notes from lisa...

"For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption , but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life . And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all, especially to those who are of the household of faith." (Galatians 6:8-10, NKJV) As the new year rapidly approaches--just hours away, many of us begin to contemplate the mistakes of the waning year, and look forward to a fresh start. Hopefully, we have grown in the year (almost behind us) and have learned new ways to handle the difficult situations and people in our lives. Prayerfully, we do not carry the old resentments, grudges, sins and errant behaviors into the future. In fact, it would be good if we would examine ourselves , daily, hourly, even moment by moment, assessing what things we need to abandon, and what we should put on. Get rid of the things that bind u

"Yeshua said to his talmidim, 'It is impossible that snares will not be set. But woe to the person who sets them! It would be to his advantage that he have a millstone hung around his neck and he be thrown into the sea, rather than that he ensnare one of these little ones. Watch yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him . Also, if seven times in one day he sins against you, and seven times he comes to you and says, `I repent,' you are to forgive him. '" (Luke 17:1 CJB) "But whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in and [a]acknowledge and cleave to Me to stumble and sin [that is, who entices him or hinders him in right conduct or thought], it would be better ([b]more expedient and profitable or advantageous) for him to have a great millstone fastened around his neck and to be sunk in the depth of the sea. Woe to the world for such temptations to sin and influences to do wrong! It is necessary tha

If you live anywhere, somewhat developed in this world, then you have probably heard about the troubles of Tiger Woods, the golfer who took the world by a storm with his golfing prowess. It seems as if we can't turn on the news, without hearing the continuing saga of his marital woes. Upfront, here is my opinion on this whole escapade: what Mr. Woods did was indeed wrong; it is a private matter for his family--and not the public; we are too involved in the personal matters of others; and we make it very difficult for people to heal, and to forgive. Why is it that we thrive on the misfortunes of others--and perpetuate the problem, magnifying it many times over, simply by talking about it? We talk too much, instead of minding our own business. Tiger needs prayer, his family needs prayer, and so do others who have fallen, and been hurt, or have hurt others. Guess what? That includes ALL of us. None of us has the right to point fingers at anyone, because even if you have ne

"And from the days of John the Baptist until now, the Kingdom of Heaven suffereth violence , and the violent take it by force. " (Matthew 11:12, NKJV) Do you have a little bit of "thug" in you? If so, don't fret. Thugs, are in good company! Jesus' disciples were a bunch of "rough around the edges" guys--for the most part. They could get a little rough--they fought among one another about who would be first in the Kingdom. They were ordinary folk, who weren't always the best at controlling the negative emotions that arose. I don't know about you, but I can identify with them. It is a battle, to control (bring under subjection) my body--my tongue, my desire to fight against those who hurt me or those that I love. There was a time, when I didn't put much effort into controlling those things; the attitudes, anger, meanness rose up and manifested easily, and without much restraint. I grew up in church--a "pew baby", but althou

"And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together , as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching." (Hebrews 10:24,25; NKJV) Usually, when we think of the words, "forsake not" it conjures an image of harsh rules and difficult commands. We probably aren't focused on the consequences of (forsaking) whatever we aren't forsaking; just zeroing in on another thing--may be (seemingly) tedious, that we must do/not do. If we live our lives as "transgressors", this is how we tend to think--rules, rules and more rules, rather than finding the liberty in the commands of the Word of God. That's why the Bible tells us that, "Good understanding giveth favor: but the way of transgressors is hard." (Proverbs 13:15). However, when we are commanded to forsake or not forsake, it is because it will improve the qualit

"So those who accepted what he said were immersed, and there were added to the group that day about three thousand people. They continued faithfully in the teaching of the emissaries, in fellowship , in breaking bread and in the prayers. Everyone was filled with awe, and many miracles and signs took place through the emissaries. All those trusting in Yeshua stayed together and had everything in common; in fact, they sold their property and possessions and distributed the proceeds to all who were in need. Continuing faithfully and with singleness of purpose to meet in the Temple courts daily, and breaking bread in their several homes, they shared their food in joy and simplicity of heart, praising God and having the respect of all the people. And day after day the Lord kept adding to them those who were being saved ." (Acts 2:41-47, The Jewish Bible) What's so important about FELLOWSHIP ? It would seem , based on the way we live our lives in this 21st

There are some basic things that can be simple to lose sight of, if we get caught up in circumstances. These things will cause you get off track, spiritually: trying to avenge yourself--fighting your own battles, seeing people as the "enemy", forgetting that God is in control and acting as if satan is omnipotent. he is not ! Only God is omnipotent. It might seem like a ridiculous statement--laughable, even, to say that satan is not omnipotent. "Of course, he isn't!" you might say. However, think about our actions, speech and attitudes to see if it still sounds so ridiculous, in light of our battle stance. How is your testimony ? Does it exist, first of all? Does it exist, only on Sunday. If it exists--is it only around the saints of God? Does it exist only when things are good, or does it remain intact even when things don't go your way? What happens to your testimony when the bottom drops out? What do your co-worker's hear when you are under at

"And in the process of time it came to pass that Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord. Abel also brought of the firstborn of his flock and of their fat. And the Lord respected Abel and his offering,but He did not respect Cain and his offering. And Cain was very angry, and his countenance fell. So the Lord said to Cain, "Why are you angry? And why has your countenance fallen?If you do well, will you not be accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it. "Now Cain talked with Abel his brother; and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, "Where is Abel your brother?" He said, "I do not know. Am I my brother's keeper?"And He said, "What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground. So now you are cursed from the earth, whic

But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Yeshua, "And who is my neighbor?' (Luke 10:29) This is a strange question, if you consider who was doing the asking. Those assembled (If you don't know), are attempting to trick Jesus into condemning Himself, with His own words--this was surely an odd question from such a source (if you don't know what he is up to). Take note--not just anyone was asking this question of Jesus--this person was referred to as a "lawyer", "religion scholar", "expert", "teacher", "expert on the Law", "expert in Moses' teachings", etc. (in various versions). This man knows the Law. He knows all of the Law--surely he knows the 16th and 17th verses of the 20th chapter of what we call the Book of Exodus. (The Law for Jewish people consists of the Torah--and over 600 commands that had to be memorized and kept. If you offended in one point, you failed to keep all of the Law! Hence, t

"And Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites, and the Israelites cried to the Lord. And when they cried to the Lord because of Midian, The Lord sent a prophet to the Israelites, who said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, I brought you up from Egypt and brought you forth out of the house of bondage. And I delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of all who oppressed you, and drove them out from before you and gave you their land. And I said to you, I am the Lord your God; fear not the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But you have not obeyed My voice. Now the Angel of the Lord came and sat under the oak (terebinth) at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, and his son Gideon was beating wheat in the winepress to hide it from the Midianites. And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, THE LORD IS WITH YOU , YOU MIGHTY MAN OF [fearless] COURAGE . And Gideon said to him, O sir, if the Lord

"He saith unto him, Which? Jesus said, Thou shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother: and, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. The young man saith unto him, All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet? Jesus said unto him, If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me. But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions." Matt 19:18-22 (KJV) Love is not only something you say, but a way to live. We often think that we are loving our neighbors, as ourselves--so did the young man who approached Jesus, looking for a simple assurance that he was righteous. But the test was--what are you willing to give up, to prove your love? The answer left him most "sorrowful", because he was being encouraged to give of

I recently started reading a novel, "Paul", by Christian author, Walter Wangerin. I haven't read much--it begins pretty intensely. The stoning of Stephen is among the first pages. It made me think more about the martyrdom and suffering of the early church--and about some of the things that we experience, too. I picked up the book to read, this afternoon, and saw the grace--not only of God, but of the saints toward Paul. As Saul, slayer of the saints, he looked for and hunted down those who believed in the risen Messiah, and worshipped Him. Those saints had not rejected the teachings of Torah--they believed them more fully--now, they had seen, and walked with the Fulfillment of Torah and the Prophets!!! They were excited to spread all that they had seen and heard, but Saul and the Pharisee's wanted to extinguish that zeal, by any means necessary. They were willing and able to murder their own Hebrew brothers and sisters to keep business, as usual. It was worth it t

Some years ago, in the midst of what then, was the deepest and hardest trial of my life, I prayed and sought God repeatedly to remove a "thorn". The response I received, was the one Paul got, too. God told me, that His grace was sufficient for me. That answer never changed, either. I would like to say that, like Paul, I was accepting and willing to suffer, but I wasn't . Instead, I became angry and bitter, and complained to God and others, that it was unfair. And, despite my answer from God--I kept demanding that He remove the thorn--misusing Scriptures about what I thought to be promises and guarantee's that I, as a child of God, would not have to suffer. Eventually, I got tired, and I decided to listen to Him, through the Word, and stopped "kicking against the pricks". I began to study and to read the Word of God, without incorporating my personal agenda. When I did, my attitude began to change, and I found peace, in spite of the thorn. Thorns can mak

The words that we speak, have great power. Jesus said, "Are you also even yet dull and ignorant [without understanding and unable to put things together]? Do you not see and understand that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the abdomen and so passes on into the place where discharges are deposited? But whatever comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this is what makes a man unclean and defiles [him]. For out of the heart come evil thoughts (reasonings and disputings and designs) such as murder, adultery, sexual vice, theft, false witnessing, slander, and irreverent speech. These are what make a man unclean and defile [him]..." (Matthew 15:17-20a). Our words have ability to destroy; yet we speak, freely--without forethought or concern, about the effect our words may have. The power of our words, comes from the fact that the words spoken are a product of the content of our hearts. Our words don't come from nowhere--but they proceed from our heart, rev

"There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. " (21st Century KJV) I am a "fan" of Dr. Phil (McGraw, that is). Occasionally, I get to watch his program; and see the celebrity psychologist, as he counsels. The thing that I like about him, and his brand of psychology is that, most of the time, it's just good old common sense . Now, there are times, that I don't agree with him--but there is one phrase he often uses, that I think we ALL could ask ourselves, in times of conflict. Many times, he will have people on that are at each other's throats, for one reason or another--and they will bicker back and forth (as they, undoubtedly, have been before they arrived on his stage, too!). After they go on for awhile, he will ask them a pointed question. "How's that working for you?", he will say. It seems obvious--and it is ; if their way was working, they wouldn't be sitting in front of the doctor, w