Walking with the Way

"Bachelorette Hannah Brown sends Luke P. home over premarital sex spat" was the headline on my news feed.  I haven't watched the show so, I was in the dark as to what that meant.  So, curious, I clicked on the title to read more about it.  I didn't really care to hear a secular side of the story, but I was interested to hear what Luke's brother, Mike, had to say in an interview. He stated, "I want people to know, if anything, I want to be more like Luke.  Luke loves, he loves and he cares for people and he has a heart for Jesus and he wants to share the biblical truth of Jesus to people.  I'm proud of Luke, I am proud of the way he conducted himself.  He stood for biblical Christianity in opposition against this cultural Christianity of  'I can be a Christian and believe whatever I want to believe about God based on my own ideas and not what God's word says'." Well, I think that was quite bold (and very naive) of Luke to go up agains

I get text notices on my phone of the latest news updates. (I didn't intentionally set that up, they just come to me!) 🙄  Anyway, the other day I got a  notice, "Josh Harris Kisses His Faith Goodbye".  I didn't know who that was, so I googled him to find out why this was news worthy.  It turns out he was a senior pastor at Covenant Life Church in Maryland and an author of a book titled, I Kissed Dating Goodbye. At the same time he denounced his faith, he also announced the divorce to his wife of 21 years. How utterly tragic!!! And what timing to read the letter Paul writes to Timothy warning of this very thing! Did you notice how many times Paul mentioned those who departed from the faith? He starts his letter with,"Now our goal of our instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith.  Some have departed from these and turned aside to fruitless discussions." (1:5-6) "..you might fight the good fight,

OK....I’m going to go there! I would rather skip right over it, but...it stood out to me....so, I’m going to comment on, “I do not allow a woman to teach or to have authority over a man; instead, she is to remain quite.” (2:12) Well?....What do you think of that?! I can’t help but think about my parents church, the church I grew up in.  They have an ordained woman pastor who works as an assistant pastor, yet she preaches many Sundays. What’s up with that?  Do denominations &/or people pick and choose verses they want to follow and throw others out? Do they justify not following verses by saying society has changed, therefore it’s not applicable now? 😯 Umm...ya better be careful with that!! That is a slippery slope! I liked what my commentary said about the “boundaries for women in church service”. The commentary points out that Paul, an expert in the Old Testament, used the summary statements he made in 1Tim 2:13 and 2:14 to explain that a reversal of roles occurred in Genes

It gets my mind spinning thinking about the man of lawlessness! “And you know what currently restrains him, so that he will be revealed in his time.” (2:6) I do?...I’m supposed to know what is restraining him?...Well, I don’t!....But the Thessalonians did!   I’ve read a few commentaries to find out what scholars speculated regarding the restrainer.  One thing I remind myself of regarding the inspired word of God is that he can make His word have double meaning.   Here is what I mean: Some commentaries feel “the restrainer” was Roman Law that kept rulers in check until Nero put himself above the law. Others think that the restrainer was the Roman Empire retraining corrupt clergy that eventually achieved corrupt power in the form of the papacy.  These commentators would suggest that 2 Thess 2:6 has come to pass.....and it very well may have! Yet, God can use the same words to describe events that refer to a future time (from us) as well.  In that case, the man of lawlessne

It’s funny how verses become commonplace in our Christian culture, but the context of the verse can be forgotten. Just yesterday, I was talking about end-times with a friend and he threw out the verse, “The day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night”.  Then he added, “No one knows when he’s coming.”  I nodded in agreement, yet my heart was thinking, “Umm...that’s true....but not totally.....”. I couldn’t put my finger on what was wrong with his statement. Then, lo and behold, the Lord gave me the answer in today’s reading!! I love it when He does that! Here is what the context of that verse actually says, “...sudden destruction will come upon them, like labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.  But you, brothers and sisters, are not in the dark, for this day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light and children of the day.” (5:3-5) I think many Christians forget the second part of that section- “you are not in the dark for this da

Here’s a timeless truth that I got out of our reading today: If one shares the gospel with another and the other accepts it, the one who shared the gospel must live a life that is worthy of being imitated!! This reminds me of how I would often say to my kids, as they went off to high school, “Remember you may be the only Bible someone reads” I think Paul had the same idea in mind when he told others to imitate him. Notice how often Paul says, in so many words, “imitate me or other Christians”?!! 1.) Today’s reading says, “For you brothers and sisters, became imitators of God’s churches in Christ Jesus that are in Judea.” (2:14) 2.) Back in 1 Corinthians, he says, “ For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. Therefore I urge you to imitate me.” (4:16) 3.)  “Imitate me, as I also imitate Christ.” (1Cor. 11:1) 4.) “Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, and walk in love...But sexual immorality and any impurity or greed should not even be hear

Let’s do an honest inventory.  What/who is the most important thing in your life?  Fill in the blank._______________ Don’t fill it in with what you think you should say. Fill it in with what is true. This is just between you and God.  You aren’t impressing anyone with your answer. Is it your family? Your kids? Your home?  The answer is most likely the thing or person you would grab in an emergency. Paul is a great example, for me, as one who has his priorities straight. What is of utmost importance to him, he assumes, is the same for his converts.  This verse stood out to me, “When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.” (3:4) “When Christ, who is your life,...”. This begs the question, is Christ my life?   I know that he is the giver and sustainer of life (1Cor. 8:6, Col 1:16, John 1:1-3). But have I made him my life?  Would he be the one thing/person I would grab in a fire? I love that Paul worded it like he did!!  It makes me think

“I labor for this (proclaiming Christ), striving with his strength that works powerfully in me.” (1:29) Back in my MOPS (Mother’s of Preschoolers) days, I worked with a group of women, the Steering Team, who volunteered their time to help run the program. They themselves were busy moms of young children, but they wanted to help run the program to ultimately change the lives of moms who didn’t yet know Jesus. During that time I came across an article that I shared with them that I still remember all these years later. It was titled, “Volunteering verses Being Called”.  The premises of the article was to highlight that there are differences between the two.  The point I remember the best is that a volunteer may get burnt out, trying to get everything done on their own merits and strength. On the other hand, a person who has been called to a task by the Lord, gets a continued  source of energy and strength to complete the task. Paul illustrates this idea in the above verse. What a g

My CSB version changed a word that got me to think, “Whoa, Paul! Watch your mouth!” Yet, I know, that sometimes strong language gets the other person to listen up and pay attention to what is being said. “More than that, I also consider everything to be a loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ...” (3:8) The NIV says, “I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ” and the KJV uses the word “rubbish”. The word, skubalon, isn’t found anywhere else in the New Testament. The translators know it is to mean the vilest dross or refuse of anything; the worst excrement. So, Paul’s point, by choosing such a strong word, is to show (as one commentary put it) how utterly insignificant and unavailing everything is compared to the gospel of Jesus, our salvation. I heard a teacher friend of mine use a good phrase when she does Bible lessons with her stude

Yesterday, after reading about the spiritual battle we are engaged in and the armor we need to put on in order to fight....well...it can leave one feeling a little intimidated. Don’t you think? So, I was quite encouraged with today’s reading. “Then, whether I come and see you or I am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, not being frightened in anyway by your opponents.” (1:27-28) I loved the part that said, “contending together for the faith..” (CSB version). The NIV says, “with one mind striving together for the faith of the gospel.” I like how one commentary put it, “striving together” does not mean contention with each other, but in union against the enemies of the Gospel faith.” We don’t have to be lone, little soldiers fighting by ourselves! We have Christ AND we have other fellow believers to be with, fight side-by-side with,  encourage each other and hold each other accounta

“Stand with truth”, is the first thing listed as part of the armor against the evil, spiritual forces. (6:14) Doesn’t it make sense that our modern culture,today, says that “truth” is relative  or “my truth may not be your truth.”?! 🙄 Those statements and others have been in Satan’s bag of tricks since the beginning of time! Remember, Pilate asked the age old question as he looked straight at Jesus, “What is truth?”  (John18:38). His ears were deaf to what Jesus had just said to him, “I was born for this, and I have come into the world for this: to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” (John 18:37). If Pilate had been listening to Jesus, or if others reported to him what Jesus had said, he would have heard Jesus clearly state, “I am the way, the truth and the life.” (John 14:6) So, back to today’s reading, remember that there are absolute truths in our world.  Don’t let others convince you otherwise! You can’t go around without this piece of

“But that is not how you came to know Christ, assuming you heard about him and were taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus, to take off your former way of life, the old self that is corrupted by deceitful desires, to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, the one created according to God’s likeness in righteousness and purity of the truth.”  (4:20-24) That is the longest sentence ever!! But it’s a good one!  I particularly liked, “you heard about him and were taught by him..” Some translations say “taught in him” instead of “ taught by him”.  I liked the version “taught by him”.  What better teacher is there than Jesus himself? We are being taught by Jesus as we take off our old selves and put on the new!  We aren’t just taught to live right by our pastors, youth workers, or other wiser,older Christians. And we aren’t taught he angels.  We have the best teacher of all~Jesus!! I think that’s pretty cool!!!

I love Paul's figurative language as he describes Christians growing "into a holy temple in the Lord." (2:21) He describes this building (Christians) as being "built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone." (2:20) That language sounded so familiar to me! I remember reading something very similar in Revelation.  John, the author of that book saw "the bride, the wife of the Lamb" (Rev. 21:9), coming down from heaven like, "the holy city, Jerusalem" (vs 10).  The city had 12 gates that were named after the 12 tribes of Israel and the city wall had 12 foundations named after the 12 apostles (21:14). The word pictures are extremely similar, don't you think?  To me, that is proof that Paul's writing and John's writings are inspired, holy writings!  God gave them the words to describe his bride! The church, being all Christians, is now the Holy Temple, the bride, the New Jerus

"But as for me, I will never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ." (6:14) This verse reminds me of a great Christian song that is popular right now, by Casting Crowns. Maybe the music group was inspired by this verse!  If you have 4 minutes, here's the link if you want to hear it!  It's a great reminder of what's important in life!! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VXIBP2BdYR8 Also, they will be playing in concert September 21st in Irvine.  That sounds like a fun night out!!

"You know, then, that those who have faith, these are Abraham's sons." (3:7). There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female; since you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise." (3:27-29) This sounds very familiar, doesn't it?  I had to go back in our reading, but I found it!  Paul wrote about the very same idea to the Romans.  "The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction." (Rom 3:21). There is no distinction in regards to who can have salvation through faith in Jesus.  It's faith that makes us believers, "Abraham's sons". No wonder Paul had to repeat himself.  His letters were going out to all believers, in particular the Jewish believers who were very comfortable being part of the elite group known as the "Choosen Ones".  They were indeed chosen for one particular r

If you ever feel "enslaved to rules, regulations, people's opinions of you, or your own guilt- remember this verse!! "This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus in order to enslave us." (2:4) We have freedom in Christ!!  Remember that when you feel others are putting undue pressure on you!! I like this cartoon. It's deeper than first glance: We are not meant to be trying to please others and what they think is right.  The things we do for Christ is out of our love & devotion to him and nothing else! Remember yesterday's verse? "Examine yourself"  Use that verse as a reminder to examine why you do what you do.  What you do should not be for the accolades of others, but rather, to glorify Christ.  And if you are ever feeling guilty for not "doing" enough, remember, "There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ." (Romans 8:1)

A few days ago we read "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come!" (5:17) Today, Paul circles back the that idea when he says, "Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith.  Examine yourselves. Or do you yourselves not recognize that Jesus Christ is in you?- unless you fail the test." (13:5) Paul knows his audience.  He is addressing both true believers and some who are frauds. The bottom line is that a Christian will demonstrate "a new creation" character, a changed life, when Christ "moves in".  It's impossible for a believer to stay as they were before Christ.  I love how Paul says, "examine yourself".  Be honest with yourself.  Only you truly know what you were like before, and what you are like now. I like the famous quote by Abraham Lincoln.  "You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but y

I have taught sex ed. to kids between 5th and 8th grade over the past 12 years.  In my quest for finding current data, I have come across a variety of curriculum both in the secular and Christian arena. One common tread that is found in all secular teaching on the subject, is the belief that young people will have sex. Therefore, there is no way to expect abstinence, hence, teach "safe sex".  This counter way of teaching from a Biblical perspective goes so far as to demoralize the idea of abstinence until marriage. All that being said, I get so inspired when I read Paul's words, "For although we live in the flesh we do not wage war according to the flesh, since the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are powerful through God for the demolition of strongholds.  We demolish arguments and every proud thing that is raised up against the knowledge of God, and we take every thought captive to obey Christ ." (10:3-5) Isn't that encouraging to re

We are flying through this letter, reading three chapters a day!  Don't worry, though, the reading plan goes back to 2 chapters a day, very soon. I think 9:6b is a good reminder for all, "The person who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and the person who sows generously will also reap generously." My husband's career involves managing money and investments. He gets excited when he talks about financial markets! If we are on a long drive and he is getting sleepy, all I have to do is ask him a question about loans and he will perk up and drive for hours! Fortunately, for him, it's not all about gain, gain, gain, for he also has the gift of giving. He feels "it" is all God's anyway, and he is just the manager of it.  On numerous occations, young entrepreneurs have sought his council on how to get started in investments. In the course of conversation with these young people the question often comes up about tithing.  "Do I tithe off my

Imagine the spiritual warfare going on around us all the time! It is so weird for me to read, "But if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing.  In their case, the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God." (2 Cor. 4:4) The god of this age (Satan) has blinded people!! Wow!  That is radical!  It reminds me of the verse, "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this darkness, against evil, spiritual forces in the heavens."(Eph. 6:12) Yet, God gave us Christians a role in this spiritual battle!  Like Paul, we have the calling, "to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me (Jesus)." (A

Just yesterday, my daughter asked me, "The Bible says God won't give you a trial harder than you can handle, right?"  I answered, "Nope, it doesn't say that!  It says, "He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear." (1 Corinthians 10:13) She replied, "That's rough!" I went on to explain, however, that when we come to the end of our rope, more than what we can handle, that's when we find ourselves giving our situation over to God, realizing that we can't do life on our own.  We need His help. This conversation was fresh in my mind when I read Paul saying something very similar.  "We were completely overwhelmed  beyond our strength - so that we even despaired of life itself." (1:8) See?!  There's the proof that God does give us more than we can bear.  It was the same for Paul and his companions then as it is for us today!  Paul went on to explain why God does this, "Indeed, we felt that we had r

The other day in a group Bible study that I am a part of, the topic of human souls in the after life  came up.  Someone said, “All humans have eternal souls. One will either be living in heaven for eternity or health for eternity.” I agreed with that, but today’s reading got me pondering this subject further, “Like the man of dust, so are those who are of the dust; like the man of heaven so are those who are of heaven.” (15:48) “Those of heaven” would be believers.  What does that mean for the nonbeliever? I’m assuming the next verse would only apply to believers in Christ, “And just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we (believers) will also bear the image of the man of heaven.” (15:49) Again, I can’t help wondering what type of image unbelievers would have if their soul lives on for eternity in hell? 😬 I remember Peter saying this about Paul, “He (Paul) speaks about these things in all his letters. There are some matters that are hard to understand.” (2 Peter 3:16).

Reading chapter 14 always causes me to think back to a time when I witnessed a pastor keep order in his church. In my early teens my older sister started taking me to a charismatic church that had an abundance of prophesying and speaking in tongues.  You can imagine what this young girl’s face looked like when I first saw someone “slayed in the Spirit” or when I heard a song be sung loudly in a spiritual tongue, followed up by a person who interpreted the entire song.  😳 To be honest, it was so different from the stoic, conservative denomination I came from, I wasn’t doing a lot of worshipping when I first started to attend. Rather, I would watch the show in utter amazement!  I got to witness, first hand, the pastor keeping his congregation in order, as I imagine the Corinthians learned to do from Paul’s letter.    This pastor was adhering to, “ two or three prophets should speak, and the others should evaluate. “ (14:24)  I remember one service people were speaking out a

 I have read this section several times over the years, and each time I grapple wit it!  This time, I went back to see what I had posted before. It was as if God wanted to remind me of what he spoke to my heart  already. Since I needed the reminder, I thought I would post it again. I bristle, as I’m sure other women do as well, when reading, “A man ought not to cover his head, since he is the image of and glory of God; but woman is the glory of man.”  (1 Cor. 11:7). And some may want to entirely toss out, “For man did not come from woman, but woman from man, neither was man created for woman, but woman for man. It is for this reason that a woman ought to have authority over her own head, because of the angels.” (vs.8) So, here is a challenging thought. Am I being influenced by our secular society striving for equal rights? Remember I have said that Satan will hold tight and teach the exact opposite from what God teaches?  Some would say that chapter 11 is socially irrelevant now,

“These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come.” (10:11) That’s us! We are in the ends of the ages, so this applies to us! I am a rule follower by nature, so I read a statement like that and think, “OK, let me go back over what the Israelites did and then be sure to avoid those things...let’s see...they were idolaters (vs7), sexually immoral (vs.8), and they complained (vs. 10).” Those must be the big ones! I better not do those three things in particular! However, I know human nature.  I’ve observed a lot of it, being a mother of five. I know that you can never set up enough rules to get the  right behavior. There will always be a loop hole or rationale to get around a rule. Also, one can get trapped thinking of all of the things to avoid they soon find themselves in the land of legalism. 😣 I love how Paul went on, giving a positive “doing” statement, “...whatever you do, do everything for the glory

”As it is, to have legal disputes against one another is already defeat for you. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated?  (5:7) In our extremely litigious culture, this is a hard one to live by, don’t you think? Now, Paul is talking about legal disputes between believers.  It’s a different story when a believer is dragged to court by a nonbeliever. At times there is nothing that can be done about that.  But, what about between two believers who both feel right? I have an example in my own life how I could have handled a situation better if I went with Paul’s words, “Why not rather be cheated?”  Several years ago I decided to breed my dog.  The owner of the stud was extremely excited about getting an offspring of her beloved dog.  The problem occurred when her male, though desperately trying for a week, was unable to “do the deed”.  As a result, my female was coming to the end of her heat with no “consummation of the marriage” so to speak. The other owner suggested an

“You are God’s field, God’s building.” (3:9b) That’s cool when you think about it! Paul is a skilled master builder and others build on what he started (3:10)....So, what do the others build?... They build on the person who is a believer in Jesus Christ (3:11), who is growing in their faith.  It’s important to keep those thoughts in mind as we continue reading about building on that foundation. “If anyone builds on a foundation with gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, each one’s work will become obvious.” (3:12-13) Keep in mind, the work here is how one influences, teaches and nurtures another’s growth as a Christian. Paul isn’t talking about any other type of work. The type of work one pours into another’s life will be obvious (3:13) by how the student thinks. This is so interesting to me!! God is the one who causes a person to grow (3:6), yet there is a responsibility on our part to plant and water.  The way we plant and water does have an impact on the outcome o

I hope you squeeze your reading in today amongst all th fun activities!! “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is the power of God to us who are being saved.” (1:18) Isn’t that the truth?! Nothing has changed for 2000 years! People back in the day of Paul thought Christ crucified was foolish, and people today think it’s foolish. But to us….those who are saved by this “foolish plan”...…we see the power of God through it! In a way, this statement makes me feel bolder to proclaim my faith. I just need to remember, those who are being called will respond, those who find it foolish will reject it.… It’s not in the perfect words that I could/should use that convinces someone (as Paul pointed out in 2:4), but in the condition of the heart of the person hearing about Christ. The condition of their heart is not my responsibility. It’s only my responsibility to share about Christ. (1:21-25)  Doesn’t that take a lot of pressure off? Still… I do feel a

This verse stood out to me today, “For I say that Christ became a servant of the circumcised on behalf of God’s truth, to confirm the promises to the fathers, and so that Gentiles may glorify God for his mercy.” (Rom. 15:8-9)  That verse reminded made me think of the time Jesus said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”  (Matt15: 24). There was a specific reason why Jesus said that, and we find the reason spelled out here in Romans, “to confirm the promises to the fathers.” I read a great commentary on the Romans verse. I thought I would share it. It’s kind’a long, but worth the read.  To explain this more fully, “Jesus Christ was born a Jew, and  exercised his ministry among the Jews, in order that the truth of God’s promises to the fathers, concerning the blessing of the nations in Abraham’s seed, might be confirmed by the conversion of the Jews and Gentiles. For as the Jews were the only people on earth who worshipped the true God, and had his revelation

Wow! Lot’s of practical exhortations are given in today’s reading!! Yet none of the things Paul lists can be done without one key ingredient, a “renewed mind” that comes from a life transformed by faith in Jesus. I thought this verse was so good; it’s a good one to memorize! “Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God. “ (12:2) Isn’t that a good one?! Especially in our “diplomatically correct” culture today where Christians are being forced to accept, tolerate and “conform” to what our culture is saying is perfectly acceptable behavior. I LOVE “be transformed by the renewing of your mind”. We are not to think like the world does. How does the world think? Well, pretty much opposite to God in every way! Here are a couple ways, God says for us to pray, “give us this day our daily bread”.  The world says, store up for yourselves treasures.  God says, “love me with a

“A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. And in this way all Israel will be saved.” (11:25) I love that verse! Especially in light of what Paul was saying in chapter four about Abraham’s righteousness that comes through faith, and how he is the father of all believers (4:11).  Now, I know some Bible readers don’t see it this way, but as I read, it seems to me Paul is using “All Israel” in 11:25 to refer to all believers- believing Jews and believing Gentiles-we will be saved!  That means me, being in believing Gentile, is part of Israel! I love that! I’m included in the family! I feel like a kid who is adopted into a family and received the family name! This was the mystery that Paul referred to in 11:25. We are one big, happy family~ true Jews, the true Israel. I praise the Lord that He grafted me into the family, or adopted me into the family and gave me the name he loves! How about you you?