6 hour drive to the happiest place on earth

So tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day, but more importantly it is the day that I get to go home!  I am SO excited to see my family.  It will take about six hours to get home but there will be Full House marathons galore if my sisters have anything to do with how the week is going to go:)  I am most excited about Easter Sunday and the celebration that will take place!  Oh how I long for that day when I get to see my Savior face to face.  I can't even imagine the celebration that will be going on then!

I am also taking 11 books home with me for homework.  I know, it is insane!  I really do love it though.  I am doing a paper on the Kingship in Israel and how it contrasted with the ancient Near East.  It has been such a fun paper to write so far.  It has helped me understand and know who God is a little bit more.  Understanding that Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of His throne(Ps. 89:14),  provokes worship in the Psalms.  

In the ancient Near East, the kingship was oppressive, especially to the poor and the lower class.  The king owned all of the land and was a representation of the god of that land.  The king would then distribute(sold) the land to tenants who would take care of the land for the king.  If the people did not obey the king, they were severely oppressed.  This is completely opposite to what the Lord required of the king of Israel.  The people of Israel were directed by YHWH.  They were called and elected by YHWH.  Thus, their response to such grace was to be obedient.  YHWH describes the king's duties in Deuteronomy 17.  Verses 18-20 say:

    18"And when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself in a book a copy of this law, approved by the Levitical priests.  19And it shall be with him, and he shall read in it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God by keeping all the words of this law and these statutes, and doing them, 20that his heart may not be lifted up above his brothers, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment, either to the right hand or to the left, so that he may continue long in his kingdom, he and his children, in Israel.  

The king was not to even let his heart be lifted up above his people.  He was to act in servanthood and humility to his people; he was never to take advantage of them.  Their kingship was designed to imitate their One True King over all.  They were to imitate the One who redeemed them and called them as His "treasured possession"(Exodus 19:5).  Chris Wright(Old Testament Ethics for the People of God) says that God required this righteousness and justice from them because that is what reflected Him.  When people fail to carry out justice, they do not have the true God as the object of their worship and devotion.  In this way, Israel(as a society and government) was to be a model for the nations around them.  Not only was the king to imbibe righteousness and justice, but so were the people.  The people were to know the Lord and fear the Lord.  He was their God and they were to reflect Him in the way that they lived.  Chris Wright explains that, "knowing the Lord means being committed to the things He most delights in: Kindness, Justice and Righteousness."

In Jeremiah it says that to know the Lord is to act justly and righteously:

22:15-16

"'Did not your father have food and drink?  He did what was right and just, so all went well with him.  He defended the cause of the poor and the needy, and so all went well.  Is that not what it means to know me?' declares the Lord!"

To live in a way that is Righteous and Just is to know God.

Furthermore, Wright comments that, "the one who would dare to come into the presence of God for worship must be the one whose life manifests the character of the God to be worshipped"(Wright).

Psalm 15:1-2

"Lord, who may dwell in your sanctuary?  Who may live on Your holy hill?  He whose walk is blameless and who does what is right..."

All that to say, I am thrilled to be writing this paper.  I am thrilled that the Lord has given me the opportunity to learn to know and fear Him in this way.  I can't begin to tell you how blessed I am and how much the Lord has graciously taught me this past year at CBU.  Just as Israel was called and chosen, so was I.  In the same way that they were to respond in obedience to that call, so am I to respond in obedience.  May we ever more abide in Christ and strive to imitate Him in Righteousness and Justice.

p.s. 

Chris Wright's Book is AMAZING.  I read it for my Old Testament Ethics class.  You really need to get it!

Evening Renewal

My Father,

If thy mercy had bounds, where would be my refuge from just wrath?

But thy love in Christ is without measure.

Thus, I present myself to thee with sins of commission and omission,

against thee, my Father,

against thee, adorable Redeemer,

against thee and thy strivings, O Holy Spirit,

against the dictates of my conscience,

against the precepts of thy Word,

against my neighbours and myself.

Enter not into judgment with me,

For I plead no righteousness of my own,

 and have no cloak for iniquity.

Pardon my day dark with evil

This night I renew my penitence.

Every morning I vow to love thee more fervently,

to serve thee more sincerely,

to be more devoted in my life,

to be wholly thine;

Yet I soon stumble, backslide,

and have to confess my weakness, misery and sin.

But I bless thee that the finished work of Jesus needs no addition from my doings,

that His oblation is sufficient satisfaction for my sins.

If future days be mine, help me to amend my life,

to hate and abhor evil,

to flee the sins I confess.

Make me more resolute, more watchful, more prayerful.

Let no evil fruit spring from evil seeds my hands have sown;

Let no neighbour be hardened in vanity and folly by my want of circumspection.

If this day I have been ashamed of Christ and His Word,

or have shown unkindness, malice, envy, lack of love, unadvised speech, hasty temper,

let it by no stumbling block to others, or dishonour to thy Name.

O help me to set an upright example that will ever

rebuke vice,

allure to goodness,

and evidence that lovely are the ways of Christ.

longings after God...a puritan prayer

so there is this book that everyone needs to get.  It is called 'The Valley of Vision'.  It was given to me as a gift by a friend that has spurred me on spiritually.  It is a book of recorded puritan prayers.  It has humbled, challenged, and encouraged me as I pursue holiness in my walk with the Lord.  I will post one every week, hoping that they will bless you and encourage you in the faith.  This one is called Longings After God, since this is where Biblical Manhood and Womanhood starts.

My Dear Lord,

I can but tell thee that thou knowest I long for nothing but thyself,

nothing but holiness, nothing but union with thy will.

Thou hast given me these desire, and thou alone canst give me the thing desired.

My soul longs for communion with thee, for mortification of indwelling corruption, especially spiritual pride.

How precious it is to have a tender sense and clear apprehension of the mystery of godliness, of true holiness!

What a blessedness to be like thee as much as it is possible for a creature to be like its Creator!

Lord, give me more of thy likeness; Enlarge my soul to contain fullness of holiness; Engage me to live more for thee.  

Help me to be less pleased with my spiritual experiences, and when I feel at east after sweet commiunings, teach me it is far too little I know and do.

Blessed Lord, let me climb up near to thee, and love, and long, and plead, and wrestle with thee, and pant for deliverance from the body of sin, for my heart is wandering and lifeless, and my soul morns to think it should ever lose sight of its Beloved.

Wrap my life in divine love, and keep me ever desiring thee, always humble and resigned to thy will, more fixed on thyself, that I may be more fitted for doing and suffering.

biblical womanhood...why is it still a mystery?

So, I go to Cal Baptist University in Riverside and we just finished Seek Week. Seek Week is a week that is truly dedicated to giving opportunities all week long to spark a new fire in the students' lives to seek the Lord as a whole student body. We had 3 chapels this week instead of one, the prayer chapel was set up with specific issues to pray for, and there was a vesper service where students could pray for the campus.
Seek Week is always a big hit. We always have a chapel speaker that is really great. (I don't know where they get our other chapel speakers...but that is another story) Anyways, Voddie Baucham came to school this semester. He talked about Biblical Manhood and Womanhood(ironic). He did a great job with the men. He had 5 basic points in how men are to live out the Biblical Manhood that the Lord has called them to:
1. They are to lead in Love: Love is an act of the will accompanied by emotion(not led by emotion and not void of emotion!)that leads to action towards the subject of the given love. They are to be men that doesn't throw his love around to many different girls, but protects the girls emotions and hearts. His passage he went to was Ephesians 5:25(he hit on points I talked about in the previous blog I posted about dedicating her and to the Lord, just as Christ sanctified the Church)
2. He must lead in the Word(Ephesians 5:26): He is to be her mentor and is to disciple her in the scripture. He is responsible for sanctifying/washing/dedicating her to the Word. He also correlated this Eph. 6:4-'Fathers...bring up(your children)in the discipline and instruction of the Lord'. If Women are willing to compromise on this issue of men being their spiritual leaders, then they are willing to throw away their children's spiritual growth!
3. They Must Lead in Righteousness(Eph. 5:27): If he does not, he is not worthy. His character is what is going to last over everything else about him. He is the one who is to put the hedge around the relationship.
4. He is to lead in Selflessness(Eph. 5:28-29): He should cherish and nourish the woman. His goal is to bring out the best that God placed in the woman.
5. He must stand on his own feet and be able to support the woman(Eph. 5:31)-He is to prioritize his relationship with his wife above all others, even his family's.

His main point was that we are called, as men and women of God, to represent the relationship of Christ and the Church in our marriage. He is to act in the selfless, sacrificial, serving leader that Christ was to the Church, and the Women are to act in joyful submission to their husbands, just as the church is to act. This is a HIGH calling! How awesome, that we are to act as the paradigm of Jesus and His bride, the Church! What an honor!
He told the women that we are to keep our heads down until a man like this pursues us. If the women don't require this of the men, then they have no reason to try to live out Biblical Manhood.
So, His summary of what a husband should be to his wife is her priest, provider, and protector.

Then, on Wed. night, he talked to the women about submission. It was so great. Again, he hit a homerun!
He dismissed the argument that some make about mutual submission. He explained that the term 'submission' means someone under the authority of another. There has to be one over another for marriage to work. We looked at the beginning of creation in Genesis, before the fall. He explained that Man came first and then the Lord said that there weren't any suitable helpers for him. THEN, God commanded him to name all of the animals. THEN, he made eve out of his rib. She was then named after the man. "Bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh". Adam played the role as the leader. He worked and was taking care of the animals. Adam didn't need help working, he was doing that before Eve. He didn't need help naming the animals, he was doing that also, before Eve. He needed a suitable helper that could help bring out the best that was in him. That is why she came. She was not to take over his job...she was to help, to submit to his leadership.
He then went back to Ephesians 5:22:

• Wives are to submit to their husbands AS UNTO THE LORD. A man is never going to be worthy of submission and a woman who is waiting for that man will never submit. So, submission is an act of obedience unto the Lord. 
  

He also took us to 1 Peter 3:1-3 "Likewise, wives, be submissive to your won husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives-when they see your respectful and pure conduct." Voddie told us that if wives tell the man, "You need to step up and be a man and lead", and the man does, he is obeying his wife and not being the leader he needs to be. He is submitting himself to the woman's authority. First and foremost we are to obey the Lord, and so women are to submit. He also told us that many people get servant-hood and submission mixed up(as I mentioned in a previous blog).

Those are just a few of the many different elements of submission that he spoke on. So, going into the last chapel, I was expecting him to talk about how women are to act. How we are to practice Biblical Womanhood now, just as the men are working on living their Biblical Manhood out. BUT I was very disappointed. He didn't talk to the women.
I DON'T GET IT! WHY???
Why doesn't anyone talk about it? So, I have decided that this is one of my life goals: not only to pursue Biblical Womanhood, but really define it. So I have been asking Godly men and women who are seeking after the Lord, and I need your input as well. What do you think Biblical Womanhood looks like, according to the text? Guys, what are you looking for in a Godly Woman as a future wife? This is so important. Voddie talked about the problem of men not mentoring younger men. Well, I think that less women are actually mentoring younger women. The Women HAVE to be content in the Lord before a man can lead them spiritually....so what do we do now. We seriously need to think about the women in our lives. Are you, as a woman, being discipled by a Godly Woman and are you pouring your life into a younger woman? I truly think that this is a HUGE issue. No one is speaking to us women. We know the characteristics of a Godly man...now what are we to do? Who are we to become? What does the woman look like that the Lord wants to mold us into?  Young women have maturity issues, and there is a lack of older women mentors.  I want to be known as a woman that is solid.  I want to be unshakable because of the foundation I have in Christ.  I want to share this with the younger women in my life and become a mentor as I grow in wisdom and maturity.  If we are expecting a high standard of excellence and leadership in the men, then we need to expect a higher standard of Godliness and holiness in us as well.  A friend gave me a couple sites that are committed to Biblical Manhood and Womanhood:
Radical Womanhood and girl talk

I know that 'girl talk' sounds SO cliche, but this blog is actually by C.J. Mahaney's wife, Carolyn. I found it to be very helpful! May we yearn to become Women and Men seeking to be marked by holiness. May we be zealous for the Lord and desperate for His guidance in becoming more like Him. He is the one we are to be fulfilled in!

Matt 6:33 "But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

john piper on the prosperity gospel

this is such a powerful video...

please pray that the church would be marked by suffering for Christ!

JT

memorizing scripture...

So a professor here at CBU blogged about the importance of memorizing scripture and a really good program of how to effectively memorize.  It is a program that John Piper has established at his church in Minnesota(said in a funny accent)! :)  

So go to his blog.  It is really exciting.  I feel like although I know where in my Bible passages may be, I can't go to any Bible and find exactly where the verse is that I'm looking for.  I'm getting a little better, but I think that it is important to have it memorized, and really know the book that we, as Christians, claim to believe.  If it holds all authority in our lives, then we should know it.  One of my friends and I really want to do this.  If anyone else wants to, you should let me know!

Alex Chediak

The system is called  the 'Fighter Verse System".  Click on the link.  It will explain most of it, but if you click on the link there that says, "the benefits are numerous" it will send you to Piper's Church(Bethlehem Baptist) and they even have tips and methods of how to study that are really helpful!

Oh, and one more thing.  I was reading a interview by Anthony Calzia with Dr. Chediak in our school's newspaper and he has a book on dating that I think is pretty right on.  I haven't read it yet, but want to as soon as I have a free minute and let you know how it is!:)  I think it is close to $11 through Amazon.com!

fog and a solution

So, it is a foggy day here in Riverside, CA where you can never guess what the weather is going to be like:)  Sunday it rained and yesterday we hit the 80s!  I guess it keeps us on our toes.  I love the fog though.  It reminds me of home.  I miss home and my family and our randomness!  Honestly, I don't think I've met a more random family than mine and a few of my close friends can testify to that!

Anyways, I received a comment on how we get the point across, to the younger people in our lives, that they are to find their identity in Christ and not in a 'significant other'.  I think that this is one of the toughest things to accomplish.  I know that when I was in high school it was tough.  I never dated in High School, but everyone around me 'dated'(I use that term loosely).  Although, it is a tough thing to teach, I think it is VITAL to raising up a generation that is living a life zealous for the Lord.

I honestly believe that they have to be completely satisfied in Him.  They only way to truly understand who God is and fall in love with Him is through His Word.  I don't think that jr. highers and high schoolers have this foundation.  The Word of God is transforming, and life changing!  It is SO vital to how we live our lives and we live our lives based on who we understand God(our Savior, Redeemer, and Lord) to be. 

What also contributes to this is a lack of fear in God.  Sometimes we get caught up in the fact that He is a loving God(without a shadow of a doubt He is), and forget that He is a God that is Holy and should be approached in that manner!  He requires holiness from us.  We truly need a fear of the Lord and to fall in Love with Him....through the study of His Word.  We need to regard scripture as precious...we need to ingrain this in them.  

Deuteronomy 6:6-9 says,

"These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.  You shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up.  You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.  You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates."

This is how we help build their foundation in the Lord, so that when they get to the point of dating and truly seeking the one that the Lord has for them, to glorify Him in marriage, that they are only content in the Lord and only dependent on Him.

I know that Jr. High was not an enjoyable time in many people's lives.  And I praise God for those who work with them(such as Rachel).  But I think that because it is an awkward transition in life, it is imperative to teach them the precepts of the Lord.  I don't think we give God's Word the credit it deserves.  I think that since we see them as Jr. Highers(the stereotype of crazy/out of control), we think that we have to dress up Christianity and God's Word.  NO...it is LIFE CHANGING!  My life especially is a testimony to that.  So, at the end of the day, what are you doing to help raise up a generation after you that is seeking Him and wanting to abide in Christ?