Just had one of those "light bulb" moments!! Ever since I've started studying about healing in the Bible back in March of 2012 I have constantly struggled with the concept that in the Bible, when Jesus healed someone, they were healed. Plain and simple. End of story. The woman was healed from her issue of blood and you never hear four chapters later that the issue returned and He had to "re-heal" her. Or the blind man's sight dimming and becoming dark again. So healing should be a "done" deal. And if "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8) then His healing today would be as strong and effective as it was then. It says in I Peter 2:12 that we are healed by His stripes.
Yet it hasn't been exactly that way for me. It hasn't necessarily been a constant battle, but definitely an ongoing one at times. This has been a nearly constant source of frustration for me, trying to match what I know from God's Word to what I experience. I've prayed about it, struggled over it and searched in the Bible trying to find out the "whys." Reading Sheila Walsh's book (The Heartache No One Sees) tonight I discovered the answer!!
Luke 4:13 "When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came."
The emotional and mental healing that we may have experienced can be bombarded by doubts and temptations from Satan. And we may resist, and he may leave..BUT he is waiting until the next opportunity to tempt us. Which is why we were given the armor of God (Ephesians 6) to battle it. I believe it crosses the realm to include spiritual warfare. Please don't get me wrong, I'm not discounting the wisdom God gave to men to create medications. But Satan had used this questioning to wiggle and worm his way into my thinking and whisper things like 'Jesus didn't really heal you' or 'if you were a better Christian you wouldn't ever have to battle this again' or 'your faith must not be real since you still have to keep praying about it.' There is no way I can describe the relief to realize that it isn't that I have this great lacking of faith, or God has bigger things than to deal with me and my issues, but I am battling a cunning enemy! "The thief's purpose is to steal and kill and destroy..." John 10:10a
AA puts it this way, "Remember that we deal with alcohol, cunning, baffling, powerful! Without
help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power that One
is God. May you find Him now!" We can easily substitute alcohol here for Satan. He is cunning, baffling, powerful, but we have One, Jesus Christ, who has ALL the power we need.
May 2013 be the year that I put on the armor and prepare for battle and not be discouraged when the battle rages thinking that God has not healed, but realize that this battle is most often one fought in the mind and when a battle is won, not to discard my battle gear and let my guard down to merrily go on my way, but to realize he is waiting until the next opportunity, so I need to stay "prayed up" and prepared for battle.
And the rest of the verse from John 10:10? "My (Jesus') purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life." I'd say that's Good News, wouldn't you?!
Sunday, January 20, 2013
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Membership: Parts of the Body
Our family have not been "members" of a church in quite a while. Yes, we have attended church, and attended faithfully and even have served in various capacities.
Why not join? Well, it was just as easy to say "why join?" We moved here to the Destin/Miramar Beach/Sandestin area (yes, weird but true, you can send mail to any of those three and we will get it, the lady at the post office told us to just pick one!) and knew we wanted to find a church to attend as a family.
We started attending Destiny Worship Center and really liked it. (it reminded us of 12Stone in Lawrenceville, GA) They have great worship music/band, student activities and was big enough for us to slip into and just ease ourselves in. Oh, and I'm sure that having a bona fide Starbucks store inside the church didn't hurt either. We even went to a Newcomer's Luncheon but decided to draw the line at that. So week after week we checked the "regular attender" box on our connect card. However, unlike a lot of other places, we found out we weren't allowed to volunteer or serve unless we became members. Toward the end of the year this started becoming a strong desire of mine, but didn't think that my husband felt the same.
As I often do, I think and think and over think. Mulling over every aspect. What does being a member mean? What are the benefits? Why join instead of just attending?
Part of the definition of "member" from the Webster 1812 dictionary include:
MEM'BER, n. [L. membrum.]
1. A limb of animal bodies, as a leg, an arm, an ear, a finger, that is, a subordinate part of the main body. 2.
A part of a discourse, or of a period or sentence; a clause; a part of
a verse. Harmony in poetry is produced by a proportion between the
members of the same verse, or between the members of different verses. 3. In architecture, a subordinate part of a building, as a frieze or cornice; sometimes a molding. 4.
An individual of a community or society. Every citizen is a member of
the state or body politic. So the individuals of a club, a corporation
or confederacy, are called its members. Students of an academy or
college are its members. Professed Christians are called members of the
church.
Why join?
Read I Corinthians 12:11-31 Members are all parts of the body, and all the parts are important. We are also to be united in the church, "I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose." I Corinthians 1:10 "And the church is His body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself." Ephesians 1:23
Imagine just for a minute that your eyes decide they just wants to be an ornamental part of your body. It helps make your face yours. But they doesn't want to join in and function the way they were designed. And you could no longer see. Wouldn't that impair your whole body? Or what about your fingers? They just wanted to be dipped in paraffin wax, massaged and manicured, but refused to move, type, lift, etc. A member that is just "there" but not functioning is basically dead weight, extra baggage. The rest of the members have to work harder to make up the slack.
And finally, why Destiny Worship Center?
One of the biggest draws to me was the fact that it is interdenominational. Non-denominational (basically no particular denomination) I was fully aware of, but interdenominational was a new term for me (Websters' - between, among, or involving different religious denominations). From their website, "At Destiny, we embrace the term “interdenominational”. People from all denominations can feel welcome at our church. We desire for every person to accept that they belong, first and foremost, regardless of the church background, if any, they may have. As God touches their lives, they will then believe in Him and behave according to His Word. We do not believe God is looking for reasons to exclude people. His nature is to include people. The best common ground we all have is that we believe in Jesus, believe in what He did for us and love Him with everything we have." They express that they don't want anyone to turn away from their background, but to embrace all denominations and diversity but within that to lay the foundation of the common beliefs from the Bible. For example, there are many Catholics there. They don't want you to turn from or deny your Catholic faith, but to join together as a body of Christ and worship as one, but from many backgrounds.
Just a couple of days into this new year we get an email from the church saying that there was a new member dinner with the pastor and his wife this week and they would love to have us join them, both the dinner and as members of the church. And we both felt like the timing was right. So yesterday, January 9, 2013, we, along with about 12 other couples, went to a dinner, we all took turns around the table giving our testimonies and then had a group photo taken. On Sunday we will take the kids and go to the stage where the pastor will introduce us to the church body as new members.
My prayer is that in 2013 I become a useful member of the Body of Christ. Not just a fan, but a follower. Not a seat warmer, but an active warm, friendly smile. Not just an ornament, but a functioning part.
Why not join? Well, it was just as easy to say "why join?" We moved here to the Destin/Miramar Beach/Sandestin area (yes, weird but true, you can send mail to any of those three and we will get it, the lady at the post office told us to just pick one!) and knew we wanted to find a church to attend as a family.
We started attending Destiny Worship Center and really liked it. (it reminded us of 12Stone in Lawrenceville, GA) They have great worship music/band, student activities and was big enough for us to slip into and just ease ourselves in. Oh, and I'm sure that having a bona fide Starbucks store inside the church didn't hurt either. We even went to a Newcomer's Luncheon but decided to draw the line at that. So week after week we checked the "regular attender" box on our connect card. However, unlike a lot of other places, we found out we weren't allowed to volunteer or serve unless we became members. Toward the end of the year this started becoming a strong desire of mine, but didn't think that my husband felt the same.
As I often do, I think and think and over think. Mulling over every aspect. What does being a member mean? What are the benefits? Why join instead of just attending?
Part of the definition of "member" from the Webster 1812 dictionary include:
MEM'BER, n. [L. membrum.]
Why join?
Read I Corinthians 12:11-31 Members are all parts of the body, and all the parts are important. We are also to be united in the church, "I appeal to you, dear brothers and sisters, by the authority of our Lord Jesus Christ, to live in harmony with each other. Let there be no divisions in the church. Rather, be of one mind, united in thought and purpose." I Corinthians 1:10 "And the church is His body; it is made full and complete by Christ, who fills all things everywhere with himself." Ephesians 1:23
Imagine just for a minute that your eyes decide they just wants to be an ornamental part of your body. It helps make your face yours. But they doesn't want to join in and function the way they were designed. And you could no longer see. Wouldn't that impair your whole body? Or what about your fingers? They just wanted to be dipped in paraffin wax, massaged and manicured, but refused to move, type, lift, etc. A member that is just "there" but not functioning is basically dead weight, extra baggage. The rest of the members have to work harder to make up the slack.
And finally, why Destiny Worship Center?
One of the biggest draws to me was the fact that it is interdenominational. Non-denominational (basically no particular denomination) I was fully aware of, but interdenominational was a new term for me (Websters' - between, among, or involving different religious denominations). From their website, "At Destiny, we embrace the term “interdenominational”. People from all denominations can feel welcome at our church. We desire for every person to accept that they belong, first and foremost, regardless of the church background, if any, they may have. As God touches their lives, they will then believe in Him and behave according to His Word. We do not believe God is looking for reasons to exclude people. His nature is to include people. The best common ground we all have is that we believe in Jesus, believe in what He did for us and love Him with everything we have." They express that they don't want anyone to turn away from their background, but to embrace all denominations and diversity but within that to lay the foundation of the common beliefs from the Bible. For example, there are many Catholics there. They don't want you to turn from or deny your Catholic faith, but to join together as a body of Christ and worship as one, but from many backgrounds.
Just a couple of days into this new year we get an email from the church saying that there was a new member dinner with the pastor and his wife this week and they would love to have us join them, both the dinner and as members of the church. And we both felt like the timing was right. So yesterday, January 9, 2013, we, along with about 12 other couples, went to a dinner, we all took turns around the table giving our testimonies and then had a group photo taken. On Sunday we will take the kids and go to the stage where the pastor will introduce us to the church body as new members.
My prayer is that in 2013 I become a useful member of the Body of Christ. Not just a fan, but a follower. Not a seat warmer, but an active warm, friendly smile. Not just an ornament, but a functioning part.
Thursday, January 3, 2013
Driving Down Memory Lane
Took a ride tonight, in our white Ford Taurus SE DOHC 24V with spoiler, chrome rims, dual exhaust, digital climate controls, 6CD changer, fully electronic driver seat (including push button inflatable lumbar support), tinted windows, bucket seats and upgraded eight speaker stereo system.
So what's the downside? The car is a 1998. The same age as my 14 yr old daughter! And while it may still hit 120 mph, I'm scared to try it that fast on its 216k mile engine. And though I can set the air at 72 degrees on the digital climate control, the air conditioner doesn't always want to cooperate when it gets really hot outside. The once super glossy white now has some of it's clear coat peeling on the driver side door. And when you drive it for any long distance you are as apt to need to add oil to it as you are to fill it up with gas. For all of that though, we have NEVER had to do any major repairs to it other than your typical maintenance.
But boy the memories that came over me as I drove it tonight, probably for the last time ever, as we have sold it and it is being picked up on Saturday.
We have had this car through four houses, three cities and two states. I'll never forget the day we bought it. I was SOOO excited. A beautiful family (ie: 4-door) car with a mustang engine. And yes, I did my fair share of racing it in the past and have won street races against mustangs in it.
When my son was in Kindergarten and my daughter wasn't even old enough for school we loaded them up and took them to Disney World to meet Mickey Mouse. Many more family trips were to follow in it. Since that long ago day when we got it, my son grew up enough for me to teach him how to drive it around our neighborhood roads. It's survived a major snow/ice storm, where it slid off into a ditch and managed to land unscathed in between a utility pole and a fire hydrant, and was safely towed out the next day.
I can't begin to count the endless times the kids and I spent in swimsuits and with water hoses washing and waxing it. And amazingly, with a good wash and some Windex to the chrome rims, it still looks great to me.
I remember when we paid our last payment on it and it was all ours. That was when I got my braces and prayed it would last until my braces came off as the car payment money was being used for my braces. It not only lasted through that, but through my daughter's set of braces and still kept running strong. At this point we've owned it outright longer than we made payments on it.
Honestly, we'd just keep it as a back-up car if nothing else if it weren't for the fact that it would cost us over $500 to get a Florida title, register it and tag it here. And for a car that just sits there for "just-in-case" it just wasn't worth it. Ron has a work truck, I drive our 4-door, family sized F-150 and we only drive the Taurus to try to keep the new tires from getting warped and the battery from dying. There really is no sense in paying to transfer it all to Florida and paying the insurance on it. If I tell myself this enough, maybe I'll believe it. I know logically its true. But getting rid of a car that is about the same age as our teenagers, that has been with us through all the moves, all the changes and so many memories, its just kind of sad to let go of something that has been so constant, so steady and so reliable.
So off it goes, hopefully to live out its remaining life before its heads to "car heaven," a little more useful than simply taking up a much needed parking spot in our condominium complex.
In my life I only have two other vehicles that I have ever "felt" anything for and a pang of sadness to see them go. One was "Rocky the Egg," a Honda Civic Hatchback - oh the stories we could tell as kids growing up with that car! The other was "Big Red," a Caprice Classic Station Wagon that in a former life was a fire chief's car, hence the bright red color. It then became our family car before it was the "first car" for myself, and a couple of brothers before it finally died with over 300k miles! (Mom don't read this part - but true story - I once out ran a police cruiser, with its lights flashing, in that car - I knew it had been a fire department vehicle so knew I had as big an engine it is as the police cruiser. Still can't believe I even attempted such a stupid stunt!!)
No one name ever really stuck with the Taurus, it always eventually reverted back to simply being called "the Taurus." But with or without an "official" name, this is one car that I will never forget.
PS- yes, you can still gun it and it will get up and go....I did it tonight, before my hubby told me to stop before I blow up the engine, but I just had to feel that jolt one more time, as my truck has a big engine, but it is also heavy and has never quite had the fast get up and go feel like "the Taurus."
So what's the downside? The car is a 1998. The same age as my 14 yr old daughter! And while it may still hit 120 mph, I'm scared to try it that fast on its 216k mile engine. And though I can set the air at 72 degrees on the digital climate control, the air conditioner doesn't always want to cooperate when it gets really hot outside. The once super glossy white now has some of it's clear coat peeling on the driver side door. And when you drive it for any long distance you are as apt to need to add oil to it as you are to fill it up with gas. For all of that though, we have NEVER had to do any major repairs to it other than your typical maintenance.
But boy the memories that came over me as I drove it tonight, probably for the last time ever, as we have sold it and it is being picked up on Saturday.
We have had this car through four houses, three cities and two states. I'll never forget the day we bought it. I was SOOO excited. A beautiful family (ie: 4-door) car with a mustang engine. And yes, I did my fair share of racing it in the past and have won street races against mustangs in it.
When my son was in Kindergarten and my daughter wasn't even old enough for school we loaded them up and took them to Disney World to meet Mickey Mouse. Many more family trips were to follow in it. Since that long ago day when we got it, my son grew up enough for me to teach him how to drive it around our neighborhood roads. It's survived a major snow/ice storm, where it slid off into a ditch and managed to land unscathed in between a utility pole and a fire hydrant, and was safely towed out the next day.
I can't begin to count the endless times the kids and I spent in swimsuits and with water hoses washing and waxing it. And amazingly, with a good wash and some Windex to the chrome rims, it still looks great to me.
I remember when we paid our last payment on it and it was all ours. That was when I got my braces and prayed it would last until my braces came off as the car payment money was being used for my braces. It not only lasted through that, but through my daughter's set of braces and still kept running strong. At this point we've owned it outright longer than we made payments on it.
Honestly, we'd just keep it as a back-up car if nothing else if it weren't for the fact that it would cost us over $500 to get a Florida title, register it and tag it here. And for a car that just sits there for "just-in-case" it just wasn't worth it. Ron has a work truck, I drive our 4-door, family sized F-150 and we only drive the Taurus to try to keep the new tires from getting warped and the battery from dying. There really is no sense in paying to transfer it all to Florida and paying the insurance on it. If I tell myself this enough, maybe I'll believe it. I know logically its true. But getting rid of a car that is about the same age as our teenagers, that has been with us through all the moves, all the changes and so many memories, its just kind of sad to let go of something that has been so constant, so steady and so reliable.
So off it goes, hopefully to live out its remaining life before its heads to "car heaven," a little more useful than simply taking up a much needed parking spot in our condominium complex.
In my life I only have two other vehicles that I have ever "felt" anything for and a pang of sadness to see them go. One was "Rocky the Egg," a Honda Civic Hatchback - oh the stories we could tell as kids growing up with that car! The other was "Big Red," a Caprice Classic Station Wagon that in a former life was a fire chief's car, hence the bright red color. It then became our family car before it was the "first car" for myself, and a couple of brothers before it finally died with over 300k miles! (Mom don't read this part - but true story - I once out ran a police cruiser, with its lights flashing, in that car - I knew it had been a fire department vehicle so knew I had as big an engine it is as the police cruiser. Still can't believe I even attempted such a stupid stunt!!)
No one name ever really stuck with the Taurus, it always eventually reverted back to simply being called "the Taurus." But with or without an "official" name, this is one car that I will never forget.
PS- yes, you can still gun it and it will get up and go....I did it tonight, before my hubby told me to stop before I blow up the engine, but I just had to feel that jolt one more time, as my truck has a big engine, but it is also heavy and has never quite had the fast get up and go feel like "the Taurus."
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