March 30, 2009 5:32 AM
Sam wrote:
WHat beautiful language! So many comparisons to everyday things: lily blosom, cedar, roots, olive tree, grain, vine, wine, green pine tree. God is using the things He made to make a comparison. All of these things grow, or are grown, after they were planted by someone. In Ephraim, God knew that he and his people would also grow, simply because of their return to Him (like the parable of the lost son).
Can you grow? Have you grown? Are you still like you were when you were first baptized? Do you still have the same life? Are you more into God's Word now than you were when you first 'started'? Have you repented like the people of Israel, or are you still living a life of sin?
Just how much have you really grown? Tell us your story and why you feel if you have or have not grown. Reply to this
March 30, 2009 8:40 AM
Tony wrote:
In answer to your questions. Can I grow, yes. Have I grown, it seems very little. Am I still like I was when I was first babtized, yes. Do I still have the same life, yes. Am I more into God's word now than when I first started, no. Have I repented , daily. Am I still in a life of sin, not as much. Simple yet tough questions, sounds like a reality check. Reply to this
March 30, 2009 8:50 AM
Sam wrote:
'Tis a reality check...I don't believe I've changed much (for the good, that is) since the day I was baptized. I think I am in the Bible about the same, but as far as the 'other' things which identify a Christian, I think I have gotten worse. I get angry quicker (not MAD, but irritated). I evangelize (spread the word to non-Christians) VERY little. I have repented from a lot of stuff (like pornography, lust, etc), but still have lots of stuff going on that I should have repented from years ago.
Yup...reality check. I think it is time for us to grow again. Don't you all? Reply to this
March 30, 2009 7:44 PM
rik wrote:
14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
March 30, 2009 9:05 AM
Tony wrote:
I tell you what when the holy spirit speaks He just comes right out and speaks. There is no beating around the bush. The very first verse, Your sins have been your downfall! How many times do we read something like this and think, " I'm a good person, I don't rob, cheat, steal and murder people". How many of the Israelites do you think were doing the above? I would say very few, yet they were all in sin. Why? Because they took God out of the picture and they worshiped false gods. We do the same every day, sometimes for long periods of time. Why are we so stubborn as to not see that when times are good we are in God's word and communicating with other believers. When times get hard we Immediately turn from God (unintentionally) and rely on ourselves. How long will we be so arrogant as to think we can solve the problems? We are most likely the cause of the problem. Like Mac said, all of the cymboligy that is used in this chapter is things that grow. I have no room to speak as I feel I have grown very little in my knowledge of the word, very little in doing God's will, very little in being an open and productive part of the body. We are all part of the tree of life. Are we a fruitful branch, full of life and bearing fruit in the season? Or are we a dead branch that is just living from the tree and one day may, no will, be pruned from the tree? We need to check ourselves daily, there is no promise for tomorrow. Reply to this
March 30, 2009 9:05 AM
Rich wrote:
Wow, tough challenge today. My answers are about the same as Tony's. I believe that I have grown very little since my baptism. I know more and I am better able to answer questions but I actually answer less than I use to. I don't evangelize at all. I also get frustrated with others more often and quicker than I used to. I don't have daily wonder times with God. I struggle with some same sins that I struggled with before becoming a Christian and as I get older I have new ones that have come about. I have had some victories and I believe my faith is the only reason I have made it to where I am with as much in tact as there is, but I could be so much further along. I don't know why I have not grown like I thought I would the day I was first baptized. Life has a way of throwing new and different curveballs at you so that just when you think you are starting to do well something knocks you down. That is how I feel much of the time. I feel like I start to get a handle on things, that I start to really feel like I have grown, and that sin is decreasing in my life and then ... WHAM!!! Something hits and I fall flat on my face again. About all that I can say that I am proud of in regards to my overall life as a Christian is that I keep getting back up again. I have not yet gotten knocked down hard enough that I have decided to give up. Reply to this
March 30, 2009 9:13 AM
Tony wrote:
When I read this my thought as you got WHAM!! was we need to keep OUR eyes on the cross. If we keep focused, we will not fail. We will stumble and fall, Jesus stumbled and fell. But He kept His eyes on the cross! Not for Himself but for all of us. We stumble, we fall, and we keep going. Just as long as we don't go around the corner where we can no longer see the cross, life will continue, and God WILL always be there. Just as we are for our children, no matter how much they disappoint us, we are there for them. Reply to this
March 30, 2009 9:19 AM
Rich wrote:
Yesterday I had a great devotional time with my 11 year old daughter. I found some stuff on the internet about why we should read the Bible. I read with her one that I found very interesting. Basically the argument was that creation proves that there is a creator that is self existent. All other arguments fail at some point along the way - basically at "but where did that come from?" Given that there is a creator, it seems only logical that we should want to know as much about our creator as possible. We can look around us and get ideas about the creator. We can see what others believe. But the only source that "claims" to be from the creator is the Bible. There are over 1000 times in the Bible where we see words like: "the Lord spoke" or "the Lord said" or "thus sayeth the Lord." These and other similar references tell us that the Bible claims to be from God. So, reading the Bible is the way we can learn about God.
My daughter and I read together every night before she goes to bed - one of us reads out loud to the other. That has been going on for all her life. We have read more books than I can count and now we read full novels. We read all of the Narnia books last year and we recently completed a four book set about squires, knights and ladies - very funny and full of adventure. We started quickly counting the number of pages we have read just in the last couple of years and it was over 2000 easily. We then picked up a Bible and noted that there are about 1500 pages in the Bible she owns. We decided to start reading the Bible every night for the next two years so that we can both learn more about God.
I say this as an indictment on myself. It took my daughter to show me that the Bible can be something awesome to read. The Bible can tell me all about the creator of this world. It can tell me what he is like, how he thinks and feels, what pleases him, what hurts him, and what he wants from me. It is awful to say but I have never thought of the Bible in these terms before. I have never thought of reading it just to find out more about the nature of God. I am hoping that as we read I will SEE God through the eyes of a child. In many ways, as I noted above, I am still a child when it comes to God so perhaps if I just accept that and go from that point I might actually finally start to grow up some. Just a thought, hope, prayer. Reply to this
March 30, 2009 7:41 PM
rik wrote:
I spent the last so minutes typing up some things, mostly on grace and how I now understand it better then before. My wife came out and asked to use the computer real quick so I said "sure just be careful not to close the net when you are finished." and when she was finished she closed it. I was irritated at first. she apologized (sort of) and I thought to myself this is where I can apply that grace I was just preaching about. so I lost what I was saying but in a nut shell it is a good thing we do not have to earn our way into heaven, or none of us would make it. Reply to this
WHat beautiful language! So many comparisons to everyday things: lily blosom, cedar, roots, olive tree, grain, vine, wine, green pine tree. God is using the things He made to make a comparison. All of these things grow, or are grown, after they were planted by someone. In Ephraim, God knew that he and his people would also grow, simply because of their return to Him (like the parable of the lost son).
Can you grow? Have you grown? Are you still like you were when you were first baptized? Do you still have the same life? Are you more into God's Word now than you were when you first 'started'? Have you repented like the people of Israel, or are you still living a life of sin?
Just how much have you really grown? Tell us your story and why you feel if you have or have not grown.
Reply to this
In answer to your questions. Can I grow, yes. Have I grown, it seems very little. Am I still like I was when I was first babtized, yes. Do I still have the same life, yes. Am I more into God's word now than when I first started, no. Have I repented , daily. Am I still in a life of sin, not as much. Simple yet tough questions, sounds like a reality check.
Reply to this
'Tis a reality check...I don't believe I've changed much (for the good, that is) since the day I was baptized. I think I am in the Bible about the same, but as far as the 'other' things which identify a Christian, I think I have gotten worse. I get angry quicker (not MAD, but irritated). I evangelize (spread the word to non-Christians) VERY little. I have repented from a lot of stuff (like pornography, lust, etc), but still have lots of stuff going on that I should have repented from years ago.
Yup...reality check. I think it is time for us to grow again. Don't you all?
Reply to this
14We know that the law is spiritual; but I am unspiritual, sold as a slave to sin. 15I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do. 16And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good. 17As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me. 18I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature.[c] For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. 19For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do—this I keep on doing. 20Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it.
Paul had the same problem.
Reply to this
I tell you what when the holy spirit speaks He just comes right out and speaks. There is no beating around the bush. The very first verse, Your sins have been your downfall! How many times do we read something like this and think, " I'm a good person, I don't rob, cheat, steal and murder people". How many of the Israelites do you think were doing the above? I would say very few, yet they were all in sin. Why? Because they took God out of the picture and they worshiped false gods. We do the same every day, sometimes for long periods of time. Why are we so stubborn as to not see that when times are good we are in God's word and communicating with other believers. When times get hard we Immediately turn from God (unintentionally) and rely on ourselves. How long will we be so arrogant as to think we can solve the problems? We are most likely the cause of the problem.
Like Mac said, all of the cymboligy that is used in this chapter is things that grow. I have no room to speak as I feel I have grown very little in my knowledge of the word, very little in doing God's will, very little in being an open and productive part of the body. We are all part of the tree of life. Are we a fruitful branch, full of life and bearing fruit in the season? Or are we a dead branch that is just living from the tree and one day may, no will, be pruned from the tree? We need to check ourselves daily, there is no promise for tomorrow.
Reply to this
Wow, tough challenge today. My answers are about the same as Tony's. I believe that I have grown very little since my baptism. I know more and I am better able to answer questions but I actually answer less than I use to. I don't evangelize at all. I also get frustrated with others more often and quicker than I used to. I don't have daily wonder times with God. I struggle with some same sins that I struggled with before becoming a Christian and as I get older I have new ones that have come about. I have had some victories and I believe my faith is the only reason I have made it to where I am with as much in tact as there is, but I could be so much further along. I don't know why I have not grown like I thought I would the day I was first baptized. Life has a way of throwing new and different curveballs at you so that just when you think you are starting to do well something knocks you down. That is how I feel much of the time. I feel like I start to get a handle on things, that I start to really feel like I have grown, and that sin is decreasing in my life and then ... WHAM!!! Something hits and I fall flat on my face again. About all that I can say that I am proud of in regards to my overall life as a Christian is that I keep getting back up again. I have not yet gotten knocked down hard enough that I have decided to give up.
Reply to this
When I read this my thought as you got WHAM!! was we need to keep OUR eyes on the cross. If we keep focused, we will not fail. We will stumble and fall, Jesus stumbled and fell. But He kept His eyes on the cross! Not for Himself but for all of us. We stumble, we fall, and we keep going. Just as long as we don't go around the corner where we can no longer see the cross, life will continue, and God WILL always be there. Just as we are for our children, no matter how much they disappoint us, we are there for them.
Reply to this
Great point Tony. I agree wholeheartedly.
Reply to this
Yesterday I had a great devotional time with my 11 year old daughter. I found some stuff on the internet about why we should read the Bible. I read with her one that I found very interesting. Basically the argument was that creation proves that there is a creator that is self existent. All other arguments fail at some point along the way - basically at "but where did that come from?" Given that there is a creator, it seems only logical that we should want to know as much about our creator as possible. We can look around us and get ideas about the creator. We can see what others believe. But the only source that "claims" to be from the creator is the Bible. There are over 1000 times in the Bible where we see words like: "the Lord spoke" or "the Lord said" or "thus sayeth the Lord." These and other similar references tell us that the Bible claims to be from God. So, reading the Bible is the way we can learn about God.
My daughter and I read together every night before she goes to bed - one of us reads out loud to the other. That has been going on for all her life. We have read more books than I can count and now we read full novels. We read all of the Narnia books last year and we recently completed a four book set about squires, knights and ladies - very funny and full of adventure. We started quickly counting the number of pages we have read just in the last couple of years and it was over 2000 easily. We then picked up a Bible and noted that there are about 1500 pages in the Bible she owns. We decided to start reading the Bible every night for the next two years so that we can both learn more about God.
I say this as an indictment on myself. It took my daughter to show me that the Bible can be something awesome to read. The Bible can tell me all about the creator of this world. It can tell me what he is like, how he thinks and feels, what pleases him, what hurts him, and what he wants from me. It is awful to say but I have never thought of the Bible in these terms before. I have never thought of reading it just to find out more about the nature of God. I am hoping that as we read I will SEE God through the eyes of a child. In many ways, as I noted above, I am still a child when it comes to God so perhaps if I just accept that and go from that point I might actually finally start to grow up some. Just a thought, hope, prayer.
Reply to this
I spent the last so minutes typing up some things, mostly on grace and how I now understand it better then before. My wife came out and asked to use the computer real quick so I said "sure just be careful not to close the net when you are finished." and when she was finished she closed it. I was irritated at first. she apologized (sort of) and I thought to myself this is where I can apply that grace I was just preaching about. so I lost what I was saying but in a nut shell it is a good thing we do not have to earn our way into heaven, or none of us would make it.
Reply to this
20 minutes not so
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