Musings – 1/19/13

Hi there!  Now I realize it isn't Saturday today, but I ran out of time to blog this last weekend.  This week's chapter was on God's jealousy.

Jealousy is one of those words people normally don't use when they describe something good.  We look at the word in the sense of what we know of it.  Well when God said that He was a jealous God, it didn't sound too good.  For example, what if you were imagining what God's characteristics are.  If you were trying to image a perfect God with only good attributes, there's a good chance jealousy wouldn't make the list.  It's just not normally something one would thing of as a good thing.

Thus, when the Bible says that God is a jealous god, it's confusing.  However, once again, us humans are trying to shove God into our likeness.  Usually when you or I are jealous, it's sinful – wanting what someone else has. 

Before we go any further, we need to realize that there are two kinds of jealousy.  First, there's that bad kind – vicious jealousy.  The kind where my brother sees my younger brother playing with a toy.  All of the sudden, August reeeeally wants that particular thing.  So, according to August's nature, he goes and takes it – usually by force.  That's the bad kind.  Second, there's the righteous kind of jealousy that should exist between husband and wife.

"This kind of jealousy is a positive virtue, for it shows a grasp of the true meaning of the husband-wife relationship, together with a proper zeal to keep it intact.  ...The worship of idols, and all compromising relations with non-Israelite idolaters, constituted disobedience and unfaithfulness, which God saw as spiritual adultery, provoking him to jealousy and vengeance." 

Now it is much easier to understand why God called Himself jealous.  He meant that He demands from those He has loved and redeemed absolute loyalty, and He will vindicate His claim by stern action against them if they betray his love.  Because the whole Bible was built around a love story – the marriage between God's Son and the worldwide church at the end of time – God's jealousy is the marital kind.  He is jealous for us like the righteous man is jealous for his wife.  

Doesn't that make you feel special?  When we read this chapter, I was amazed by this.  The God whom we rebelled against, disobeyed, whose Son we betrayed is jealous for our love? our praise? our loyalty?  What could be more compelling than that?  The Creator of the universe – jealous for our love!  

I hope this fact convicts you to worship God more fully, to know Him more deeply, and live for Him completely.  xo, Ella 

The link for the book – Knowing God – by J. I. Packer  

Musings – 11/24/12

 Happy Saturday!  We had our usual morning book club today.  We went to Starbucks and I had a Gingerbread Latte, which was awesome, of course. 

These chapters were about God's love and His grace.  They were very good, but also called us to action.  The author had some pretty powerful truths to share.  First, in the God is Love chapter, he restated the fact that God is love, but He's holy love.  This means that He loves, but He also hates sin. 

The chapter about grace was very good.  The author started out by stating the numerous ways we are fallen people.  First, we are inherently immoral.  We're sinners, and we cannot do anything about it.  The phrase: people are generally good?  Well, that's wrong, sadly.  Yes, we can do good things, but only with God.  Second, God is a just God.  He is a fair, just judge.  He will judge us righteously in the end.  Only if we are covered with the blood of Jesus can we get to heaven.  We cannot do anything of ourselves.  No one can do anything to get them to heaven.  Third, God is free.  Somehow, we sometimes feel that God is obliged to love and help us, though we never deserve it.  God does not have to forgive us, love us, or even pay attention to us.  I mean, He created the universe!  Why should he care about some little people who don't even obey Him?

So where does that leave us?  Totally fallen and unable to ever escape our sinful world or commune with our Creator.  Pretty sad, huh?  But God didn't want it to end there.  A sentence from the book states: "...once a person is convinced that his state and need are as described [hopeless], the New Testament gospel of grace cannot but sweep him off his feet with wonder and joy.  For it tells how our Judge has become our Savior."  (Packer, 132)  The grace of which he speaks of is the grace found in the New Testament; the story of His Son, Jesus dying on the cross to atone for the sins of humanity.  It is by God's grace that we can even pray, speak, or be saved by Him. 

Mr. Packer made three particular statements, all of which are a marvel to the Christian.  First, Grace is the source of the pardon of sin.  The gospel centers upon the justification or remission of our sins.  "Justification is free to us, but it was costly to God, for its price was the atoning death of God's Son."  (Packer, 133).  Isn't that awesome?  Second, grace is the motive of the plan of salvation.  The analysis of grace begins with the movement of sonship  in Christ (we are now God's children, once we accept Christ), proceeds to redemption and remission of sins, and moves on to the hope of eternal life and glory with Christ.  Third, grace is the guarantee of the preservation of the saints.  The saints here are referring to the Christians.  And grace is that guarantee that we will be in heaven when the world ends, whenever that be. 

The proper response to that gift of grace which God so graciously gave us is first, the acceptance of it so that our lives are changed and our sins erased, and second, the actions and lifestyle which result from the knowledge of God's grace.  When we completely understand how poor and hopeless we are, then the story of grace becomes that much more unbelievable and attractive.  Who could resist a God who is perfect, but still desires that we should be the closest of friends?  xo, Ella

Nov. 3 – Musings

Hi there!  I hope you all are enjoying your weekends and the lovely fall weather.  I'm starting to stock up on warm sweaters.  'Love this time of year!

I've taken a break on my 'musings' posts because last weekend we were out of town, and I didn't have time to do it when we got back.  The last couple chapters of our book 'Knowing God' have been about God's wisdom.  It is so amazing to think about.  It is also really comforting and reassuring.  The writer takes the lives of three men of the Bible – Abraham, Jacob, and Joseph – and breaks them down to illustrate God's wisdom in their lives.  He shows that each of these men started out as anything but Godly.  Abraham was not a leader, he was not confident in himself or in God, and he was a push-over.  In the end though, God turned each man into a man of God.  They became humble, strong-of-heart, and ready to take on anything because of their faith in God.   The chapter prompted us to view our lives the same way – we started as weak sinners, but God in His wisdom is always shaping us and refining us to become more like Himself.  In addition, we were reminded that so much of what we go through every day, the little and big struggles, are being used by God to transform our lives.  Each day that we surrender to God allows Him to take it and use it to change our hearts. I know that I have the tendency to groan and complain when things aren't going my way.  I need to stop more often and thank (yes, I said thank) God for those little things that He's using to mold my heart. 

I hope you have a great rest of the weekend.  Hopefully I can post an outfit in the near future as well as a DIY!  xo, Ella

Musings – 10/13/12

Hi!  Well, yesterday, my dad, brother and I had our traditional outing at Starbucks to read Knowing God at the crazy time of 6:30.  Oy!  This time, one of the chapters was about God's never changing.  It was a very good chapter that reminded me that God never changes, falters, or even changes His mind.  As humans, we change our minds like 5 times every five minutes.  (especially us women)  God, however, never changes!  Because He knows all things, we can completely trust in Him.  It's so awesome to have that kind of constant in our lives.  We can depend upon Him in every circumstance and through every trial.  In addition, His word, the Bible, won't ever contradict itself, and what it says, God will never refute.  You know how it is when you read a book about say, what foods are good for you and then later there's another study done and you discover that everything you read in that book were wrong or distorted?  Well, that never happens with the Bible.  Everything it says is absolutely true and can never change.  That's pretty awesome that we have a God like that to hold onto when the world around us seems to be getting more and more crazy all the time.  xo, Ella