notes from lisa...

  "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.  And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." [Romans 12:1,2; NKJV] Generally, we think of the necessity of having our mind and thought processes transformed, in order to become holy--but that is only half of the transformation. Upon further examination we find that the Greek word "nous" (or mind) doesn't simply refer to the "mind"--as intellect, but it is the very whole of man. The soul is the correct interpretation, and it embodies both mind and heart . In [Matthew 12:34], Jesus says, "...out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh". The Greek word for heart here is "kardia" and it means:  the center and seat of spiritual life...

If you were asked, "What is the meaning of faith?" what would your answer be? Faith, we know "is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen". We know that without faith, "it is impossible to please God". We all know that faith "comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God...". Still , what is faith? What is the purpose of faith in our lives? Sometimes, it appears that faith is our genie-in-the-bottle. You "rub the bottle" and "by faith" command and demand the things in the earth to do what you want them to do. Whatever your heart desires, ask in faith , and you will have whatever you desire , right (my paraphrase)??? You could arrive at that conclusion if you read the Word of God selectively, without context. However, we are not to take the Word of God as if it is a book of quick tips, a novel, or a guide that you can choose which parts you wish to apply and dismiss others. It is ...

Crucifixion was--and still is, considered by most, to be the most horrific means of capital punishment. It is lingering and prolonged; the Romans of the first centuries perfected it, but it started about six centuries B.C. Crucifixion still occurs in some parts of the world, but it is very different from the earlier forms. It was very brutal and inhumane--meant to be not just painful physically, but emotionally demeaning and excruciatingly humiliating. It was excruciating in every way--hence, that very word comes from the Latin word "cruciare" which means "to crucify". Crucifixion was reserved for the "dregs" of society. It was even known as the slaves' punishment (or servile supplicium). The paintings we see don't give an accurate picture of the horror of crucifixion. I never really understood just how common it really was, either. In fact, it was typical to see crucified corpses or dying men (and women), hanging on the sides of the main roads...

Many years ago, the Mosaic Law was given by God to the Israelites for a distinct purpose--for a distinct period. It had a determined beginning and an end. For most, that is probably a very elementary statement--we all know that, right??!!! Sometimes, it seems though, that we forget that the Law ended when Grace began--at Calvary. We readily embrace the Mosaic Law as the guideline for living not realizing that doing so makes us debtors to the entire Law--all 600+ points of it, including the animal sacrifices, the dietary laws, the laws regarding punishment for sin--including stoning, etc. The Ten Commandments are part of the Mosaic Law--there time has come and gone, too. Am I saying it's okay to kill, lie, bear false witness, or take God's Name in vain? God forbid! What I am saying is that, the Law is not the means to avoid doing those things--if it were, we wouldn't have needed Jesus; surely, we did! We know that the Law was good--it made man aware of his transgressio...