaining God's power and what His power includes.
When we list it like this, it is a bit easier to break down and understand. This is a good place to move on to the next step in PRIMA--> Imagine
Imagine: Think about this...this amazing apostle of the Lord is writing to YOU...telling you that he is praying for you---not only that, he tells you exactly WHAT he is praying FOR... that's pretty cool, right? I know that sometimes when people say they are praying for me, I wonder if they really are, or if they just felt like that was the right thing to say at the time...but when it is spelled out like this, you know they really ARE praying for you..and if they weren't, they certainly just did when they extended that blessing. The really cool thing here, is that scripture transcends time, so the author meant this prayer and blessing NOT just for the reader at the time--the church in Ephesus--he ALSO meant it for YOU and me. That's pretty cool.
Meditate: The author also uses this blessing as a way to remind the reader of God's power and promises. Prayer should always do that--> it should always remind us of God's greatness. Jesus demonstrates this for us in the Our Father when he says "Hallowed be thy name". That means "HOLY be your name" ..it reminds us of the CHARACTER of God. One of the most powerful thing about praying WITH someone (like in a way that they can actually HEAR you...) is that your words can remind them of God's character and His promises. If you only go home and pray for them when you are alone, they cannot benefit from the promises that YOU know about that has caused you to know that God CAN indeed help them. It's like taking a minute to tell them "hey, I'm praying for you NOT because I pity you, but because this God we serve is AWESOME, He loves you, and He is ABLE to help you with this situation." Praying for someone is ALWAYS powerful, but praying for someone OUT LOUD or IN WRITING can be something even more powerful because it plants a little seed of God's promises into the heart of the person you are praying for.
All of that being said, we haven't even really looked at what is being prayed FOR yet today...we have simply looked at the FORM of the prayer and the RATIONALE as to why it was written down.
TRY THIS: pray this prayer for yourself over the next few days...just insert "I" or "me" for the "you"s. I also like to put it into first person, changing the references to God to "you" instead of "Him".... something like this:
"Father of Glory, give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation, resulting in knowledge of you. May the eyes of my heart be enlightened, that I may know what is the hope that belongs to your call, what are the riches of glory in your inheritance...and what is the surpassing greatness of Your power...which You worked out in Christ by raising Him from the dead and seating Him at Your right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named...you put all things beneath His feet and gave Him as head over all things to the church..."
It's important to look at those big words and figure out what they mean.
Essentially, the last part talks about the fact that God is bigger and stronger than ALL things, but specifies these 4 things: principality, authority, power and dominion.
Principality---> principles, ideas, thoughts, temptations
Authority---> governments, anyone who is above yourself in power (could be a teacher, parent, etc.)
Power ---> this includes the powers of evil and the works of satan
Dominion ---> anything that has power over you or that "dominates" you...this could refer to addictions, oppressions, depressions...any spirit that could dominate you
Let's move onto the next step and complete our PRIMA--> Apply
Apply: There are a couple of things to take from this (and a lot more if we had more time to break it down!) I'm taking away these things today:
1. This is an awesome and powerful prayer that I can pray for myself and also for my friends, loved ones and the greater body of believers out there.
2. Spoken or Written prayer can be even more powerful and provide IMMEDIATE blessings when we remember God's character and promises in our prayers.
3. That God is BIGGER than and BETTER than EVERYthing that could possibly come against me. He is fully able to defeat these things---and in the resurrection, HE ALREADY HAS!
Check back tomorrow for a deeper look at this Sunday's 1st reading: Acts 1:15-26
Here's a look at the schedule for the rest of this week:
Tuesday (tomorrow): Reading 1: Acts 1:15-26
Wednesday (May 16): Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 103:1-20
Thursday (May 17): Reading 2: 1 John 4:11-16
Friday (May 18): Gospel: John 17:11-19
Thanks for checkin' in! Talk to you tomorrow!
-Candice
Saturday (April 14): Ephesians 1:15-23
Thursday, May 3, 2012
So, I ran across this today as I ran a random search for my name on google....don't ask--I am a strange bird and do this from time to time to find out just what the WWW knows about me....it's scary....put your name in and try it!
Either way, I found this and thought "huh, this is exactly what I'm thinking today"...it was from a blog post I wrote in 2006....
Either way, I found this and thought "huh, this is exactly what I'm thinking today"...it was from a blog post I wrote in 2006....
Are you in love with Christ? I don't mean "are you a christian" or "do you go to church"...I mean are you IN LOVE with Jesus?
I remember when I met my husband...for almost a year, he was just the training manager at AOL...I never imagined or desired that we would ever have anything more than a transactional business relationship. Isn't it amazing how you can "know" someone in such a way that you never actually know him? You might see that person every single day and talk to him every single day and never actually KNOW him. I remember exactly where I was when I fell for him....I was in my car in front of my Dad's house...we had been talking on the phone while I was driving home from work and it was late and I didn't want to wake up Shiloh so I stayed out in my car and talked a while.
Have you ever noticed the smog that settles over Albuquerque? We live our whole lives wandering around in this cloud of pollution. From the window seat of an airplane it's really quite disgusting when you look at it...there's literally this fog that just sits on top of our city. That's what it was like before that day in my car....like I was walking around breathing in the pollution...the toxins set into my muscles...the darkness into my thoughts...and when we were talking it was like a breath of fresh air that seemed to flow throughout my body washing away all the poison I had been breathing in for so long...
As my heart and eyes began to open to the awesomeness of his love and the possiblity of what we could have together...all of the "cancer" slowly faded away... cancer that is caused by broken promises or failed attempts at trust... as I fell deeper in love, everything in my life changed--the way I looked at things, the places I went and with whom I spent my time...every thought was consumed by thoughts of him...the sacrifices that I've made for my husband and my family came so easily to me, as if they weren't sacrifices at all...the changes in my attitude towards my very dominant "feminist" side were so sudden yet so easy to let go of...that's how it is when you find love...the two of you grow together and everything in life becomes about that growth, that togetherness, that relationship...how you can nuture it, what's best for the two of you...knowing what things set him off and simply avoiding doing them--not because you're letting him "change you", but because you love him dearly and that's all that matters. You adopt a "whatever it takes" mindset as you approach life and you guard your love and your relationship with everything you are and all the strength you have because it is just that dear to you. When he weeps or something hurts him, it hurts you just the same. When he is overjoyed, your joy sings with his. Life is about the two of you...and it is beautiful.
So I ask you, are you in love with Jesus? Does the cancer fade away when you are in His presence? Is He the air that you breathe in a world of pollution? Are your thoughts consumed by Him? Are the sacrifices you make because you love Him dearly and desire to be close to Him and to guard your relationship with Him? Or are they simply religious acts that you do out of habit or guilt or obligation or because it's "the right thing to do"? Are you striving to change yourself or do you allow Him and His Love to transform you? Are you ready to do whatever it takes to be close to Him, to be in His presence? Does your heart break when His does? Is He what your life is about?
I don't want a religion; simply a list of "to do's" and "not to do's"...I don't want want to be simply a "good person"...for who, really, is good? If you do not have the One who is the absolute good...really, can you be good? Do I want to be nice and generous and all those things? Sure, I guess everyone does...but it's not in me to do so...only in Him do I have hope of being anything better than what I am...I just want to be completely head over heels in love with Jesus...to know Him deeply and need Him desperately...to sit in His presence as He washes away my sin...
...for I am nothing apart from Him.
Yep. I think that about sums it up. Wisdom from a much younger (and perhaps wiser, Candice)...
-Candice
Monday, April 16, 2012
Good morning!
What a crazy weekend! The boys both had games and team pictures on Saturday plus Izzy had gymnastics, so I felt like I had to somehow magically duplicate myself in order to be in 3 places at once--oh yeah..and did I mention that Radford also had to work on Saturday???
I hate to admit it, but I was pretty relieved when the afternoon games were canceled because of the wind! Five kids at a baseball field from 8:30am-4:30pm really is not a great way to spend the day--for any of us!!
Some interesting announcements!
WAY COOL--the USCCB has a daily readings audio podcast that you can subscribe to at:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings-audio.cfm
Check it out!
TALENT SHOW!
Our youth group will be working to put together a youth and young adult TALENT SHOW May 25th! This will be an awesome way to finish off our academic year and transition into something more casual for the summer. More details and info to come!
Okay...now for the scriptures...I'm picking up with Ephesians chapter 1 since I have been so horribe about getting to this every day--I'm sorry!! I will do better!
Pray:
Father God, you are holy above all else. I offer up this time to you and ask that you have your way as I read through Your Word. Open my eyes that I might see your face; open my ears that I might hear your voice; my heart that I might receive you fully. Help me, Lord, to be holy as You are holy. Forgive me, Lord for the times when I have failed to live up to your standard of holiness. Teach me, also, to forgive as you do, that I may be a vessel of your grace. Strengthen me, O God, that I might resist and flee from temptation in my persuit of holiness. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
READ: Ephesians 1:11-14
[11] In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, [12] so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. [13] In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, [14] which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.
So right off the bat, my first impression of this scripture is...the sacrament of Confirmation. Isn't it THEN that we experience this? It is then that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, then that we receive the Holy Spirit-the first installment of our inheritance.
I love the way this starts off, though.... "In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of His will"... summarize when the sheer number of words makes it hard to understand...here's my summary: "We were chosen by God, destined to be His by the God of all who can do anything".
So often in life, I personally feel like I am NOT "chosen" or "wanted"...but this verse reminds me that I AM CHOSEN BY GOD. CHOSEN is a very powerful word--it goes way beyond just "randomly picked"...I think sometimes that what we think when we hear that we were "chosen" by God. Remember that God is NOT RANDOM and He can do anything. SO, when it says that you are CHOSEN, it means that God foresaw all that you would become--all your beauty and all your sins as well...yet He said "I need" for this task. NOBODY else could fill the role that God has intended for you. YOU ALONE were chosen for that role and God created it for you according to the passions, gifts, and unique experiences that He knew you would have. It is not like on the playground in elementary school when you are "chosen" 3rd or 4th or if you were me--LAST...the left over the "ok...I guess I can use you..." GOD DOES NOT CHOOSE US LIKE THIS...NO. God CREATED YOU for this purpose and NEEDS YOU ALONE to accomplish it. No one else can fill those shoes--and no matter how "great" someone else is in OUR eyes...when God looks on YOU, He sees something PERFECT and BEAUTIFUL...the absolute PERFECT CHOICE for the calling He has in store for you. He has been waiting anxiously to "choose" you, to "draft" you for this great calling. Pretty amazing, huh??
Of course, it goes on with another one of those "SO THAT" statements ("For the purpose of") letting us know WHY it is that He has chosen us--that we may exist for the praise of His glory. That people might see US and Praise HIS NAME...that they might be drawn to HIM through US and that they might escape from the king of this world--the devil...that is always why God calls us to bring glory to His name--it is a rescue mission of sorts...we go out and we praise His name and draw those who are utterly lost back into His arms, that they might know and experience the God that we serve.
Let's continue on here... there is a small process that happens in the next verse...it says: "you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit,"
A process is always obvious if you can break it down into steps like "first, second, third"...Let's do that here... FIRST...you HEARD, SECOND...you BELIEVED, THIRD...you were SEALED.
As an English teacher, it's easy for me to see these things, because I look at the verbs--there are three distinct verbs here, which tells me that there is more than just one thing going on here. Remember that when we see a process in the Bible, we can follow the same steps that we see in the process in order to receive the same results that happened in that process.
SO, FIRST...you have heard--that's what happens when you are small and are being raised in the Faith...you are hearing about it from your parents, your Catechists, priest, etc. It is a faith that you know about and have some degree of understanding for, but it is not really YOUR faith yet--meaning you have not chosen it for yourself...it was chosen for you.
SECOND...you have believed--that's when you believe it for yourself...you choose it for yourself. You finally say "my parents have been telling me all this stuff and now I know it is true". This is part of confirmation--it is that choice that we all make and when we make that choice, the third thing happens.
THIRD...you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit--this happens automatically after you have heard and then believed. It is officiated in the Sacrament of Confirmation--an outward sign of an inward grace. So at Confirmation, you are SEALED with the Holy Spirit--remembering, of course, that the sacraments are an OUTWARD SIGN of an INWARD grace. (So if you didn't mean it...you weren't sealed..get it??) "SEALED" means like "case closed"... done.... it is finished... sealed. That means, that now you are no longer in that "searching" part of your faith...you're no longer standing in the door trying to decide if you are going to come inside or not. Confirmation is when you decide "This is MY Faith. I understand it, I believe it, I accept it. It is no longer my parent's faith. It is MINE. I am ready, now, to enter the spiritual war that is happening. I'm enlisting in God's army." When you come in and close that door behind you....when you sign those enlistment papers, if you will...you are SEALED with the Holy Spirit. You get your uniform and your first assignment.
The next part is also exciting. Not only are we SEALED with the Holy Spirit, we also RECEIVE the Holy Spirit--the first installment of our inheritance. With the Holy Spirit comes conviction and discernment and power in spiritual battle. We are not simply left to venture out on our own here...we are given the Holy Spirit to help us, to encourage us, to strengthen us, to empower us!
We are not alone in this war we wage--we have the Holy Spirit. We also have God the Father, God the Son...and of course eachother--the communion of Saints.
As we wage this war remember this also--when Christ rose from the dead...HE CONQUERED THE GRAVE...which means that this is a fixed battle....we have ALREADY WON. Keep pressing on, dear soldier. The war is long and hard...but we have already won.
In Christ,
Candice
What a crazy weekend! The boys both had games and team pictures on Saturday plus Izzy had gymnastics, so I felt like I had to somehow magically duplicate myself in order to be in 3 places at once--oh yeah..and did I mention that Radford also had to work on Saturday???
I hate to admit it, but I was pretty relieved when the afternoon games were canceled because of the wind! Five kids at a baseball field from 8:30am-4:30pm really is not a great way to spend the day--for any of us!!
Some interesting announcements!
WAY COOL--the USCCB has a daily readings audio podcast that you can subscribe to at:
http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings-audio.cfm
Check it out!
TALENT SHOW!
Our youth group will be working to put together a youth and young adult TALENT SHOW May 25th! This will be an awesome way to finish off our academic year and transition into something more casual for the summer. More details and info to come!
Okay...now for the scriptures...I'm picking up with Ephesians chapter 1 since I have been so horribe about getting to this every day--I'm sorry!! I will do better!
Pray:
Father God, you are holy above all else. I offer up this time to you and ask that you have your way as I read through Your Word. Open my eyes that I might see your face; open my ears that I might hear your voice; my heart that I might receive you fully. Help me, Lord, to be holy as You are holy. Forgive me, Lord for the times when I have failed to live up to your standard of holiness. Teach me, also, to forgive as you do, that I may be a vessel of your grace. Strengthen me, O God, that I might resist and flee from temptation in my persuit of holiness. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen
READ: Ephesians 1:11-14
[11] In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, [12] so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ. [13] In him you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit, [14] which is the first installment of our inheritance toward redemption as God’s possession, to the praise of his glory.
So right off the bat, my first impression of this scripture is...the sacrament of Confirmation. Isn't it THEN that we experience this? It is then that we are sealed with the Holy Spirit, then that we receive the Holy Spirit-the first installment of our inheritance.
I love the way this starts off, though.... "In him we were also chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of His will"... summarize when the sheer number of words makes it hard to understand...here's my summary: "We were chosen by God, destined to be His by the God of all who can do anything".
So often in life, I personally feel like I am NOT "chosen" or "wanted"...but this verse reminds me that I AM CHOSEN BY GOD. CHOSEN is a very powerful word--it goes way beyond just "randomly picked"...I think sometimes that what we think when we hear that we were "chosen" by God. Remember that God is NOT RANDOM and He can do anything. SO, when it says that you are CHOSEN, it means that God foresaw all that you would become--all your beauty and all your sins as well...yet He said "I need
Of course, it goes on with another one of those "SO THAT" statements ("For the purpose of") letting us know WHY it is that He has chosen us--that we may exist for the praise of His glory. That people might see US and Praise HIS NAME...that they might be drawn to HIM through US and that they might escape from the king of this world--the devil...that is always why God calls us to bring glory to His name--it is a rescue mission of sorts...we go out and we praise His name and draw those who are utterly lost back into His arms, that they might know and experience the God that we serve.
Let's continue on here... there is a small process that happens in the next verse...it says: "you also, who have heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and have believed in him, were sealed with the promised holy Spirit,"
A process is always obvious if you can break it down into steps like "first, second, third"...Let's do that here... FIRST...you HEARD, SECOND...you BELIEVED, THIRD...you were SEALED.
As an English teacher, it's easy for me to see these things, because I look at the verbs--there are three distinct verbs here, which tells me that there is more than just one thing going on here. Remember that when we see a process in the Bible, we can follow the same steps that we see in the process in order to receive the same results that happened in that process.
SO, FIRST...you have heard--that's what happens when you are small and are being raised in the Faith...you are hearing about it from your parents, your Catechists, priest, etc. It is a faith that you know about and have some degree of understanding for, but it is not really YOUR faith yet--meaning you have not chosen it for yourself...it was chosen for you.
SECOND...you have believed--that's when you believe it for yourself...you choose it for yourself. You finally say "my parents have been telling me all this stuff and now I know it is true". This is part of confirmation--it is that choice that we all make and when we make that choice, the third thing happens.
THIRD...you have been sealed with the Holy Spirit--this happens automatically after you have heard and then believed. It is officiated in the Sacrament of Confirmation--an outward sign of an inward grace. So at Confirmation, you are SEALED with the Holy Spirit--remembering, of course, that the sacraments are an OUTWARD SIGN of an INWARD grace. (So if you didn't mean it...you weren't sealed..get it??) "SEALED" means like "case closed"... done.... it is finished... sealed. That means, that now you are no longer in that "searching" part of your faith...you're no longer standing in the door trying to decide if you are going to come inside or not. Confirmation is when you decide "This is MY Faith. I understand it, I believe it, I accept it. It is no longer my parent's faith. It is MINE. I am ready, now, to enter the spiritual war that is happening. I'm enlisting in God's army." When you come in and close that door behind you....when you sign those enlistment papers, if you will...you are SEALED with the Holy Spirit. You get your uniform and your first assignment.
The next part is also exciting. Not only are we SEALED with the Holy Spirit, we also RECEIVE the Holy Spirit--the first installment of our inheritance. With the Holy Spirit comes conviction and discernment and power in spiritual battle. We are not simply left to venture out on our own here...we are given the Holy Spirit to help us, to encourage us, to strengthen us, to empower us!
We are not alone in this war we wage--we have the Holy Spirit. We also have God the Father, God the Son...and of course eachother--the communion of Saints.
As we wage this war remember this also--when Christ rose from the dead...HE CONQUERED THE GRAVE...which means that this is a fixed battle....we have ALREADY WON. Keep pressing on, dear soldier. The war is long and hard...but we have already won.
In Christ,
Candice
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Acts, Psalms and 1st John--oh my!
Hello dear friends! It's been 3 days since I've posted--I'm so sorry! Yesterday was the end of the grading period, so I have been drowning in papers to grade! I graded over 200 papers over the last few days!!!
All of this is an unworthy excuse, however...often in life we do not HAVE time...rather we must MAKE TIME for the Lord and for His Word! I have failed to do this and I'm sorry! Keep me accountable, guys--bug me (REALLY) if I don't post everyday...this helps me keep my promises to God! **THANK YOU, JAIME, FOR YOUR COMMENT ON HERE--I AGREE! And your comment made me come back and post again--hey someone actually reads this!!!** Accountability is an excellent tool we can use to keep ourselves walking the straight path when the crooked path seems so much easier and shorter! (Even though it really ISN'T!)
That being said, I am going to SKIP to today's "assigned reading" --1 John 5:1-6. I do this because we ask our students to simply pick up with the daily reading if they have gotten off track--otherwise it is way too overwhelming and it may deter them from returning. Remember, His mercies are new every morning. So, it's forgiven, forgotten...let's break the bread.
This is a mobile variety...I'm sitting in the lobby waiting for Madi's dance performance which begins in an hour, so I'm googling the scriptures so that I can MAKE TIME right now to focus on God's word in the midst of an incredibly hectic week!
PRAY:
Father God...you are amazing and your word is a light and a lamp unto my path. It is water in time of great thirst. I offer up this time to you and ask that you have your way in me as I dissect your Holy Word. Open my eyes that I may discern your Truth, my ears that I may hear your voice, my heart, that I may receive you fully. Help me to understand that which I read and guide me as I stive to communicate your Truth to others. Forgive me, Lord, for not always making time for you and help me to be a vessel of your mercy as I have myself received it. When I am weary and tempted not to make time for you, remind my heart of your love and faithfulness. Strengthen me and draw me to the waters of your love. In your Holy Name, I pray...AMEN.
READ ATTENTIVELY:
1 John 5:1-6
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
I must say that this is one of my favorite passages of scripture! Let's break it apart a bit...
"Everyone who believes / everyone who loves / everyone born of God" These three lines are CONTRACTS. The difference between a contract and a promise is that a promise is a given plain and simple. God promises never to flood the earth again....plain and simple, no ifs ands or buts....THESE ARE DIFFERENT. The words "EVERYONE WHO" let us know that we are about to read a contract... think about it this way... EVERYONE WHO has an "A" in english is going on the field trip. SO...there is a "qualifier"...there is something that determines WHO is going and WHO is not going...anytime we see these words in scripture, we have to be very careful to read and see what exactly is the contract if there is one.
These ones are:
EVERYONE WHO believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God--READ CAREFULLY HERE! It does not simply say "everyone who believes that Jesus Christ is born of God"... NOTE the words "IS THE" between Jesus and Christ--the word CHRIST is not His last name...CHRIST is interchangeable with "Messiah" or "Savior" SO...EVERYONE WHO believes that Jesus is the SAVIOR is born of God...SO THOSE people that believe this are the ones who are born of God...every one of them and nobody else.
"Born of God"--what does THAT mean?? Well, if you are born of "Jane Doe", then you are "Jane Doe's" child, right?? You are an heir to the inheritance of Jane Doe and you partake in the blessings of being a child of Jane Do.... IN THE SAME WAY, when it says we are "Born of God", it means that we are CHILDREN of GOD...we are "join heirs with Christ" we share in the inheritance and blessings of God and His riches. We have access to Him and the gifts He has. We can call out "Abba Father" / "Daddy" just like a child calls out to her father, and know that He hears us.
EVERYONE WHO loves the Father loves His child as well--this one is a bit different. It is a contract, yes, but it is not a contract where God is giving us a promise like the other two. Contracts do NOT always come hand in hand with promises. THIS is a "qualifier" for the promises...it is saying everyone who loves the Father must also love His child--as in "it is impossible to love God without loving God's child(ren)" It is here to make you very aware of the rest of the passage. Contracts are funny because they also say the OPPOSITE of themselves..here, anyone who does NOT love God's child(ren) does NOT love God. It is a stated fact from God. IF you do not LOVE the Father, you CANNOT love His children; if you do not LOVE his children, you CANNOT love the Father. The contract here is that IF you Love God, then you can also TRULY love His children.
This verse is interesting to me because it is stating that if you don't love God, you CANNOT love the children of God, which might cause some of us to argue. "Well certainly people who don't love God can love His children"...but it is making that point here on purpose--no, really, you cannot TRULY LOVE His children without first loving HIM because HE IS LOVE and the AUTHOR of LOVE, the GIVER of LOVE...this was also stated in the previous chapter of 1 John. So without loving God, they do not have access to that true, Christ-like, sacrificial love...it is not within them to love to that extent, only a shallower version of "love"
This scripture poses a question to the careful reader...If I must love God's children in order to truly love God...then HOW DO I LOVE GOD's CHILDREN???
It goes on to tell us and we'll get to that in a minute...
EVERYONE (who is) born of God overcomes the world--that goes back to the first point--if we are born of God, then we have this promise--that we DO overcome the world..the world = sin, temptation, evil, distress, dispair...those things that come to us by the king of this world--satan. We are no longer in bonds to these things...rather, we CHOOSE them--sometimes this choice is easier than choosing the GOOD, but nonetheless, we are no longer under the control of the enemy...we are freed from the slavery of sin...we overcome the world.
HOWEVER this passage can seem like a very big warm fuzzy if you do not take a second good look at that second contract--that stated fact about loving God and loving His children.
Before we check this off the list prematurely, let's look at what the rest of the scripture has to say about this...
Going back to that question we must ask ourselves....HOW do we love the children of God?
2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
It lays it out... by loving God and carrying out His commands...and His commands are not burdensome. What about that "love your neighbor as yourself" command...easy, right?
Well...did you feed yourself, clothe yourself, house yourself, make yourself feel pretty...etc... today?? Did you feed, cloethe, house, encourage anyone else today?? Did you steal today? Stealing can be much more than material items...did you steal the credit for someone else's effort? Did you lie--even just a lie of ommission--where you simply witheld the WHOLE truth? Did you murder--maybe not "murder"...but did you kill a person's spirit, self esteem with your words--the tongue has the power of life and death... DID WE DO THESE THINGS (and the ones I did not detail here)...before we even DARE approach #1....Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and have no others before Him....but....did you?? Did you put your image, your work, your fear of ridicule, fear of loss, fear of whatever else before Him? Did you put your perception of TIME before Him...failing to MAKE TIME for Him like I so often have?? Did you put sports or APATHY before Him?? We cheer and roar and weep at games...When's the last time we cheered that loud at church??
It is a hefty list to say that we have TRULY carried out these commands..and the second part of that is almost laughable....did you do all these things and do so in an attitude that they are NOT burdensome.....that means "without complaining--in your head counts too...He knows your thoughts".... DID WE DO ALL THESE THINGS WILLINGLY and WITHOUT COMPLAINING??
OUCH...
The water and blood thing at the end is also really interesting...obviously we can look and say "hey--the two symbols of our faith...water and blood" water--the water baptism; blood--the sacrifice on the cross.... we must be baptised both in water and in the blood of the cross...
Interesting fact--John, the disciple Jesus loved, and Mary the mother of Jesus were the first to receive these both--when Christ was pierced on the cross, water and blood flowed out of the wound. These are really interesting because not only is it symbolic of the baptism and the sacrifice....but it is also an interesting scientific truth! When a person suffocates--as was the death of many (including Jesus) on the Cross (I can explain this in further detail later if needed!)--when a person suffocates to death, their heart chamber fills with a clear solution as they die--looks just like water....when Jesus was pierced, it was this that flowed out along with the blood. I always found this interesting because some people speculate about whether Jesus was really DEAD when He was laid in the tomb and thus ignore His resurrection....but indeed, this is just one piece of proof that He did in fact DIE on that cross.
Anyway, there is a LOT to these two symbols. I'm going to let some of you comment here on those since it's almost that time and I don't want to miss the show!
GOD BLESS!!!
All of this is an unworthy excuse, however...often in life we do not HAVE time...rather we must MAKE TIME for the Lord and for His Word! I have failed to do this and I'm sorry! Keep me accountable, guys--bug me (REALLY) if I don't post everyday...this helps me keep my promises to God! **THANK YOU, JAIME, FOR YOUR COMMENT ON HERE--I AGREE! And your comment made me come back and post again--hey someone actually reads this!!!** Accountability is an excellent tool we can use to keep ourselves walking the straight path when the crooked path seems so much easier and shorter! (Even though it really ISN'T!)
That being said, I am going to SKIP to today's "assigned reading" --1 John 5:1-6. I do this because we ask our students to simply pick up with the daily reading if they have gotten off track--otherwise it is way too overwhelming and it may deter them from returning. Remember, His mercies are new every morning. So, it's forgiven, forgotten...let's break the bread.
This is a mobile variety...I'm sitting in the lobby waiting for Madi's dance performance which begins in an hour, so I'm googling the scriptures so that I can MAKE TIME right now to focus on God's word in the midst of an incredibly hectic week!
PRAY:
Father God...you are amazing and your word is a light and a lamp unto my path. It is water in time of great thirst. I offer up this time to you and ask that you have your way in me as I dissect your Holy Word. Open my eyes that I may discern your Truth, my ears that I may hear your voice, my heart, that I may receive you fully. Help me to understand that which I read and guide me as I stive to communicate your Truth to others. Forgive me, Lord, for not always making time for you and help me to be a vessel of your mercy as I have myself received it. When I am weary and tempted not to make time for you, remind my heart of your love and faithfulness. Strengthen me and draw me to the waters of your love. In your Holy Name, I pray...AMEN.
READ ATTENTIVELY:
1 John 5:1-6
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
I must say that this is one of my favorite passages of scripture! Let's break it apart a bit...
"Everyone who believes / everyone who loves / everyone born of God" These three lines are CONTRACTS. The difference between a contract and a promise is that a promise is a given plain and simple. God promises never to flood the earth again....plain and simple, no ifs ands or buts....THESE ARE DIFFERENT. The words "EVERYONE WHO" let us know that we are about to read a contract... think about it this way... EVERYONE WHO has an "A" in english is going on the field trip. SO...there is a "qualifier"...there is something that determines WHO is going and WHO is not going...anytime we see these words in scripture, we have to be very careful to read and see what exactly is the contract if there is one.
These ones are:
EVERYONE WHO believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God--READ CAREFULLY HERE! It does not simply say "everyone who believes that Jesus Christ is born of God"... NOTE the words "IS THE" between Jesus and Christ--the word CHRIST is not His last name...CHRIST is interchangeable with "Messiah" or "Savior" SO...EVERYONE WHO believes that Jesus is the SAVIOR is born of God...SO THOSE people that believe this are the ones who are born of God...every one of them and nobody else.
"Born of God"--what does THAT mean?? Well, if you are born of "Jane Doe", then you are "Jane Doe's" child, right?? You are an heir to the inheritance of Jane Doe and you partake in the blessings of being a child of Jane Do.... IN THE SAME WAY, when it says we are "Born of God", it means that we are CHILDREN of GOD...we are "join heirs with Christ" we share in the inheritance and blessings of God and His riches. We have access to Him and the gifts He has. We can call out "Abba Father" / "Daddy" just like a child calls out to her father, and know that He hears us.
EVERYONE WHO loves the Father loves His child as well--this one is a bit different. It is a contract, yes, but it is not a contract where God is giving us a promise like the other two. Contracts do NOT always come hand in hand with promises. THIS is a "qualifier" for the promises...it is saying everyone who loves the Father must also love His child--as in "it is impossible to love God without loving God's child(ren)" It is here to make you very aware of the rest of the passage. Contracts are funny because they also say the OPPOSITE of themselves..here, anyone who does NOT love God's child(ren) does NOT love God. It is a stated fact from God. IF you do not LOVE the Father, you CANNOT love His children; if you do not LOVE his children, you CANNOT love the Father. The contract here is that IF you Love God, then you can also TRULY love His children.
This verse is interesting to me because it is stating that if you don't love God, you CANNOT love the children of God, which might cause some of us to argue. "Well certainly people who don't love God can love His children"...but it is making that point here on purpose--no, really, you cannot TRULY LOVE His children without first loving HIM because HE IS LOVE and the AUTHOR of LOVE, the GIVER of LOVE...this was also stated in the previous chapter of 1 John. So without loving God, they do not have access to that true, Christ-like, sacrificial love...it is not within them to love to that extent, only a shallower version of "love"
This scripture poses a question to the careful reader...If I must love God's children in order to truly love God...then HOW DO I LOVE GOD's CHILDREN???
It goes on to tell us and we'll get to that in a minute...
EVERYONE (who is) born of God overcomes the world--that goes back to the first point--if we are born of God, then we have this promise--that we DO overcome the world..the world = sin, temptation, evil, distress, dispair...those things that come to us by the king of this world--satan. We are no longer in bonds to these things...rather, we CHOOSE them--sometimes this choice is easier than choosing the GOOD, but nonetheless, we are no longer under the control of the enemy...we are freed from the slavery of sin...we overcome the world.
HOWEVER this passage can seem like a very big warm fuzzy if you do not take a second good look at that second contract--that stated fact about loving God and loving His children.
Before we check this off the list prematurely, let's look at what the rest of the scripture has to say about this...
Going back to that question we must ask ourselves....HOW do we love the children of God?
2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome,
It lays it out... by loving God and carrying out His commands...and His commands are not burdensome. What about that "love your neighbor as yourself" command...easy, right?
Well...did you feed yourself, clothe yourself, house yourself, make yourself feel pretty...etc... today?? Did you feed, cloethe, house, encourage anyone else today?? Did you steal today? Stealing can be much more than material items...did you steal the credit for someone else's effort? Did you lie--even just a lie of ommission--where you simply witheld the WHOLE truth? Did you murder--maybe not "murder"...but did you kill a person's spirit, self esteem with your words--the tongue has the power of life and death... DID WE DO THESE THINGS (and the ones I did not detail here)...before we even DARE approach #1....Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and have no others before Him....but....did you?? Did you put your image, your work, your fear of ridicule, fear of loss, fear of whatever else before Him? Did you put your perception of TIME before Him...failing to MAKE TIME for Him like I so often have?? Did you put sports or APATHY before Him?? We cheer and roar and weep at games...When's the last time we cheered that loud at church??
It is a hefty list to say that we have TRULY carried out these commands..and the second part of that is almost laughable....did you do all these things and do so in an attitude that they are NOT burdensome.....that means "without complaining--in your head counts too...He knows your thoughts".... DID WE DO ALL THESE THINGS WILLINGLY and WITHOUT COMPLAINING??
OUCH...
The water and blood thing at the end is also really interesting...obviously we can look and say "hey--the two symbols of our faith...water and blood" water--the water baptism; blood--the sacrifice on the cross.... we must be baptised both in water and in the blood of the cross...
Interesting fact--John, the disciple Jesus loved, and Mary the mother of Jesus were the first to receive these both--when Christ was pierced on the cross, water and blood flowed out of the wound. These are really interesting because not only is it symbolic of the baptism and the sacrifice....but it is also an interesting scientific truth! When a person suffocates--as was the death of many (including Jesus) on the Cross (I can explain this in further detail later if needed!)--when a person suffocates to death, their heart chamber fills with a clear solution as they die--looks just like water....when Jesus was pierced, it was this that flowed out along with the blood. I always found this interesting because some people speculate about whether Jesus was really DEAD when He was laid in the tomb and thus ignore His resurrection....but indeed, this is just one piece of proof that He did in fact DIE on that cross.
Anyway, there is a LOT to these two symbols. I'm going to let some of you comment here on those since it's almost that time and I don't want to miss the show!
GOD BLESS!!!
Sunday, April 8, 2012
Ephesians 1:7-10
Hey everybody! HAPPY EASTER! I hope and pray that as we celebrated the resurrection of Our Lord, that He was raised up anew in each of you and you found yourself nearer to Him.
Ephesians 1:7-10...only 3 short verses...let's see what we can discern today.
Pray: Father God...I thank you for your Word which lightens my path and guides me according to your perfect Will. I raise up this time I have with you and ask that you have your way in me as I read through these sacred scriptures and as I strive to live them out in my daily life. Open my eyes that I may see you, my ears that I may hear you, my heart that I may receive you fully. Forgive me, Lord, for times when I look away from the things you want to show me or do in or through me. Help me to walk in your grace and to forgive as you forgive me. Strengthen my heart, Lord, that I may trust fully in you and that I may avoid whatever tempts me to sin. In your Holy Name I pray...AMEN.
Read attentively:
The scripture:
Ephesians 1:7-10
"[7] In Him we have redemption by His blood, the forgivness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of His grace [8] that He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, [9] He has made known to us the mystery of His will in accord with His favor that He set forth in Him [10] as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth."
At first glance...this passage is hard...there are some big words here--redemption, transgressions, lavished... anytime you come across a word in scripture that you don't understand, it's a good idea to LOOK IT UP, or else you will really not understand the passage very well. These words are hard, so here are some definitions to help us better understand.
Redemption--in the world of "Christianese"...this word is common. It means to be delivered or rescued from our sin. The interesting thing about this word is that it also means to pay off a debt, which is exactly what Christ did when he "redeemed" us--He paid off our debt that we owed because of our sin. So it's saying "In Him, our debt has been paid by His blood..."
"by His blood" I love this wording here--it's a gentle reminder that it wasn't EASY for God to forgive us our sins--it COST HIM something--His own blood, his own LIFE. He DIED in order to give us that redemption!
"Transgression"--another big word. This word basically is a fancy word for "sin"..it's actual definition is "a violation of the law"...so it's referring to God's law here...sin is when we break God's law.
"lavished"--I love this word! It means "to use or give in great amounts or without limits" basically, when it says that "His grace that He lavished upon us" it's saying that God gives this forgiveness of sins in GREAT AMOUNTS--WITHOUT LIMITS...there is NO SIN that is too great for God's grace to cover. And when He covers us in His grace, He doesn't just cover us "just enough"...He LAVISHES it upon us--he POURS it on, fully and completely drowning our sin in His grace. This is an AMAZING PROMISE that God gives us!! And if we just let it soak in a bit...perhaps we will begin to understand how awesome our God really is!
"He has made known to us the mystery of His will" the wording here tells us that this is a promise. He HAS --> that means it is DONE. It is already available to us--there is no cost we must pay here to receive this...it is a promise. (A contract would be an "if/then" statement, where it says we can get something IF we do something else...a promise is different because it is something that God simply grants us). There is nothing we can do that will keep Him from giving this to us (of course, we can always choose to ignore it!)
"to sum up all things in Christ" ---> this starts off with that funny "to" word again. That "to" means "for the purpose of" ...so we know that it is saying that God has done all of this for a purpose--and that purpose--to sum up all things...to bring to a close all things, to wrap up all things...or just how it says it in the previous statement--for the fullness of times. The fullness--the completion...it is about COMPLETING what He began with the creation of the world--what He began in the garden of Eden when He said to Eve that the serpant will strike her offspring's heel and he will crush his head--prophesying about Jesus. Jesus' act of redemption by the spilling of His blood was to bring about the COMPLETION of that prophecy--to bring God and Man together once again. This brings me back to the words of Jesus on the cross--IT IS FINISHED.
I'm going to meditate on this a bit more and let it marinate a bit tonight.
I'll share my final thoughts on this tomorrow before jumping into Ephesians 1:11-14.
Comment on here and tell me what you think about all of this!
Ephesians 1:7-10...only 3 short verses...let's see what we can discern today.
Pray: Father God...I thank you for your Word which lightens my path and guides me according to your perfect Will. I raise up this time I have with you and ask that you have your way in me as I read through these sacred scriptures and as I strive to live them out in my daily life. Open my eyes that I may see you, my ears that I may hear you, my heart that I may receive you fully. Forgive me, Lord, for times when I look away from the things you want to show me or do in or through me. Help me to walk in your grace and to forgive as you forgive me. Strengthen my heart, Lord, that I may trust fully in you and that I may avoid whatever tempts me to sin. In your Holy Name I pray...AMEN.
Read attentively:
The scripture:
Ephesians 1:7-10
"[7] In Him we have redemption by His blood, the forgivness of transgressions, in accord with the riches of His grace [8] that He lavished upon us. In all wisdom and insight, [9] He has made known to us the mystery of His will in accord with His favor that He set forth in Him [10] as a plan for the fullness of times, to sum up all things in Christ, in heaven and on earth."
At first glance...this passage is hard...there are some big words here--redemption, transgressions, lavished... anytime you come across a word in scripture that you don't understand, it's a good idea to LOOK IT UP, or else you will really not understand the passage very well. These words are hard, so here are some definitions to help us better understand.
Redemption--in the world of "Christianese"
"by His blood" I love this wording here--it's a gentle reminder that it wasn't EASY for God to forgive us our sins--it COST HIM something--His own blood, his own LIFE. He DIED in order to give us that redemption!
"Transgression"--another big word. This word basically is a fancy word for "sin"..it's actual definition is "a violation of the law"...so it's referring to God's law here...sin is when we break God's law.
"lavished"--I love this word! It means "to use or give in great amounts or without limits" basically, when it says that "His grace that He lavished upon us" it's saying that God gives this forgiveness of sins in GREAT AMOUNTS--WITHOUT LIMITS...there is NO SIN that is too great for God's grace to cover. And when He covers us in His grace, He doesn't just cover us "just enough"...He LAVISHES it upon us--he POURS it on, fully and completely drowning our sin in His grace. This is an AMAZING PROMISE that God gives us!! And if we just let it soak in a bit...perhaps we will begin to understand how awesome our God really is!
"He has made known to us the mystery of His will" the wording here tells us that this is a promise. He HAS --> that means it is DONE. It is already available to us--there is no cost we must pay here to receive this...it is a promise. (A contract would be an "if/then" statement, where it says we can get something IF we do something else...a promise is different because it is something that God simply grants us). There is nothing we can do that will keep Him from giving this to us (of course, we can always choose to ignore it!)
"to sum up all things in Christ" ---> this starts off with that funny "to" word again. That "to" means "for the purpose of" ...so we know that it is saying that God has done all of this for a purpose--and that purpose--to sum up all things...to bring to a close all things, to wrap up all things...or just how it says it in the previous statement--for the fullness of times. The fullness--the completion...it is about COMPLETING what He began with the creation of the world--what He began in the garden of Eden when He said to Eve that the serpant will strike her offspring's heel and he will crush his head--prophesying about Jesus. Jesus' act of redemption by the spilling of His blood was to bring about the COMPLETION of that prophecy--to bring God and Man together once again. This brings me back to the words of Jesus on the cross--IT IS FINISHED.
I'm going to meditate on this a bit more and let it marinate a bit tonight.
I'll share my final thoughts on this tomorrow before jumping into Ephesians 1:11-14.
Comment on here and tell me what you think about all of this!
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Ephesians 1:1-6
SO...for those of you wondering about why I've found myself in Ephesians this morning, here's the low down:
For our youth group, we have these things called PRAISE habits--each letter stands for a different daily habit that saints possess--
Prayer
Reconciliation
Adoration
Involvement (in the church/community)
Scripture study
Evangelism
These are the habits we are striving to build up in our youth.
For Scripture study, we follow a basic "recipe" to come up with a schedule for the kids to read (we often supplement the "student choice" with a "recommended" reading to help those who don't have any clue where to start in the Bible)... here's the recipe:
Sunday--Student choice
Monday--Student choice
Tuesday--Upcoming Sunday's 1st Reading
Wednesday--Upcoming Sunday's Psalm Reading
Thursday--Upcoming Sunday's 2nd Reading
Friday--Upcoming Sunday's Gospel reading
Saturday--Student choice
It might seem odd to you that we have the Sunday Gospel showing up on Friday instead of on Sunday...but since we have youth group on Friday nights, we want students coming prepared, having read the upcoming mass readings so that we can discuss them at youth group.
We also ask students not to skip over verses that may be skipped over in the actual mass readings. They are skipped over during mass so that they don't take up more time than needed, but we really want students to just read the whole passage. Example, the Psalm for this Sunday is: Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23. Obviously there are a lot of things skipped there because it is going to be sung by the congregation...we just ask students to read from the first reference through the last reference--here, Psalm 118:1-23. This gives them more practice with the scripture and gives important contextual information to help them understand since it will not be followed by a homily during their daily scripture time!
I have decided to read through the book of Ephesians, so I will just read a chapter or a portion of a chapter from there each day and then do a reflection on it. Sometimes the chapters are so dense, that we break them up into smaller "bites" for our students.
Here's this week's "bite-sized" recommended reading schedule:
Saturday (today): Ephesians 1:1-6
Sunday (April 8): Ephesians 1:7-10
Monday (April 9): Ephesians 1:11-14
Tuesday (April 10): Reading 1: Acts 4:32-35
Wednesday (April 11): Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118:2-24
Thursday (April 12): Reading 2: 1 John 5:1-6 *NOTE: this is 1st John, NOT the Gospel of John*
Friday (April 13): John 20:19-31
Saturday (April 14): Ephesians 1:15-23
Now that we all understand what's happening here, let's move on to Ephesians 1:1-6
I will use the PRIMA (Pray Read attentively Imagine Meditate Apply) method that we have been learning about in youth group and then make any additional comments at the end. I will also use the Our Father as a guide for my opening prayer, as the students are learning to use it as a guide to pray for their own intentions.
Pray: Begin with a prayer that your time with the Bible will draw you closer to God:
Father God, we thank you so much for your word which brings us life and direction. Lord, I offer up this time to you and pray for your will to be done in me as I read your Holy Word. Help me to understand what I read and guide to to better understanding through the teachings and traditions of the Church. Forgive me, Lord, for not being faithful in studying your Word daily or for times when I have misinterpreted your Word. Help me to forgive those who have misguided me in the past; let me not dwell on false teachings. Give me strength to be faithful to studying your Word daily even when tempted to put it off because of the busyness of the day. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN
Read attentively, trusting that God will give you what you need to learn or grow. Note anything that seems particularly important, interesting, or hard to understand.
Imagine what was going on when the passage was first written. What is its cultural and historical context? Try to put yourself into the story. What was the author trying to get across? What might be a real-life example of this in today’s world?
What are we missing here? Why is the author even writing this? This is where we look back at the introduction or the notes to let them tell us (because we have no clue!) The introduction talks about the idea that this letter (Ephesians is a letter) may have been intended for more than just those Christians living in Ephesus and that it was probably more like a general letter to all believers that was intended to remind them that God created them for a purpose--to be Holy and to bring praise to His name, as a start! It doesn't say much about what may have been going on at the time, but I can imagine that people were probably trying to understand why God created them, much like we do today!
Meditate on what you have read. How does this fit in the context of the rest of the Bible’s teaching? With the church’s teaching? What do you think God is teaching you?
As I meditate on this, I can't help but think about a lot of things--the call to Holiness that we all have through our Baptism...the right to life--obviously if all of us were planned before the foundation of the world, then every unborn child has a life filled with purpose also! The biggest message that I come away with is this: I was not an accident--God created me intentionally for a purpose--to be Holy and to bring praise and glory to His name...in essence, to know Him and to make Him known.
Apply what you have read to your life. God may be calling you to address a particular issue or relationship. Or you may find words of comfort and support you need at this particular time. How does this apply to your life?
This applies to my life because it is about my life...about why I have a life at all. I find it incredibly comforting to know that God chose ME...not just anyone...but ME (even though He knows me!) to be created when and how He did...it wasn't just chance. I can't wait to figure out exactly HOW he wants me to live out holiness and bring Him praise in my life.
I know this is a long post...I wanted you guys to understand my thought process on how I read and understand scripture. Maybe it will be helpful to you as you read scripture. Let me know what techniques you have too!
To know Him and to make Him known,
Candice
For our youth group, we have these things called PRAISE habits--each letter stands for a different daily habit that saints possess--
Prayer
Reconciliation
Adoration
Involvement (in the church/community)
Scripture study
Evangelism
These are the habits we are striving to build up in our youth.
For Scripture study, we follow a basic "recipe" to come up with a schedule for the kids to read (we often supplement the "student choice" with a "recommended" reading to help those who don't have any clue where to start in the Bible)... here's the recipe:
Sunday--Student choice
Monday--Student choice
Tuesday--Upcoming Sunday's 1st Reading
Wednesday--Upcoming Sunday's Psalm Reading
Thursday--Upcoming Sunday's 2nd Reading
Friday--Upcoming Sunday's Gospel reading
Saturday--Student choice
It might seem odd to you that we have the Sunday Gospel showing up on Friday instead of on Sunday...but since we have youth group on Friday nights, we want students coming prepared, having read the upcoming mass readings so that we can discuss them at youth group.
We also ask students not to skip over verses that may be skipped over in the actual mass readings. They are skipped over during mass so that they don't take up more time than needed, but we really want students to just read the whole passage. Example, the Psalm for this Sunday is: Psalm 118:1-2, 16-17, 22-23. Obviously there are a lot of things skipped there because it is going to be sung by the congregation...we just ask students to read from the first reference through the last reference--here, Psalm 118:1-23. This gives them more practice with the scripture and gives important contextual information to help them understand since it will not be followed by a homily during their daily scripture time!
I have decided to read through the book of Ephesians, so I will just read a chapter or a portion of a chapter from there each day and then do a reflection on it. Sometimes the chapters are so dense, that we break them up into smaller "bites" for our students.
Here's this week's "bite-sized" recommended reading schedule:
Saturday (today): Ephesians 1:1-6
Sunday (April 8): Ephesians 1:7-10
Monday (April 9): Ephesians 1:11-14
Tuesday (April 10): Reading 1: Acts 4:32-35
Wednesday (April 11): Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 118:2-24
Thursday (April 12): Reading 2: 1 John 5:1-6 *NOTE: this is 1st John, NOT the Gospel of John*
Friday (April 13): John 20:19-31
Saturday (April 14): Ephesians 1:15-23
Now that we all understand what's happening here, let's move on to Ephesians 1:1-6
I will use the PRIMA (Pray Read attentively Imagine Meditate Apply) method that we have been learning about in youth group and then make any additional comments at the end. I will also use the Our Father as a guide for my opening prayer, as the students are learning to use it as a guide to pray for their own intentions.
Pray: Begin with a prayer that your time with the Bible will draw you closer to God:
Father God, we thank you so much for your word which brings us life and direction. Lord, I offer up this time to you and pray for your will to be done in me as I read your Holy Word. Help me to understand what I read and guide to to better understanding through the teachings and traditions of the Church. Forgive me, Lord, for not being faithful in studying your Word daily or for times when I have misinterpreted your Word. Help me to forgive those who have misguided me in the past; let me not dwell on false teachings. Give me strength to be faithful to studying your Word daily even when tempted to put it off because of the busyness of the day. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, AMEN
Read attentively, trusting that God will give you what you need to learn or grow. Note anything that seems particularly important, interesting, or hard to understand.
The Scripture:
Ephesians 1:1-6
"[1] Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to the holy ones who are [in Ephesus] faithful in Christ Jesus: [2] grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. [3] Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, [4] as he chose us in Him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love [5] he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of His will, [6] for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved."
I have underlined or bolded things that I want to know more about or that I want to look closer at. I do this in my own Bible using a pencil or a highlighter.
My initial thoughts on these things:
"to the holy ones...Jesus" --> anytime it says "to the holy ones" or "to those faithful to Christ" or anything that in any way hints towards "followers of Christ", I automatically know that the author meant that this letter was for ME also, since I am a follower of Christ...so now I have to look at the passage with a different view--as if it were being written TO ME, for my own instruction.
"blessed us with every spiritual blessing" ---> I underlined this because it is a promise of God--it is saying that we HAVE something...no strings attached...it's a promise, so I underline it because I need to remember that I HAVE been blessed with every spiritual blessing--which means I need to make use of those gifts!
"he chose us in him" --> as an English teacher, I understand the purpose of the commas following this phrase....it means that if you omit the words between THIS comma and the NEXT comma, then the sentence would be complete, but the author wanted to make some comment about the first group of words--it's like an "aside"... SO...if I cut that out, the sentence would read: "He chose us in him ... to be holy and without blemish" this is really important to get because the Bible has a bunch of these and they can be easy to get lost in if you don't pay attention to those commas!!!
This point...that God has chose us in Him TO be holy and without blemish is HUGE. that word, "TO" means "for the purpose of".... the words after a "for the purpose of" word tell us WHY the first part happened.... SO it's telling me here that God chose me (because remember, this is a letter TO ME) for the purpose of being Holy---that means that being HOLY needs to be a purpose for my life. I need to choose to be holy and do whatever it takes to BE HOLY. Being Holy is one of the purposes God has for my life=it is God's will that I strive to be Holy.
"before the foundation of the world" ---> I underlined this because it is powerful to me! It is saying here that GOD CHOSE ME BEFORE THE FOUNDATION OF THE WORLD. That means before my parents were create and before all those mistakes I made and before everything that led to my birth ever happened.... WOW. I am NOT an accident--no matter what the circumstances surrounding my birth were, I am not an accident. God, in his infinite wisdom, looked out into the future, before he even created the world, and said "I need...CANDICE" or "I need <insert your name here!>". AND THEN He arranged for things to happen just perfectly so that I would be created at exactly the intended time and place and to exactly the intended people. I was created intentionally, with a purpose...and what is that purpose?? TO BE HOLY. (see, we are building on our understanding as we go!)
"he destined us for adoption...Christ"---> this is another one of those comma things again...to better understand, cut out the stuff in between the commas-->this stuff IS important, but it can be understood easier if we take it out and then put it back in later.... so it would read: "he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ ... for the praise of the glory of his grace..." to simplify this even more, I'm going to also take away "to himself through Jesus Christ" because that is information that we know but that also makes the sentence really complicated.
"he destined us for adoption ... for the praise of the glory of his grace"
Remember that the stuff we took out is important, but sometimes we need to break it down to understand it better.
"for" is another one of those "for the purpose of" words....it tells us WHY he did that...so it tells us WHY God destined us for adoption ---> for the purpose of bringing PRAISE of (you could say "to" here also) the glory of His grace ....for the purpose of bringing PRAISE to God.
So, here it is laying out another purpose for which God has created us and adopted us --> to bring praise to His name.
Imagine what was going on when the passage was first written. What is its cultural and historical context? Try to put yourself into the story. What was the author trying to get across? What might be a real-life example of this in today’s world?
What are we missing here? Why is the author even writing this? This is where we look back at the introduction or the notes to let them tell us (because we have no clue!) The introduction talks about the idea that this letter (Ephesians is a letter) may have been intended for more than just those Christians living in Ephesus and that it was probably more like a general letter to all believers that was intended to remind them that God created them for a purpose--to be Holy and to bring praise to His name, as a start! It doesn't say much about what may have been going on at the time, but I can imagine that people were probably trying to understand why God created them, much like we do today!
Meditate on what you have read. How does this fit in the context of the rest of the Bible’s teaching? With the church’s teaching? What do you think God is teaching you?
As I meditate on this, I can't help but think about a lot of things--the call to Holiness that we all have through our Baptism...the right to life--obviously if all of us were planned before the foundation of the world, then every unborn child has a life filled with purpose also! The biggest message that I come away with is this: I was not an accident--God created me intentionally for a purpose--to be Holy and to bring praise and glory to His name...in essence, to know Him and to make Him known.
Apply what you have read to your life. God may be calling you to address a particular issue or relationship. Or you may find words of comfort and support you need at this particular time. How does this apply to your life?
This applies to my life because it is about my life...about why I have a life at all. I find it incredibly comforting to know that God chose ME...not just anyone...but ME (even though He knows me!) to be created when and how He did...it wasn't just chance. I can't wait to figure out exactly HOW he wants me to live out holiness and bring Him praise in my life.
I know this is a long post...I wanted you guys to understand my thought process on how I read and understand scripture. Maybe it will be helpful to you as you read scripture. Let me know what techniques you have too!
To know Him and to make Him known,
Candice
Friday, April 6, 2012
The Resurrection of Our Lord
John 20:1-9
The Resurrection.
The single most powerful event in our Church History...the single most powerful event of ALL time...past, present, or future.
It is in the RESURRECTION that Christ defeats the power satan has over us; it is in the RESURRECTION that our sins no longer charge us with the death penalty; it is in the RESURRECTION that Christ was officially proclaimed King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In His Resurrection lies our greatest hope...the hope that we, too, may some day rise from the dead.
I like the way it is put in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14 & 17:
"If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith ... And if Christ has not been raised, your faith if futile; you are still in your sins."
It's an amazing concept, I think...this rising from the dead. Think about it--if God was able to conquer THAT, then what could possibly exist that He CANNOT overcome???
Yet we live like poor banished children who hold to a "faith" that is POWERLESS...but don't you know that we worship and serve a God who can DO ANYTHING!?!?
Why, then, do we cower to share this faith? Why, then, do we worry about the idea that we might lose "respect" in other's eyes if we proclaim this Truth? Moreover, why, then, are we not willing, even to share this LIFESAVING GOSPEL...even to the point of DEATH, like Christ did???
DO WE TRULY BELIEVE THAT HE IS ABLE TO RAISE US FROM THE DEAD???
If so, then why do we fear death at all?
"What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who, then, is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was RAISED to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ... No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:31-36a; 37-29.
To live in the power of the Resurrection is to live without fear...and with complete and utter abandon to Him who loved us and created us for a purpose.
Go forth and boldly and fearlessly walk out God's will for your life.
-Candice
The Resurrection.
The single most powerful event in our Church History...the single most powerful event of ALL time...past, present, or future.
It is in the RESURRECTION that Christ defeats the power satan has over us; it is in the RESURRECTION that our sins no longer charge us with the death penalty; it is in the RESURRECTION that Christ was officially proclaimed King of Kings and Lord of Lords.
In His Resurrection lies our greatest hope...the hope that we, too, may some day rise from the dead.
I like the way it is put in 1 Corinthians 15:13-14 & 17:
"If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith ... And if Christ has not been raised, your faith if futile; you are still in your sins."
It's an amazing concept, I think...this rising from the dead. Think about it--if God was able to conquer THAT, then what could possibly exist that He CANNOT overcome???
Yet we live like poor banished children who hold to a "faith" that is POWERLESS...but don't you know that we worship and serve a God who can DO ANYTHING!?!?
Why, then, do we cower to share this faith? Why, then, do we worry about the idea that we might lose "respect" in other's eyes if we proclaim this Truth? Moreover, why, then, are we not willing, even to share this LIFESAVING GOSPEL...even to the point of DEATH, like Christ did???
DO WE TRULY BELIEVE THAT HE IS ABLE TO RAISE US FROM THE DEAD???
If so, then why do we fear death at all?
"What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, WHO CAN BE AGAINST US? He who did not spare His own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will He not also, along with Him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who, then, is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died--more than that, who was RAISED to life--is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ... No, in all these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:31-36a; 37-29.
To live in the power of the Resurrection is to live without fear...and with complete and utter abandon to Him who loved us and created us for a purpose.
Go forth and boldly and fearlessly walk out God's will for your life.
-Candice
Monday, March 26, 2012
We need some help!
Good morning Ascension Parents and Students!
Our Lenten Retreat is fast approaching and we need some help!
First, we are in great need of old magazines and newspapers for some of the activities we will be doing! If you have any of these laying around the house that you are willing to donate, that would be really helpful! (We will not be able to return these).
Secondly, we are still hoping for more students to join us for this event. Lent is one of the most important times of our Liturgical year, with the Resurrection of our Lord being absolutely the foundation of our faith. If your student is not registered, please consider allowing them to join us. If your student is attending, perhaps they can bring a friend or two. We have 17 students participating in the Dance and Drama teams and we want to make sure they have a good audience to perform for as well! Attached is the registration form. We will accept registrations as late as Wednesday. You may drop them off with Roberta in the office. There is also a secure drop box attached to the door of the Parish office, which you may drop registrations off at any time, day or night. **Please be sure to place registrations and fees in a sealed envelope and label "JUNIOR HIGH RETREAT" (4th and 5th graders are also invited, this just helps Roberta know which box to put things in!). If you plan to register you student, please let me know ASAP, as we are trying to put together small groups and materials. (Please email or call me so I can get a head count even if you will not registered them until Wednesday).
*Please note that we do have a few scholarships still available if they are needed.*
Finally, we are always looking for parents or older siblings to come help out at these events. We need some people to help out in the kitchen for the meals as well as to help with registration, setup and tear down. Please let me know if you are able to help out.
To know Him and to make Him known,
Candice Alderete
Candice Alderete
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)