Sacrifices: How Appropriate

The third time we met with this class and the lesson is Sacrifice. It's a two part session. 

I have to start off with a huge thank you. RJ, thanks for calling me out for not studying my lesson. I am woefully incapable of a valid excuse. So, starting today, I will use my lunch break to study my last lesson and my next lesson. Maybe you, the reader, can benefit from what I gleen from this. 

The first thing this lesson touched on was  PLEASING AROMA. We're talking about the burnt sacrifice in Leviticus 1:9. Every time before this meeting, I never imagined that this could have smelled good. But close your eyes and imagine the smell of unadulterated meat and fat over a fire. Great cheese and crackers that had to smell good! Now imagine how that sacrifice, the best goat you had, prepared in great tradition and ceremony, offered to Him because He commanded it. 

The burnt sacrifice was because God commanded it, it was the removal of sin by fire. The grain sacrifice was for thanksgiving and dedication-restoration to service. This was because we wanted to sacrifice. It was a voluntary action, an outward diaplay of faith, much like Baptism. 

We MUST have attonement to reconcile our relationship with God-Gospel Project Lev.3:1-5; Eph.2:13

The final offering was the fellowship offering. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. (1 John 4:20 ESV). We have to reconcile with those who we have wronged before coming to God. 

Why is God so concerned with how we treat those around us? 

I can tell you for a fact that how the church acts, how church leaders act, how Christians act can either pull someone to want to hear more about Christ or drive them farther from Christ. I hope one day he'll change his mind, but I know of one that said he'll never step foot in a church again. 

Day One of a New Beginning

Today was our first visit to the LEO/Military Life Group. Wow. I cannot begin to tell you how much of a difference there was in that little room and the storm of ideas and theology that was shared. There wasn't any sense of superiority, no feeling of being put on the spot. It sincerely felt like we were a common group with common ground. There were couples there who weren't raised in church, either but love God. So often people quote scripture so glibly and freely that it seems more mechanical than something that was etched in their heart.

Our lesson today was about Abraham being tested by God. Specifically when he was asked to take Isaac to the mountain for a burnt offering.

We discussed how we would handle being tested in such a way. Could you knowingly go into the wilderness with your only child to sacrifice him for God? Trusting that God would provide for you if you obey? Abraham didn't have to trust that he was strong enough to obey God's will. He only had to have faith that God was strong enough to fulfill His promise.

So often, we believe that if we work hard enough, if we do the right things, if we work in the church, (I can do this all day,) that we will have an easy life. Even better, we will have our place in heaven.

The Bible tells us that this is not only untrue, but is an eternally deadly notion. It is by His grace only that we enter the kingdom of heaven. 

Relation-Slips Notes

James 5:1-6 NKJV

Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have heaped up treasure in the last days. Indeed the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. [The Lord God Almight] You have lived on the earth in pleasure and luxury; you have fattened your hearts as in a day of slaughter. You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Money matters carry emotional weight in a marriage.

This verse is a warning against the misuse of money.

Hording money-living in fear of the future
Saving money-preparing for the future

If your annual income exceeds $25K, you are in the top 1% of the world in wealth. The majority of Americans fall into this category.

Are you using what God gave you the way He intended?

Do you pay your employees what they deserve? If not you're stealing.

Do you pay your bills on time? If not you're stealing.

If your financial house is not in order, then you are stealing. If you have filed bankruptcy or have debt collectors calling, you need to re-read this verse.

Just because you can afford it, doesn't mean you need it. You may be giving your 10% but God owns 100%. Spending wisely is a mandate by God. Are we wasting?

Are you using your wealth to intimidate or abuse others? You have the choice to use your gift from God to bless others and not to make other miserable. Misery will rain on you.

Striking Out Spiritually

Today's sermon is part of a series Brother Archie is doing called "What Are You Waiting For?" #WhatRUWaiting4? Central Baptist Church has a very comprehensive website, and the notes from the sermon are on the link, as is a video, or just the audio, of the sermon.
These are my notes from the sermon and my own take on what I got from the word.


So what is holding you back from having the relationship with your Heavenly Father that you know you're supposed to have? It's sin. Simple. Is it fear of the future or guilt of the past? Is it bitterness, inability to forgive, it is alcohol, sexual immorality, anger, lies, jealousy, other sins of the flesh that are holding you back?

Using a baseball analogy, everyone strikes out eventually. How many times have you struck out standing? You have His will tossed across the plate three times, and you never once took a swing? There's nothing to be ashamed of if you take a swing, and miss. That's what second chances are for. And third chances, and fourth... When you live with a wickedness, living in hypocrisy, it is only by the grace and mercy of God that He doesn't strike you down dead in your tracks.

A relationship with God doesn't just happen. Three things have to happen:
1.) Time to totally surrender
2.) Time to renew your mind
3.) Time to experience the will of God in your life.

Romans 12:1-2 (NASB) Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 

What is holding you back from total surrender? Your body is how you serve. Everything you do is to serve God. One doesn't have to teach a class, sing a special, or even work in the nursery to serve God. While these things are important, that isn't the only way to serve. A kind word to someone, opening the door for a stranger, it's known to many as random acts of kindness, are all ways to serve God. These acts show the love of Christ by our words and actions far better than a position in a church or a name in a flier.
The Old Testament required a burnt offering as a sacrifice. The New Testament sacrifice is a living sacrifice, our bodies (hands, mouths, brains, etc) to serve God, but the requirements are the same. The best of what we had was to be offered, the lamb without blemish, to be spotless. We have to come to the Father, having repented of our sins. If we have sinned against others and know of this, we HAVE to ask forgiveness from the one we have wronged. Just for clarification, any apology has to be true and heartfelt. "I am sorry" is reserved for those who are truly sorry and have no intentions of a repeated offense. You have to make amends.

The next verse speaks of not being conformed to this world by to be transformed by the renewing of our minds.

We have to find the things that are making us bitter, angry, the temptations of the flesh. Once we have these identified, we have to avoid them. We have to forgive those who don't deserve forgiveness, and not because they asked for it. Forgive them because the bitterness holds you back from true happiness. This is one of my weaknesses.

Spend more time meditating than on social media and I promise you will find yourself a whole lot less bitter. Don't play into the whole passive/aggressive game of talking about folks on your social media pages. It never works out for you or those who partake in the discussion. If you have beef with someone, talk to them. If the beef is between other people, keep in mind why you haven't been brought into it before that point. Stay out of other people's business and you'll be much happier. Let's also remember that it hurts your witness when you act like that. Non-believers are watching how we act and when we trash each other and then sum it up with, "cuz God said so," goes against the message we try to send that God is love.

You will see things on media that will make you want to reply, to nearly bait you into further discourse. Focus less on what other people are doing and more on what you can be doing for other people. You don't know why people make the choices they make. You haven't walked in their shoes. You don't know the whole story. We are to judge people by their fruits, that's true. However, focusing on what they are doing isn't productive. Try praying for them instead of condemning them.

Encouraging vs Boasting

Matthew 6:3-4 NKJV

But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly.

That is today's verse. Love it on so many levels. It reminds us of why we are to do good.

My favorite sister in law is currently undertaking a month of random acts of kindness as a lead in to her 30th birthday. A last hurrah, if you will, for her 20's being gone and heralding ina new decade. Rather symbolic of the chnages made in her spiritual life, as well. She is chronicling her mission through her blog and facebook and on her birthday our gift to her is for us all to post what we did for someone that day.

This, folks, is how you show you're giving while encouraging others to follow suit and challenging them to one-up you! There's no sense of boasting. Not a drop of glory soaked in. She knows who has given her this gift and she wants to show the world, starting with her town, then sharing it with others.

A long winded speech from a pulpit, or a brick with my name on it showing I spent more than someone else, a building with my name on it even... these are not what it is going to take to earn favor with my Father. It can't be earned, nor can it be lost.

You can't good-deed yourself into heaven, but the love of Christ shines when good deeds are done. When others see these acts performed out of selflessness, that is how we win people to Christ.

When good deeds are done selflessly,  a warm glow washes over you. Don't panic. That's not a medical condition. It's love. It's pretty awesome.

So my dear sister, rock on with your random acts. Hopefully it's contagious!!!!


♡♥♡ you Nic♡♥♡

Itchin' for Camp 2014

 

 

Tonight was the presentation for our camp experiences from Cedar Glades camp 2013. Five of the ten counselors and five of the kids got up and spoke from the heart. The following is my speech:

Matthew 16:24-25 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.

I lost my life last year and I found a new and completely better one this year. Wow what a difference a year can make!

 As many of you know, I accepted the Lord as my savior last year after spending most of my life thinking I was saved at age 9. I remember being baptized, but I didn't remember anything about my salvation experience. Sin didn't bother me. Looking back, I was as lost as could be. Deep down, I knew I was lost all those years, but every time I thought I needed to change my salvation status, the devil would whisper to me otherwise. "You're saved! Don't waste that preacher's time going up there and telling him you need saving." The day I said the prayer with Brother Terry, I was compelled to. I knew I had to. I chalked it up to re-dedication. 

When I was helping teach Vacation Bible School, it was brought up several times about being truly saved. Sometimes kids get saved because they see their friends do it. Some because their parents tell them they should. They never really know the wonderful change that comes into your heart when you accept Jesus into your life. When we were in the training class to be camp counselors, the scenario came up of a child approaching us that she doesn't feel she is saved. Alarms went off in my head. I asked, "What do you say to them if that's what they ask?" Well 9 out of 10 of them are saved but they just have doubts because kids don't know how to deal with the fact they still sin but that doesn't affect their salvation. But what about that one? That one that really wasn't saved back then when she thought she was? How do you know? That Sunday night was pretty miserable not being able to talk to either Brother Blake or Brother Terry. I was conflicted and in complete turmoil. Thanks to Blake, Kari Ann, and Terry, I realized that I was truly saved last year and I needed to make my public declaration of faith followed by believer's baptism. Thank you to my husband for staying around me while I temporarily lost my mind.

I told you that to tell you this:

I was on the verge of an anxiety attack at the very thought of going to camp. Once we got there, a peace settled over me. I knew why I was sent there when on the night of invitation one of our sweet girls came to me bawling her eyes out. I asked why she was so sad and with her answer, I felt a camp come over me. "I don't think I'm saved." I went through all I did so I could be there for this girl. For this moment. We spent the next little bit talking about why she felt like that and what she think we needed to do about it. I don't know if she is completely better with it, but the look on her face said she was. (She's one I pray for often.)

There were so many moments at camp that showed me that He was working in that camp. Every obstacle we encountered had an immediate resolution. I know that when I was told I had to find enough stuff to treat 40 heads and the stuff to treat the beds, my first instinct was, "AT 8:30 AT NIGHT IN IMBODEN, AR?!?!" I said a prayer before I drove off and headed to Walnut Ridge. Two trips and three stores later, we were having spa night in Cabin 3 singing praise songs and having a blast. The grown-ups didn't get to bed until 2:30 that morning and the girls got to have a slumber party! The next morning was donuts and chocolate milk delivered to the cabin instead of traipsing through the rain for powdered eggs and hamburger/sausage patties. How awesome is that?!? The best part is we ended the week with three Finch girls becoming sisters in Christ. 

The Simpkins have already started our list of what we need to bring to next year's camp!

Itching for Camp 2014

Camp was fantastic. It was as memorable as one can possibly imagine your first trip to camp to be. Our first night was pretty uneventful, we were just trying to get them to decide which bunk they wanted. The next day made up for it. Their devotional in the morning was awesome. It was about 2:00 when we suspected that four of the girls that were given to us by another church had lice. It wasn't until after dinner that it was confirmed and the military would have been impressed with the precision utilized in combating the little bugs. I went 45 miles away to the closest store that would have enough treatments for 40 heads while three others started stripping beds and bagging them. It took three stops to find enough, but I got the needed supplies including garbage bags and spray for the mattresses. Two of the other counselors then took them to a nearby town to a laundry mat and overtook all the dryers and begun the "air"-ial (hot air) assault on the critters that might have been in the bedding. I made it back to discover that we aren't allowed to do a preventative treatment with chemicals. So I then drove back to Wal-Mart, bought 4 bottles of lice preventative shampoo and drove back to the camp. These two trips took about 2 hours. We started washing girls' heads about 10:30 pm. Keep in mind these girls went swimming earlier that day, so we used several towels for that. So, we start washing heads. We used every towel in the place washing all those heads! One junior counselor and me, two of the other junior counselors were staging the girls to be ready to get their hair wash and then receive them when they were washed. Military precision for sure! God was all over this. We were laughing and singing. Singing praise and worship songs that we all hear on KLOVE, and of course "Father Abraham" repeatedly! But it was phenomenal how every time we were thrown an obstacle, God gave us a wonderful solution. Can you imagine if this would have happened on the weekend when there were lots of families trying to do their laundry? Instead, the girls were able to use every dryer in the place at the same time and cut the treatment of the bedding in half.  We finally tumbled into bed after 2:00 am.

The blessing the next morning came in the form of donuts and milk since we missed the group breakfast. Unfortunately, it was raining and all the towels that were on the line were now wet again. We had to make more trips to the dryers. It wasn't a problem at all. That day progressed into a bit of panic and chaos. The devil tried everything in the world to mess up our camp. A long story short, those little critters somehow managed to invade 5 cabins total. Our children's church camp had to be cut a day short. But let me tell you, when those three precious souls gave their hearts to Jesus, it made it worth it. I cried my eyes out with joy for those sisters in Christ.

It was when one of the girls came to me crying her eyes out with her heart broken and told me she didn't think she was saved, that was when I knew I was where I was meant to be. I don't think there was anyone there that could have helped her any better than I could at that precise moment. Her heart was broken because she kept doing bad things and couldn't stop. But the relief in her face when she realized that when she was actually one of God's children was worth everything I have been through. Everyone sins. Those who are saved feel bad about sinning. Those who are still lost don't. Even a nine year old can understand it. 

I have already begun my list of things I am bringing with me for camp next year. I can't wait. We are all itching for camp 2014!