Lines of Truth (7)

Chapter 7     Security    Psalm 125

pg 81  "Better than a city wall, better than a military fortification is the presence of the God of peace."

In all the ups and downs of Israel's history - they are always God's people.  God is there - always - regardless of how we feel or what we choose.  Our security lies in who God IS, not in what we feel.

pg 83  "Discipleship is a decision to live by what I know about God, not by what I feel about him or myself or my neighbors.

Evil is never permanent, it is always temporary.  It may be long in our view, but we have the promise of 1 Cor. 10:13.  God will not allow more than he will allow and He is always faithful and will provide for us.

pg 85  "Discipleship is not a contract in which if we break our part of the agreement, he (God) is free to break his; it is a covenant in which he establishes the conditions and guarantees the results."

Matt 6: 25, 31, 34 - our life with God is secure.

Laundry-Bath Remodel

Taking a break from my book posts. :-)

Over the last couple weeks here we've done what may be our last remodeling project in this house.  We did an over-haul of the half-bath/laundry room on the first floor. 
This room hasn't been touched since I was very pregnant with J - and she'll be 15 next week.  When we moved here it was a full bath with a tub and in a loving gesture from my husband to my very largely pregnant self - Steve and my Dad ripped the bathroom apart and put my washer/dryer on the first floor.  Yay!
Now it was in desperate need of some updating and beautification.
We opted to hire a friend to tile the floor for us - VERY smart move!  Mike was able to do the floor in 2 days where it'd probably have taken Steve & I at least a week.  It's beautiful and I love the way it looks.
The walls are painted a soft cocoa-gold color called "Renoir Bisque" and the trim is white.  We replaced the vanity & all the accessories and Steve installed 2 new light fixtures as well.  The accents are a brushed nickel that is really sharp I think.

I think it's very pretty and I'm very thankful to have it finished!

Lines of Truth (6)

A Long Obedience in the Same Direction (purchase here)

Chapter 6   Help

Psalm 124  (New International Version) 

 A song of ascents. Of David.

¹ If the Lord had not been on our side—
    let Israel say—
² if the Lord had not been on our side
    when men attacked us,
³ when their anger flared against us,
    they would have swallowed us alive;
⁴ the flood would have engulfed us,
    the torrent would have swept over us,
⁵ the raging waters
    would have swept us away.

⁶ Praise be to the Lord,
    who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
⁷ We have escaped like a bird
    out of the fowler’s snare;
the snare has been broken,
    and we have escaped.
⁸ Our help is in the name of the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth.

p. 67  God is on our side, God is our help

p. 69  God's help is not a private experience, it is a corporate reality - not an exception among isolated strangers, but the norm among the people of God.

p. 70  Don't hesitate to ask hard questions of teh scriptures - doubts & questions must be asked & wrestled with in the light of disbelief & be overcome by the truth of God so we can believe solidly in the truth of God's word always.  The Psalms show us 'warts & all religion", not just the pretty surface stuff.

p. 74  "In the details of the conflict, the majestic greatness of God becomes revealed in the minuteness of a personal history.  Faith develops out of the most difficult aspects of our existence, not the easiest."

p. 75  "We are traveling in the light, toward God who is rich in mercy and strong to save.  It is Christ, not culture, that defines our lives.  It is the help we experience, not the hazards we risk, that shape our days."

Lines of Truth (5)

Chapter 5 - Service            

Psalm 123

To you I lift up my eyes,
    O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
 Behold, as the eyes of servants
    look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
    to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
    till he has mercy upon us. 

Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
    for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough
    of the scorn of those who are at ease,
    of the contempt of the proud.

p. 57  "A psalm is not a lecture; it is a song. In a psalm we have the observable evidence of what happens when a person of faith goes about the business of believing and loving and following God."

p. 60  We must look up to God to find ourselves in the proper position, the posture of servitude.  This is the beginning - we must realize our position in relation to the Creator of everything.  He is above.  Second comes our expectation in faith - that God means to transform us for our good.  He is the master potter at work on the clay that is our lives - until He has finally shaped a redeemed life - a vessel fit for His kingdom.


p. 63  There is an urgency to serve the Master instead of being enslaved by the things of this world.

p 64  We must learn to use our freedom appropriately - under the lordship of our merciful God.  A servant of Christ is the freest person on the planet.

Lines of Truth (4)

 Chapter 4   Worship                  Psalm 122

p 45  There is one sufficient reason for going to church - God.

p 46 talks about worship being the most popular thing that Christians do - I wonder about this -  I  suppose that he may be correct as you certainly see more bodies in church services than you do in bible study groups or serving in a mission context.

p 47  ".. the powerful history - shaping truth that God forgives our sins and makes it possible to live without guilt and with purpose."

p49  worship (corporate) provides a framework for how we are to do life - we know where we stand

p 49-50  worship is commanded in Scripture, we don't worship because 'we feel like it'.  "Feelings are completely unreliable in matters of faith"

"The Bible wastes very little time on the way we feel" ~Paul Scherer,
                                                                                The Word God Sent p166

 p 50  Worship centers us on the Word of God - the decisions of God.
The biblical word "judgement" means "the decisive word by which God straightens things out and puts things right."

p 51  The word "pray" in the Hebrew of Psalm 122 is the same as "ask" as we 'ask' for seconds at dinner or for directions when we are lost.

p 52  "Shalom, peace, is one of the richest words in the Bible"  "It gathers all aspects of wholeness that result from God's will being completed in us.  It is the work of God that, when complete, releases streams of living water in us and pulsates with eternal life."

p 52  Shalvah = security    the root meaning is leisure 
Security of being at home in a history that has the cross of Christ at its center.
"It is the leisure of the person who knows that everything is all right because God is over us, with us, and for us in Jesus Christ."
"It is the leisure of the person who knows that every moment of our existence is at the disposal of God, lived under the mercy of God."

Lines of Truth (3)

Chapter 3     Providence           Psalm 121

Times of trouble are inevitable - we will need help.

p.37  A look to the 'hills' ends in disappointment - help comes from the Creator... not the creation.

p 38  "No literature is more realistic and honest in facing the harsh facts of life than the Bible."

p 39  The only serious mistake we can make as Christians is the one Psalm 121 prevents - the mistake of supposing that God's interest in us waxes and wanes in response to our spiritual temperature.

p. 40  "Psalm 121 says that the same faith that works in the big things works in the little things."

Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

My help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth.

He will not let your foot be moved; he who keeps you will not slumber.
Behold, he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.

The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand.
The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night.

The Lord will keep you from all evil; he will keep your life.
The Lord will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.

Lines of Truth (2)

  A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson is a study through several Psalms that are known as "The Song of Ascents", specifically Psalm 120 through 134. 

Chapter 2 - Repentance - Psalm 120

p 21  A person has to be thoroughly disgusted with the way things are to find the motivation to set out on the Christian way.
Psalm 120 is the song of such a person - the cry of pain that penetrates through despair & stimulates a new beginning ~ a journey to God which becomes a life of peace.

p 24  "The truth about what is wrong with the world is that I and the neighbor sitting beside me have sinned in refusing to let God be for us, over us and in us.  The truth about what is at the center of our lives and of our history is that Jesus Christ was crucified on the cross for our sins and raised from the tomb for our salvation and that we can participate in new life as we believe in him, accept his mercy, respond to his love, attend to his commands."

p 25-26  Repentance is not an emotion.  It is not feeling sorry for your sins.  It is a decision.  Repentance is a decision to follow Jesus Christ and become His pilgrim in the path of peace.

p 29  Repentance is the first word in Christian immigration and sets us on the way to traveling in the light. It is a rejection that is also an acceptance, a leaving that develops into an arriving, a no to the world that is a yes to God.

In my distress I called to the Lord, and he answered me.  ~Psalm 120:1
If I am honest - I know that only the Lord will ALWAYS answer when I cry out to Him.