notes from lisa...

"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...