"Balancing Your Life '09" Session 2

                                             “Will You Abort the Word in ’09?”

   Mary was chosen to carry the Son and when told she promptly said, “Be it unto me according to your Word” (Luke 1:38). Prompt obedience to the complete unknown.   What have you been chosen to carry this New Year?  What dream or vision is alive in your heart?   As a Christian you are called to carry the Son 24/7.  It is a nonnegotiable in our Father’s eyes.  I fear that most believers walk around pregnant with plans and agendas of their own or others all the while asking their Father’s blessings on them out of selfishness, tradition, or ritual but really aren’t at all about their Father’s intended business for them.  If it ‘s not of Him it’s a deadly substitute- an illegitimate  vision  which  will sap your time and energy and produce no real fruit of righteousness or  harvest for His glory.  Back to the year 2009. The number 9 means fruit or harvest. I guess that’s why we are in the womb for 9 months. Seed….time…..harvest.  There are no shortcuts to God’s perfect plan. He has had it all figured out from the beginning and our job is to get in on what He’s doing in His timing. Mary said it all. “Be it unto me according to your Word.”  Mary’s purpose and destiny in life as well as yours were there from the beginning of time.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” (John 1:1).  “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (John 1:14).  The Word will come to you today in many ways if you have eyes to see, hears to hear and a Spirit to perceive.  The most obvious way and I fear the most underutilized way the Word comes to us is black and white-the written Word, the Bible. Show me someone who is in love with the Lord and I’ll show you someone who loves the Word. They are one and the same.  We have to get it (Him) into us so it (He) can get out of us. “Meditate on it day and night so that you will be careful to do all that is in it…The Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path… If it were not for the scriptures I would have perished in my afflictions… For the Word is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword… He sent forth His Word and healed them…  He watches over His Word to perform it… Man does not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds from the mouth of God. .. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and his name is the Word of God.”  The Word…the Word… the Word… The written word… the spoken word… the perceived word… Jesus said, “You are in error because you don’t know the Scriptures or the power of God” (Matthew 22:29). The Word and the Spirit are in perfect harmony. Balanced. Not dissected as man wants to do. The Word without the Spirit you’ll dry up. The Spirit without the Word you’ll blow up. The Word with the Spirit you’ll grow up. As previously spoken the silent divorce has happened in most churches today. Like children of divorce some are going with the mom and some with the Dad. Many churches have decided to focus on the Word. Many have decided to focus on the Sprit. They need to remarry the Spirit and the Word and then we’ll see revival in our dry parched land. The Word and the Spirit are inseparable twins who must come together in both emphasis and experience.  By the Spirit we receive the Word and the Word tells us of the Spirit. The power to obey the Word is the power of the Holy Spirit given by God’s grace. It was that grace obedience that caused Mary to promptly obey what was spoken to her. That Word can also come to you in the spoken form from a teacher, a pastor, a prophet, or anyone or anything God chooses to speak through.  If it is a true Word it will always line up with the written Word. Always. It will never contradict the Word.  Many will abort the Word coming to them just because they are unfamiliar with the channel.  What a shame. This is so true of the prophetic voice. “The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelation 19:10).  Just because you are not familiar with it doesn’t mean it’s not real. Always remember that traditions of man negate the Word of God.  Oh, how I don’t want to abort any form of God’s Word coming to me to grow me, to warn me, to encourage me, etc.  How many times and how many ways can you and me abort the Word He’s wanting for us?  As graphic as this may be I can think of no better analogy than physical abortion. “First in the natural, then the spiritual “(1 Corinthians 15:46).  There is an entire other lesson that could be written but just think about this for a moment.  When this country started legally killing babies in the womb with Roe vs. Wade didn’t we then begin to see an ever increasing death of the Word in the hearts of our people, the home, the church, the nation?

   On with the analogy of the analogy.   You are probably so familiar with the parable of the soils you could probably teach it without your Bible. You’ve heard it spoken of and preached so many times that I fear that you like me have failed to really grasp the full extent of it. Before God hit me over the head with this abortion analogy I used to think that the parable of the soils just applied to new believers and was not really very relevant to me. I read it many times through prideful eyes.  Let the Word speak for itself and then I’ll attempt to explain the abortion analogy. “ Listen! A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so they did not bear grain. Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, multiplying thirty, sixty, and even a hundred times.” Then Jesus said, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear...  The farmer sows the word. Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word which was sown in them.  Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful.  Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop- thirty, sixty, or even a hundred times what was sown”(Mark 4: 3-9, 14-20).  The abortion analogy will be graphic but it serves to remind us that as reprehensible as destroying human life inside of us is the abortion of the alive Word in our hearts. The Bible says that the Word is very near us-it is in our hearts and in our mouths yet do we allow it to grow and produce a crop 30,60,100 times what was sown or does it get aborted before full-term?  There are many forms of abortion but the three most common forms line up exactly with the first three soils Jesus describes. The most common form of abortion is performed in the first twelve weeks of life and is called suction or D & C (dilation and curettage). The uterus is dilated and the baby is literally sucked away like the birds eating the seed along the path.  Did you know that 25% of all pregnancies in the world are aborted and 75% of the abortions are done by this method?  The Word and the baby are literally sucked away in an instant. The death of the seed on the rocky places is represented by another form of abortion called RU486. This “morning after pill” blocks progesterone which is responsible for maintaining the nutrient lining of the uterus so the baby literally withers (starves) because of no moisture and nutrients.  This is exactly what happened to the plants when the seed was sown on rocky places- “…and they withered because they had no root.”  It’s difficult to even describe the abortion method which represents the thorns choking out the growing plants. This salt poisoning method is used for babies over four months of age. Salt is injected into their amniotic sac and the baby sucks in the salt; chokes and then burns and dies.  “The worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things” come in and choke the word making it unfruitful.  I’m literally heart-broken and half-sick at my stomach to read and study the various abortion methods. I’ve spared describing partial-birth abortion which could be a whole other story but suffice it to say that as disgusting as physical abortion is to you and me shouldn’t I be equally disgusted when I choose to abort the Word in my life. I mean every jot and tittle of the Word.  Maybe I’ve had victory in some areas but am I aborting what He says in other areas.  The Word is the perfect anointed seed and it will produce a crop if the soil is perfect. That soil is a pure clean heart-a heart surrendered and anointed. Believers have chosen to abort the Word over and over and it’s time for that to be overturned. Start with 2009. Purpose to produce a 100- fold crop because you choose to carry the Son to full term. Be it unto you according to the Word.

 

                                                                                Ann Allen Salter

                                                                                December 28, 2008 

February 1- Scripture Memory Verse

Hey girls,
We are one month into this wonderful year that God has given
us and I trust that all of you are digging deep into His Word and
letting Him speak truths to you each day as you meditate AND listen.
Remember to put your name, your new verse and the translation you are using!

Blessings on each of you...YOU ARE LOVED!!

Kay Howell

"Balancing Your Life '09" Session 1

   “The Pigeon vs. the Dove:  Learning the Sensitivity of the Spirit”

   I’ve never been a real lover of birds until recently. Let me explain.  As a vet, I never know what kind of pet will be behind the next exam room door.  In my first years of practice (early 80’s) I never did very well with birds.  It’s not that I didn’t particularly have affection for them but I just didn’t know much about them.  Vet school majored on creatures with hair not feathers. Birds don’t usually act sick until they are half-dead and most of them are hypersensitive so with that combination I had many die in my hands as soon as I took them out of their cages. More times than not there was a child standing there watching just after their parents assured them that I would be able to save their precious Tweedy.  My partner in practice had similar experiences so as soon as God blessed us with an associate he was given the job of taking care of all the patients with feathers.  So for over twenty-five years I’ve completely ignored birds until recently.  My new found affection and observation of birds started this spring.  On a random Thursday morning (5/22/08) I pulled out of my driveway heading to Panera Bread to pick up some cinnamon crunch bagels.  I remember exactly where I was on Wentworth Drive when a guest of James Dobson on his Focus on the Family radio show was telling a story about a dove.  R.T. Kendall was retelling a story in his book ‘Sensitivity of the Spirit’ about a missionary couple who had moved to Jerusalem. Living in a nest built in the eave of their upstairs flat was a beautiful turtledove.  They began to notice that every time they raised their voices or there was the slightest disturbance whatsoever the dove would fly away. It would take her a long time, sometimes days, to come back. As long as things were quiet and peaceful she would stay right there. The couple loved having her there in view-she was so beautiful and peaceful.  One day the husband asked his wife if she wanted the dove to stay.  Of course she responded affirmatively.  He quickly replied, “Then we are going to have to adjust our lives to her because she is not going to adjust her life to us.”  Dr. Kendall went on to explain that the dove in this story is the perfect analogy to the Holy Spirit in our lives.  The Holy Spirit is unchangeable- we will have to learn to adjust our lives to Him because He will never adjust His life to us.  Kendall described some characteristics of the dove and then went on to compare the dove to pigeons, both members of the same bird family they are anatomically exactly the same but in every other way completely different.  As the dove represents the Holy Spirit in us the pigeon represents the counterfeit Holy Spirit or our flesh. The analogy was so powerful that by this time I’m sitting in the parking lot of Panera Bread hanging on every word.  Now remember I’m not fond of birds but this analogy caught my attention. This was definitely a message I needed to hear.  It bounced around in my head for two days and then that Saturday I was prompted to get on the computer and learn more details of pigeons and doves.  I wrote some very “rough bullet notes” which I’ll interject at this point.  You’ll see that this story just continues to write itself with no effort on my part. Excuse any repetition of what’s already been said.     

                               ‘The Pigeon vs. The Dove’ (5/24/08)

·       Both are members of the family Columbidae/ are used somewhat interchangeably although they are very different.

·       Pigeons: domesticated, in cities, parks, ugly-vile-they take over, scavengers, In NYC called “flying rats”-eat junk!  Become a daunting adversary for most cities, a nuisance; they love noise and will crawl over you to get food-they will eat anything!

·       Doves: in the New Testament symbolic of the Holy Spirit, they are wild and are the symbols of peace; quite differently they eat only seeds and fruit-they will not eat junk; they will fly away with the least bit of noise or disturbance; they are very sensitive, tender and gentle; will not readily descend on someone and if they did would fly away immediately with the slightest movement or noise.

·       Analogy spiritually: The ungrieved Holy Spirit is the dove-you are walking in His fruit (of the Spirit) when He is not grieved- present with you-like Him descending down upon you. The moment you grieve Him He flies away. The sinful thought, the sinful word, anything not of Him- any act of the flesh or evil He leaves you. He is tender, gentle…easily moved by the least wrong. When He is present you are walking in constant peace, joy…on the other hand the pigeon will light on you and you can’t get him to leave. Pigeon-religion- not the real thing. It’s the counterfeit Holy Spirit. Looks like a dove but not the real thing. A pigeon in dove’s clothing.

·       I heard this analogy on Focus on the Family- R.T. Kendall 5/22/08. I ordered a book of his so maybe it will give more insight. I’d like to do a lesson with this analogy-cultural Christians vs. followers of Christ or counter-cultural Christians.  The South is full of pigeons and doves. The doves are shot for sport and the pigeons are fed in the park. Isn’t this interesting?? The pigeons are getting fatter and fatter-eating junk, anything, filth, refuge, dirty stuff, they don’t care-they are pigeons-anatomically and scientifically just like doves cut culturally and socially totally and completely different.

·       How many times a day do I grieve the Holy Spirit in me? How many times does my personal dove have to leave me (not physically leave me because He can never leave or forsake me but He can withdraw the blessing (by-products) of His presence-the fruit-love, joy, peace, etc. What is worth losing those for even a moment? When will we learn to quit grieving Him as we do? He has feelings…He is a person… I’ve never thought of Him like this before. The gift of the Holy Spirit-an alive invisible person living in me filling me up constantly with His fruit when I’m not grieving Him.

·       My verse for the year (2008) is Psalm 16:8-“Because the Lord is at my right hand, I will not be moved.” There are many verses about not being shaken or moved. When we choose to be moved or shaken (mentally/emotionally) meaning we are choosing to think with the mind of the flesh the dove flies away. We have grieved Him and He has to leave. He is inactivated in us. The fruit is gone. It’s so easy to grieve Him- to bring Him sorrow. He is a person-the invisible person of the Trinity-the Holy Spirit living in me. Oh, how I act like He is not around sometimes. I grieve Him over and over but the Father is so merciful over and over that He keeps restoring me.  I don’t want to grieve Him anymore. Father, make me more aware of your Holy Spirit’s presence moment by moment.

·       To get the dove to descend upon you you must be quiet and still for a long time. A few seconds won’t do. It must become a way of life for you. The still is in your mind. No more striving (Psalm 46:10). You must want companionship and fellowship with the dove more than with people. You’ll never please the dove and the world. The dove won’t come into a crowded out loud heart.  Peace be still. Intimacy with the dove requires silence of the soul.

·       Most of your friends are satisfied with “pigeon-religion” because they have never experienced the dove. One minute with the dove will change your life. You will become addicted to His peace and nothing else will ever satisfy. You will become homesick for heaven. Pigeon worshippers think they have the real deal. It’s like Coke Zero. But it’s not the real thing. Pigeon religion is a deadly substitute. “Depart from me, I never knew you…Oh, that you would be hot or cold- because you are lukewarm I am about to spew you out of my mouth!” That literally means vomit.

·       ***5/26/08 - I wrote the above bullet points this weekend at the beach after hearing R.T. Kendall’s message on Thursday. This morning (Monday) I walk out of my side door and guess what is sitting on the top of Taylor’s car roof- a beautiful dove! Another was on the top of the garage roof.  They immediately flew away when they heard me. I get to work and guess what’s in the first cage in our CCW – a pigeon with the following note attached to the cage:

Dear Dr. Griffin,

   I got hit by a satellite truck in Columbia, South Carolina. I got stuck to the air conditioning intake on top of the truck and was trapped there, spread pigeon, for 400 miles until the driver finally stopped in Montgomery for the night and pulled me loose. Someone told me YOU could help me so he brought me here. PLEASE don’t let me die now. My leg needs to be fixed. Help me. Please!

                                   Pigeon

·       The resilience of this pigeon illustrates the perfect analogy to out flesh. IT IS HARD TO KILL!! Our flesh is strong-it lines right up with the enemy every time. Our flesh or carnal nature will always be with us to some degree. We are born into this Adamic nature- the only remedy is to invite the Holy Spirit to come in and take over and little by little begin to slay the flesh every time it rises up. It will scream to be rescued just like this pigeon in the above true story. Please fix me!! It doesn’t die easy. You just can’t pray it away-you must war against it constantly as an act of your will. “I have been crucified with Christ”…”take up your cross daily”…”die to yourself”… the examples in Scripture are endless. The battle rages…the “war” as described in Galatians 5. But praise God that “greater is He who is in you” so that you can win this war moment by moment IF YOU CHOOSE TO FIGHT. The dove is worth  it!! The dove and the pigeon won’t co-exist.

   As I’ve retyped the above bullet points from over six months ago I’m still amazed how God has orchestrated every detail concerning this pigeon/dove story. I’m seeing some things that I missed in May. With any analogy or parable the Holy Spirit will give each individual specific insight for them.  I started out saying it was a random Thursday- with God nothing is random. That Thursday just happened to be 5/22. For those who are accustomed to my teaching 5:22 is huge to me. It represents the Spirit- from Galatians 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, etc..”  My husband and I set our alarm clock for 5:22 each morning. It’s a visual reminder that we can choose to get up and feed our Spirit or hit the snooze and continue to feed the flesh (which may be screaming to go back to sleep). Now you’ve got to just know God was showing off when He allowed me to see the two dove and then the pigeon back to back on that Monday morning after writing on that Saturday after hearing the radio show on the Thursday. I’ve been in that practice for 37 years (counting working as a teenager) and never before has there ever been a pigeon brought in. When I read the note from the pigeon to Dr. Griffin I knew that I would be writing a pet parable about it one day. After writing that I desired to do a teaching lesson on it one day I was ask exactly one month later to speak at a ladies ministry function.  I started watching for doves in the neighborhood and actually got a few photos for the PowerPoint.  Learning their sensitivity by watching them is so much more powerful than just reading about them.  The “Firebranded Women” ministry function was scheduled for November 8^th and I still needed to watch and take photos of some pigeons.  I just happened to accompany my husband in October for the Chicago Marathon and there I was surrounded by as many pigeons as runners.  Observing them interacting with one another was priceless.  Unlike the doves that are not territorial and never fought each other the pigeons were incredibly territorial and defensive.  They would attack each other for no apparent reason.  The analogy was just cemented into me after spending time observing both birds. Maybe I’m weird but this analogy just works for me.  By learning the sensitivity of the Dove I am learning to be more sensitive to the Dove. I’m slowly learning to adjust my life to Him as He will never adjust His to me.  Remember that for years I got away with ignoring the creatures with feathers. This dog and cat loving vet has fallen in love with the Dove. I’m learning to stay as far away from “pigeon religion” as possible. Fall in love with the Dove. He is worth it!!

                                                           Ann Allen Salter

                                                           December  9, 2008

January 15th Scripture Memory Verse

Blessings to each of you, girls,

God rewards our faithfulness and I hope He puts it on your heart to memorize a new scripture with us this year twice a month ( on the 1st and 15th). That way we'll have 24 verses 'hidden in our hearts' this year as Melissa has said earlier. Man, that's power against the enemy!!!

Don't forget to type your name and then your new verse here and put the reference (and translation) you are using.

Blessings, Kay Howell

Ladies' Winter/Spring Discipleship Classes

It's that time again........a new "semester" of Discipleshiplife classes will begin Wednesday and Thursday, January 14th and 15th.  I am so excited about the classes that we are offering and know you will be blessed by whichever one you chose to attend.

On Wednesday nights, Ann Allen Salter will be continuing her class "Balancing Your Life in an Unbalanced World".  She describes this class as "lessons designed to teach women to become a doer of the word through the power of the Holy Spirit".  You can join at any time and please bring a friend!  Class notes will be posted on the blog and the only homework is consistent quiet times with God!

On Thursday mornings, we are blessed to be offering two classes this session; "Esther; It's Tough Being a Woman" by Beth Moore and "Turn Your Heart Towards Home" by Theresa Stanley with Donna McClinton.  Through "Esther", we will see the modern parallels between this famous OT figure's life and the lives of women today.  Esther's story is one of courage and is sure to draw you closer to God as you spend the next 10 weeks through this in-depth study.

Through "Turn Your Heart Towards Home", Theresa and Donna will encourage and help equip women to become powerful godly influences in their homes. This course will take you through scriptures that will apply principles such as being a godly helpmate, developing practical skills of personal and home management and organization, and God's truth of financial stewardship.  

Both of these classes will begin at 9:00 with a brief time of fellowship (and yummy snacks! - come around 8:45 for an early start) and then we will break out into the two classes  and conclude at 11:00.  Childcare is provided. Course cost for Esther is $10 and there is no charge for "Turn..."

Register by filling out the forms in the d'life brochures, calling the church office or by attending the first day of class.........anyone is welcome to join at any time!

 

Nancy Lee DeMoss and Scripture Memory

Y'all, as if you didn't need another reason to learn sripture (or if you need more encouragement to sign up for our challenge - see January 4th post - ), I am currently listening to Nancy Lee DeMoss teaching on WLBF about Psalm 119 - one of my new personal favorites - and the need to memorize scripture!! God is serious about us doing this, girls........so whether you sign up for our 2009 challenge or if you have a different method for learning scripture......JUST DO IT!!  Also, I recommend going to http://www.reviveourhearts.com/radio/roh/today.php?pid=10106 and reading Nancy's transcript from the broadcast from today. She gives some advice on ways to help you memorize scripture, as well as a host of reasons for doing it!

Love,

M

January 1st Verse

Type your name and then your verse for January 1 as a "comment" to this entry.

(If you are reading this blog for the first time and don't know what this entry is about, go back and read the blog entry titled "Scripture Memory Challenge" dated January 4, 2009.)

Don't forget to leave the reference and translation you are using.

M

Scripture Memory Challenge

Ladies,

Happy New Year to you all!  I trust that you had a blessed Christmas and and are experiencing God's faithfulness already this year! For those of you who are looking for something new to help you dig into God's word more this year, we've got a challenge for you.......

Are any of these verses familiar to you?

"Be transformed by the renewing of your mind" Romans 12:2

"I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you"  Psalm 199:11

"If your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction." Psalm 119:92

"Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path" Psalm 119:105

"Everyone hears these words of mine and puts them into practice..." Matthew 7:24

This is just a brief listing of scripture that speaks about learning, memorizing, meditating and acting on scripture.  Based on just those few verses, one could easily conclude that we need to KNOW scripture in order to walk by faith and draw closer to the Lord every day.  Whether you are trying to demolish strongholds, learning how to share your faith or be a better wife & mother (to name just a few reasons to know God's word), the word of God which we are told in Hebrews 4:12 is living and active,  is our greatest tool.   

I have always struggled with memorizing scripture.  The enormity of God's word intimidates me. I never know where to start and can't ever find the right "plan" of action to take.  Recently, I learned about a challenge that Beth Moore was doing on her Living Proof blog that will help women learn two new scriptures each month.   I personally think that it's the perfect plan......not too many, not too few! As soon as I decided to do this challenge, within 5 minutes, I had the scripture I wanted to memorize first. 

Basically, we are to choose our own scripture to memorize on the 1st and 15th of each month. That gives us two weeks to meditate on and hopefully memorize each scripture.  If you are interested in being a part of this challenge,  what I am asking you to do is to post your name (by clicking on the "post a comment" link at the bottom of this post**), so we can keep a record of everyone involved in the challenge.  I think that we will hold ourselves (and others) more accountable if we've "signed our names" to this than if we just decided to do it and didn't tell anyone. Then, after you've prayed about and chosen a verse to memorize first, go to the next post titled "January 1st Scripture" and type your verse,  what translation you are using and add the reference so that anyone else who wants to use that verse in the future will be able to locate it easily. If you are interested in receiving emails to remind you to have your new verses posted on the 1st and 15th of each month, email me at (melmcdaniel@bellsouth.net) and we will add you to a reminder list.  Since we are getting a late start this month, I recommend choosing a less "complicated" verse so you would not be discouraged right from the start......probably not as simple as 'Jesus wept', but you get the point, right? Then, on the 1st and 15th of each month, come back to this blog and type the new verse as a comment on the corresponding date entry.  I hope that makes sense..... Once you go to the entries, you'll see what I've done and it should help explain everything.

If you would like to be apart of the 2500+ women who have committed with Beth Moore on her blog, I would recommend reading the December 27th entry regarding the challenge and signing up to participate there, too.  It's a little extra effort each time, but I'm certain you would be blessed by being a part of such a huge work of God in the lives of women all over the country.  There is a link to her site on the right hand side of this blog.

If you have any questions, please feel free to leave a comment or email me at any time. I think this is a great opportunity for us to grow closer to the Lord and even each other through this experience. I can't wait to see how many women we get to sign up!

In Christ,

Melissa

**in order to leave a comment, you need to open this post by clicking on the title.