13 Aug 2013

W&BT #1: Name Above All Names Week 5

by | posted in: Books, parenting, sin, Uncategorized, Women & Books Together | 0

On the first page of this chapter in Begg’s and Ferguson’s book, Name Above All Names, I have scribbled, “this chapter resends hope to me on every page”.  What an encouraging page to head back to after having read it many weeks ago – especially on a day when my pregnancy hormones are crazy and it seems like every email or text I receive just hits me in the wrong way.  HOPE

Here are some thoughts from the chapter on Jesus: Son of Man:

1.  “We are struck by how deeply embedded some of their character traits seem to be” (pg 103). As a parent – do you wonder what traits you are passing to your children?  I think about that often now that I have two loveable boys of our own.  My husband often says that is one of the hardest jobs in parenting: seeing your sin looking back at you.  I think my parents did a good job of raising me – but as an adult I see where some of my traits come from and it is scary to think that I too could pass on some less than desirable or Godly traits to my boys.  This is where hope comes in.  God is a God of bringing hope and change into a family.  Just because your family is one way doesn’t mean that those traits and cycles have to continue to the next generation.  Sebastian’s life verse ends in hope for the children in the coming generation – the good of the Lord (Jer 32:39)  Do you parent or live like there is hope in breaking the sin cycle in your family?

2.  “The kingdom of God will overwhelm all other kingdoms.  The Kingdom of God will be established and will endure forevermore” (pg 105).  I already dislike seeing ads for the Presidential race in 2016.  Good that a new president will be coming either way, but not looking forward to the next 2+ years where the backbiting and slander will happen everywhere.  And when the bad news comes on the news or as I watch previews for certain coming shows or movies – previews that revel in betrayal, sin, murder, affairs – I know that God is still on His throne and He will make all things right in His time.  That brings me hope.

3.  “The Son of Man is coming to the source of ultimate authority.  It resides exclusively in the Ancient of Days, who is seated on the throne.” (pg 107).  I’ve learned recently from Rob Rienow that any question of sin or dysfunction in this life is really a question of authority.  Who is the ultimate authority in your life?  Who is the ultimate authority in this world?  If our answer is not God – we are wrong.  Some will think and say and live and believe that they are their ultimate source of authority – but God created and gave life to everyone of us, so He is our ultimate authority.  That is very hope-giving to me.

4.  “The remarkable thing about this picture of Jesus is that He is never isolated from His people” (pg 108).  I’ve actually thought much about this in light of some of the “suffering” and tears I’ve had over the last two months.  Not all of my tears are hormone related.  And one of the things that brings me the most comfort is that Jesus suffered.  He had people slander him.  Yet He believed and taught and lived truth and was planted firmly in the hand of God His Father.  This brings me hope when I am going through trials.

5.  “Kingdom grace brings more than forgiveness.  It brings freedom from the powers of darkness and restoration to new life” (pg 118).  My husband would probably like me to frame that quote.  It was probably one of the most powerful in this whole book to me.  Grace is the only thing that sets us free from the tyranny of listening to others, or repeating harmful lies to ourselves, by letting others’ thoughts control us, or by living in destructive habits that control our lives.  Walk in light.  Dwell in freedom.

22 Jul 2013

W&BT#1: Name Above All Names (Week 2)

by | posted in: Books, Women & Books Together | 4

I love all the implications for daily living that this book, and studying and knowing the names of Jesus, has in store for its readers.  I hope you too are enjoying and learning and growing as you are pressing through this book!

Chapter 2 on Jesus being the True Prophet is no different.  How has knowing and understanding Jesus better as the True Prophet changed your life this week?  What did you underline or star or highlight or write notes about that will make a difference in how you live as a woman of God?

Here are some implications that I am working on in my own life from the truths that I read in chapter 2:

1.  Boldness in our witness.  If there is one spiritual discipline that I’m weak in (I promise you there are others), then witnessing it the biggest lack.  And I don’t usually put myself in situations where I would need to present the gospel.  “We will be endued with a sense of confidence, a God-emboldened confidence, and the kind of confidence that will allow us to be courageous in the face of all the challenges of our day.” (p 50)  I think this one paragraph has to do with more than just witnessing.  I think we all need to be ready to stand for Truth – in a world that is so full of half-truths and philosophies that go against what the Bible teaches.  The Bible indeed has to be our standard, because it is the very words and breath of God.

2.  Teach the Word.  You may not have any in-front ministry with ladies in your life, but I’m sure you are teaching someone.  You may be teaching your children at home.  You may be witnessing (sharing life) with those in your workplace or neighborhood.  You may be on a college campus and every word you say in class for discussion or at parties or in your dorm room will speak volumes about Christ and who He is to you.  “So the present prophetic ministry of Christ never introduces bizarre or strange or new and fanciful notions.  No, it is found in the opening up of the Word.” (pg 47)  This is so important today.  Many Christians are believing and practicing what goes against the truth of the Word of God.  If Jesus preached its truth, shouldn’t we live it and preach it as well?

3.  Compassion in our relationships.  I remember taking a spiritual gift inventory during my first semester or so at seminary.  I scored a negative in the mercy department.  A sweet friend and I had about the same score.  But, over the past almost 15 years of knowing her, we have seen each other grow in grace in that department.  We as believing women need and must be grounded in the Word.  But, we also need to be like our True Prophet, and have compassion on those we are around.  “Some of us are good at boldness but not so good at compassion.  We gravitate to all the bold verses but turn away from the gospel’s call to show genuine empathy.” (p 51)  I think genuine empathy and compassion is hard for people who tend to be more holiness/legalism mindset.  But, that should really be the opposite.  If we strive to be holy, then we should all the more know that we aren’t, and have compassion on those who aren’t holy and struggle with the same sins we struggle with.  Empathy and compassion doesn’t mean letting people live in their sins.  We need to call people to live to Christ – in honor of the glory and wonder of the cross..  But, we need to show great compassion, as our True Prophet did, to those who we are ministering to.

What did you learn this week?

 

15 Jul 2013

W&BT#1: Name Above All Names (Week 1)

by | posted in: Books, Uncategorized, Women & Books Together, Worship | 2

I hope you have all enjoyed reading this week’s first chapter in Alistair Begg’s and Sinclair Ferguson’s new gem of a book on the person of Christ.  It has been a blessing to me and I’ve been learning much from their study and have thrilled at their writing and teaching style.

How these weekly studies will go, for the next 7 weeks, is this:  I hope you will come to each Monday having read the chapter for that week, but if you haven’t, feel free to join in anyway. I guarantee you will get more out of this blog each week if you have read the material.  I won’t walk through the chapter, but more offer my gleanings and what I’ve learned in light of the author’s writings.  In the comment section, you can either comment on what you’ve read in the book, on the blog, or something else you’ve read in pertaining to the subject matter at hand.  Everyone will interact with each other.

Here are some of my reflections on Chapter 1:

1.  Why study Jesus?

“They (the names of Jesus) express the incomparable character of Jesus Christ our Savior and Lord.  Reflecting on them better prepares us to respond to the exhortations of Scripture, to focus our gaze upon Him, and to meditate on how great He is.” (pg 15)

The study of Jesus greatly enhances our worship.  True worship, if you remember John 4, has to be through Jesus. If you look at the hall of faith in Hebrews 11, they were worshiping the Yawheh God through the future faith in the coming and reign of Jesus. My husband has been reading a Dennis Johnson book in preparation for his DMin class on preaching – the entire book is on how the entire Bible points to Christ.  The Old Testament, New Testament, the 400 years of silence in between.  Jesus has everything to do with our yesterdays, todays, and forevers.  According to Sinclair in another sermon, God is a speaking God – and through the person and work of Jesus is one of the primary ways God chose to speak.

There are many types of religious affiliations in the world, that is an understatement.  However, one distinct person separates true Christian, gospel-centered worship from every other religion in the world: Jesus.  Others have works, ladders, lists, and good deeds, but as a former pastor of mine said, Christianity doesn’t equal DO, it equals DONE.   Does your worship, both daily and on Sunday among other believers, center on the person and work of Jesus?  If not, something is most definitely missing.

This is what gets a lot of us women in trouble on a daily basis.  We are seeking to do everything we need to do: whether our jobs, schooling, motherhood, being a wife, serving others, being a homemaker, etc. in our own strength.  However, knowing Jesus and what He has done for us as believers, and daughters and co-heirs, will enable to us to free our minds from a perfectionist mindset and set our hope and our calling on Him.

2.  Scripture is more than knowledge, it is doing.

As my husband and I studied the book of James for most of 2012, I read weekly or daily the verses about doing the Word of God, not just listening, reading or knowing it (James 1).  This was so convicting.  Often times we ourselves, or others in our presence, will spout Scripture, but often times we fail to do what we know.

As the authors talk about Jesus being the Seed of the Woman, the reason the Seed was needed was because of sin.  And the action of sin in the garden was not listening and obeying the Word of God.  God has spoken very clearly as to what Adam and Eve were to do and not do – however, they both chose to turn away from the spoken word of God and do their own thing.  “The distinctive feature of this tree is what God had said about it.” (p 16).

Sweet friends, how do we fight this battle daily – the battle of our minds?  We fight this battle daily with some of the following (and think for yourself what some of yours might be): putting our hope in status, a clean house, happy kids, a husband, a successful career, etc. (other than putting our hope in Jesus); worrying and being fearful (this only tends to get worse in our sinful nature once we have children); fighting our own battles (wanting to be the justifier instead of waiting for God to act on our behalf), etc.  We need to memorize and act upon the Scriptures that God has so graciously spoken to us.  We only do this by choosing to believe in the Gospel every minute of every day.

3.  Conflict Resolution.

I once had the opportunity to hear Ken Sande speak at Southern Seminary.  A gracious man, he taught his listeners about means of being a peacemaker.  There are some helpful resources on his website, so if you aren’t familiar with his ministry, I would encourage you to “google” him.

We have conflict in our lives (between friends, church members, spouses, children, bosses, family) because of a great conflict that was started in the Garden of Eden.  This ultimate conflict will eternally be won by Jesus, but there are daily ramifications of conflict for us in this world.  “When Christ appeared, he came to undo what the Serpant had done.  By His life and ministry and ultimately through his death and resurrection, he destroyed all the works of the Devil.”  (p 20)

Oh, isn’t this a happy thought?  When there is conflict in our lives, we can rest assured that we know who will be the Victor.  I really don’t know anyone who loves conflict; I certainly don’t.  In our marriage, we strive to resolve conflict as soon as possible.  But this conflict between the Seed of the Woman and Satan has been going on for centuries.  And the outcome is still secure – Jesus wil be victorious.

So dear one, when you find it hard to battle the conflict daily – that battle of sin and of the flesh and of the war that Paul speaks about in Romans 6-7  – please take heart that this is not an eternal battle – but one that Jesus has already won!

4.  There will be pain.

Since everyone knows this…I can move on from this point.  Wait.  As I think about the ladies I know who are doing this book study with us here on the blog – I know their stories (most of them).  I know the pain in their lives – pain today, pain yesterday, knowing that pain will certainly come in the future.  Lost jobs, lost loved ones, unsaved loved ones, difficult family circumstances, family members with lifelong disabilities or illnesses, betrayal of friends, etc. – pain is so real in our lives.

I found much hope in this statement by the authors: “We must not allow ourselves to be tricked into thinking that if things are going well with us, then we can be sure of God’s love.  For life can often seem dark and painful.  Things do not always go well for us.  Rather, we look to the sacrifice of the cross and the demonstration God gave there of His love.  This is the proof I need.  This is the truth I need to hear if the lie is to be dispelled” (p 33).

This last month of my life has been a very hurtful one.  But, I’ve actually had much comfort that has come from friends speaking the Gospel truth into my life – words of hope and life that have dispelled (somewhat, honestly, at this stage in the game) lies.  I’ve had a husband and close friends who point me to what God has said about me in His Word and that has given me much hope.

Ladies – there will be hurt.  There will be pain. But, as the authors of this book and the glorious Bible has said, Jesus gets the victory.  Pain will one day lose all of its sting.  Pain can no longer have the victory if we believe in Jesus.  That is a great HOPE!  In your hurt – where do you find hope?

What have you gained from the book this week?  What was your most applicable takeaway?  What thoughts have you read here that have triggered some new thoughts in your understanding of this truth about Jesus?

Join us next week as we reflect on chapter 2!

 

1 Jul 2013

W&BT: Name Above All Names

by | posted in: Books, Uncategorized, Women, Women & Books Together | 0

A new month and a new feature on kd316.  As I’ve lived in many places there are many women whom I would love to have the ability to sit down in my living room and study this book together (or any other).  But, that can’t happen.  So, that’s why we have technology right?

Women from all over are going to join up and study Crossway Book’s new release (June 2013) of Alistair Begg and Sinclair Ferguson’s readable, applicable book on Jesus: Name Above All Names.  This has been an outstanding book in my opinion and I’ve been enjoying getting to know Jesus better, getting to know the authors better, and getting to know myself better (as you inevitably will when you study Jesus).

So, join us.  We will be starting on July 15 and the comments will be how we dialogue.  If you don’t necessarily want to comment via the comment section, you can always use facebook or email to dialogue.  But, I’d love to hear your thoughts (whether you are here in Little Rock or halfway around the world).  You have plenty of time to order your book.  The chapters are not long and they are very readable even for the average woman who has never been to seminary or anything. Jump on in!  Everyone needs to learn more about Jesus!

I’ll post the study from each chapter each Monday, starting with chapter 1 on July 15 (so if you have time, please go ahead and read it).