SEVEN NECESSARY INGREDIENTS IN MY SPIRITUAL PANTRY –

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.  His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Seven ingredients - I guess the world would hash-tag these ‘virtues’ and certainly they are, but more than this, they are the most basic ingredients for successful living, for clarity and for our own personal safety!

Through these God gives us His great and precious promises, and through these we actually participate in His divine nature! Possessing these, in increasing measure, guarantees we will be effective and productive in our knowledge of Jesus.

Without them we are unproductive, ineffective, nearsighted, blind and we will easily fall into Satan’s traps of accusation and condemnation, shame and blame.

Possessing these things keeps us from stumbling along life’s pathways, and one day when we stand before our righteous and Holy God we will receive a rich welcome into the Eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Well, that's intriguing enough to want to know WHAT these things are! Here goes…

Begin with FAITH, and
ADD GOODNESS. To this

ADD KNOWLEDGE. To this

ADD SELF-CONTROL. To this

ADD PERSEVERANCE. To this

ADD GODLINESS. To this

ADD MUTUAL AFFECTION. To this

ADD LOVE

Then, keep on adding these in increasing measure. 

If my recipe for life includes these but it is limited, like a recipe for a one-layer cake, then I will quickly be exhausted, and many people God places in my life will not taste His goodness through me because my spiritual pantry will simply be depleted.

My mom made me a 7-tier wedding cake!! It was enough to feed 500 guests with cake left over. When my faith is perpetually growing through God’s own character, His banqueting table  is never depleted, and I and those He brings into my life get to taste and see that He, indeed, is good. (Psalm 34:8)

Abundant life begins with faith, is upheld through love and is sustained by everything in between. Every ingredient must be on hand in my spiritual pantry, so that I get to continually partake of and dish out God’s divine nature. It is how, we are told, we escape the corruptions of this world bent on starving us of God’s goodness, grace, mercy and love. It is through these things that we get to help others escape too.

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (vs 3)

Well, I better go check my pantry!
In His Love, 
suemccarysargis 6/10/2019

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 2 Peter 1:1-2
https://www.facebook.com/sue.sargis.3

WE HAVE EACH OTHER'S BACK

I HAVE YOUR BACK
1 Chronicles 19

Each time I read these verses I have the same thought go through my mind and heart – that’s the way it is with Christian brothers and sisters.  If I am in need, you come to my rescue.  If you are in need I come to your rescue.  It is always couched in the thought that on our knees is where we fight the good fight on one another’s behalf.  Here is the scripture from 1 Chronicles 19 that evokes my musings:

¹⁰ Joab saw that there were battle lines in front of him and behind him; so he selected some of the best troops in Israel and deployed them against the Arameans. ¹¹ He put the rest of the men under the command of Abishai his brother, and they were deployed against the Ammonites. ¹² Joab said, “If the Arameans are too strong for me, then you are to rescue me; but if the Ammonites are too strong for you, then I will rescue you. ¹³ Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in his sight.”

When my brothers and sisters ask me to pray for them, I get to come at the enemy with the entire Host of the Most High God in hot pursuit – and the Most High God ALWAYS does what is good in His sight. Oh, the battle can get rough, but Joab’s next exhortation is God’s exhortation to me as well:  Be strong, and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The Lord will do what is good in His sight. 

The LORD will do what is right in His sight.  Are there times when it seems the battle is being won by the enemy?  Yes, I have felt that at times.   Are there times when the outcome does not seem right?  Yes, that has happened as well.  And yet I have this intense confidence burning in my soul that God doeth all things well, and so my soul can be at peace.  Even when I do not understand  I know my God is good.  I know He has my back.  I know He goes before me, and I know He walks on the left and the right hand of me as well.  He does so with all the Host of Heaven and He does so through faith-filled brothers and sisters. 

Are we like Joab and his brother, Abishai, kindred spirits who have each other’s backs?   I can say resoundingly that my brothers and sisters in Christ have such kindred, warrior spirits.  All I need do is pick up a phone, send a text or an email and they are on the defense, warring in the heavenlies on my behalf.   I do the same for them because that’s what kindred spirits do.  We have each other’s backs!

Amen, and amen!
FAITH WORKS!

THE GLORY BEYOND THE SUFFERING

THE GLORY BEYOND THE SUFFERING
Acts 7:54-60

Now when they heard these things they were enraged, and they ground their teeth at him. ⁵⁵ But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. ⁵⁶ And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” ⁵⁷ But they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him. ⁵⁸ Then they cast him out of the city and stoned him. And the witnesses laid down their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul. ⁵⁹ And as they were stoning Stephen, he called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” ⁶⁰ And falling to his knees he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” And when he had said this, he fell asleep."

Speaking hand's free in my car with my Christian sister about some hardships she is currently experiencing, as we prayed and I hung up the phone my radio came back on just in time for me to hear:  "God wants you to get a glimpse of the glory beyond the suffering."  Glimpse of the Glory!  What a remarkable statement.  Beyond the suffering!   YES, cried my heart.  The preacher on the radio continued to share the story of Stephen, the first known martyr of the early Church.  Stephen was drug out of town and stoned to death because of his faith in Jesus Christ and his testimony to the religious leaders about the Messiah.   It is interesting to me that while he was in the synagogue speaking to the Sanhedrin the scriptures say: 

Then all those who were sitting in the Council, stared [intently] at him, and they saw that Stephen’s face was like the face of an angel. (Acts 6:15) 

They clearly got a glimpse of the Glory (shining, radiance of God) in/upon Stephen, but it simply angered them when he continued to speak, finally accusing them of being stiff-necked, stubborn people who resist the Holy Spirit, refusing to see the Righteous One for who He is according to the teaching they all had handed down to them and which they had taught themselves!   Now it was personal and they who had beheld the Glory were now enraged rather than redeemed by it.

God wants us to get a glimpse of The Glory beyond the suffering.  In the midst of Stephen's suffering he looked up and when he did he saw heaven open up, and he saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God.   God wants us to do the same in the midst of our suffering - LOOK UP.   As we do we will see the Father and the Son as the Holy Spirit rests upon and in us; we will get a glimpse of The Glory and it will make all the difference in this world.  It will make a difference in how we walk through the suffering, the challenges, the difficulties of life.  

Later in the day I shared this with a co-worker who also endured much suffering the week before, she commented that words people speak are like those stones being hurled at Stephen.  Yes!  And at such times God wants to give us a glimpse of The Glory which we will behold as we LOOK UP. 

I called back and shared this message with the friend I had been talking to just before I heard this radio pastor speak, and we agreed it was a timely message for her, as the situation she is in will not change quickly.  So in the meantime, when weariness and anger and frustration could be our response, we were encouraged to LOOK UP and see the One who redeems every situation we encounter as we look up and glimpse The Glory in the midst of our suffering.   I am weighed down at work right now, to such a degree I feel often I am drowning.  I am reminded that often throughout each day I need to LOOK UP and glimpse The Glory.   Jesus is waiting to escort us through every trial, every trauma, every suffering, every persecution, every unknown.   We just need to look up to see this reality.  

The world we live in is great cause for consternation. There are wars and rumors of wars.  There are earthquakes and hurricanes and storms raging all around.   People are being persecuted all over our world just because they believe in Christ.   Chaldean refugees in California who are believers are being threatened with deportation from what was once a safe-haven for the persecuted - our own USA.  Jesus told the people before His own crucifixion that there would come such a time in our world, and He finished His dissertation in Luke 21 with this:

Now when these things begin to occur, stand tall and lift up your heads [in joy], because [suffering ends as] your redemption is drawing near (verse 28)

Straighten up, look up! For your redemption draws near!

At this point I am not one of the persecuted believers around the world, and a point could be made that such are the only valid grounds for invoking Luke 21:28, or dissecting and identifying with Stephen's experience.  But with all my heart I believe God sees every trial, every suffering, every challenge we face and at every turn in the road we are all advised to LOOK UP because our redemption from anything that comes at us in this world is and will only ever be Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father.   Romans 8:34 reminds us: Christ Jesus, who died-more than that, who was raised to life-is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

So once again today I am reminded that God wants me to get a glimpse of His Glory beyond the suffering, beyond any situation I know I cannot handle.   In Him is life.  In Him is joy.   In Him is peace.   In Him is found the grace necessary to walk through, and that is best done with an upward-looking stance as I choose to look up and see The Glory beyond.

Amen and amen.
suemccarysargis
9/29/2015

^{DIG DOWN DEEP
Luke 6:46-49}

⁴⁶ “Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say? ⁴⁷ As for everyone who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete.”

Dig a little deeper in God's Love. O, dig a little deeper in God's Love

It's a song I remember from my youth.  I looked it up and found that Kenneth Morris composed it around 1948 and Mahalia Jackson recorded it.  Mr. Morris lived from 1917 to 1988 and his music company was the longest surviving publisher of black gospel sheet music.   When I think of the world he was born into and the struggles of African American people all these years, I think he must have been a person who understood the need to dig down deep and lay a firm foundation.

I remember that phrase from  monetary term when one had to dig down deep in our pockets to find the reserves to pay for something we really wanted.   It is also an idiom meaning to dig way down deep in our own souls to uncover who we really are.  We can scratch the surface, or dig down deep and the way we live life will be reflective of our choice.   The other visual I've read is of a soldier in a war zone who could dig a hole three feet deep or a deeper trench.  You would hide your profile in a fox hole, but if you really wanted to be sure, to be safe you had to dig down deeper.  It's not easy and it takes longer, but it is a much better place to be with enemy fire coming from all directions.

How do I dig down deep?  It's not rocket science.   I spend time digging into the Words of our God so I get a clearer picture of His will, His ways, His desires for me.   It's like that deep trench instead of a fox hole experience - I find the weapons necessary for spiritual warfare only in the deep trenches of God's Word.  Then I am able to battle the onslaught of enemy fire with weapons that will destroy him.

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
(2 Corinthians 10:3-4)

I spend time listening to God more than bombarding Him with my words.  As Matt Redman put it in his song - "let my words be few."  This comes from Ecclesiastes 5:1-2 . . .

Guard your steps as you go to the house of God and draw near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools; for they do not know they are doing evil. Do not be hasty in word or impulsive in thought to bring up a matter in the presence of God. For God is in heaven and you are on the earth; therefore let your words be few.

Only as I choose to invest my heart, mind, soul and time in the process of digging down deep do I experience unshakable support and strength, wisdom and the knowledge needed for when the winds of adversity, the attacks of the evil one, the ways of this world slam me.  Floods and storms will come; torrents will strike but I will not be shaken, my God's promised reward for digging down deep and laying a strong foundation is as true today as the day it was penned over 2000 years ago . . .

For everyone who comes to Me and hears My words and puts them into practice, I will show you what they are like. ⁴⁸ They are like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. When a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. (Luke 5:47-48)

Not rocket science, true - but it is not always easy to make the choices necessary.  In my world today everyone, including me, wants the easy way out, the quick fix.  We want someone to tell us a good story each Sunday or stuff us full of spiritual insights for a weekend but then we walk away into real life that can so easily shatter our resolve.   I love the mountain top experiences, but when it is time to be back in the real world, the only place safe and secure is in the One who tells us to dig down deep and lay a strong foundation; to hear His words and put them into practice.  Not rocket science, but it does take the same kind of determination and resolve.  

smcs //  September 24-25, 2015

INCESSANT - Ezekiel 47

Ezekiel 47 is easily one of my favorite books of the Bible.   Every time I read it I shout, almost out loud, but really deep within my innermost being: I want to preach this sermon!!  While the chapters preceding 47 seem to be just a litany of facts and measurements from which I needed an interpretive word from God to understand the take-away that should impact how I live my life, this one did not pose such a challenge.   A word came quickly to my mind as I read:  INCESSANT 

I saw water coming out from under the threshold of the temple 

I looked up that word to see what context it might have the joy of previous readings of Ezekiel 47 was taken to new heights.    

Continuing without pause or interruption - ceaseless, unceasing, constant, continual, unabating, interminable, endless, unending, never-ending, everlasting, eternal, perpetual, continuous, nonstop, uninterrupted, unbroken, unremitting, persistent, relentless, unrelenting, unrelieved, sustained

As Ezekiel is taken back to the entrance of the temple by his spirit guide (remember, he is in the midst of a vision while simultaneously an exile in Babylon – 25 years into what would be a 70 year exile for Israel), he begins a journey into the waters flowing from the throne.  First the water was trickling from the south side of the temple, then he was led into ankle deep waters, then knee deep, then waist deep and then 

⁵ He measured off another thousand, but now it was a river that I could not cross, because the water had risen and was deep enough to swim in—a river that no one could cross. 

Now he is taken back to shore and given a bird’s eye view of what I believe is the incessant, eternal Glory of God. . . 

Then he led me back to the bank of the river.  When I arrived I saw a great number of trees on each side of the river.  He said to me:  “This water flows toward the eastern region and goes down into the Arabah, where it enters the Dead Sea.  When it empties into the sea the salty water there becomes fresh.  Swarms of living creatures will live wherever the river flows. There will be large numbers of fish, because this water flows there and makes the salt water fresh; so where the river flows everything will live. 

THE GLORY OF GOD!  Out of the throne comes Living Waters that get deeper and deeper and deeper as we enter those waters of life, and soon these waters empty into what was once a dead sea that could not sustain life in any form.  Now, everywhere the river flows there is life! 

We are the representatives who take the depths of God’s redeeming, life-giving, life-sustaining waters to a dead, chronically thirsty, broken world and when we go with the flow of His glory and grace, everywhere we go, life springs forth.   It is nothing we do.   The waters flow from His Throne transforming our lives so that we simply get to be the bearers of His Living Waters through whom He brings the dead to life.  John’s gospel tells us:

Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. "He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.'" John 7:37-38 

Out of our innermost being will flow rivers of living waters! 

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that His Spirit dwells in your midst?!”  1 Corinthians 3:16 

We are His temple.  Out of us flows living waters!  Oh it might be just a trickle at first but as we allow Him to lead us we soon find ourselves in over our heads in the depths of His glory and grace, and EVERYWHERE WE GO THERE IS LIFE! 

Ezekiel then sees fishermen on the shores -  

 ¹⁰ Fishermen will stand along the shore; from En Gedi to En Eglaim there will be places for spreading nets. The fish will be of many kinds 

Jesus says - “I will make you fishers of men if you follow me!”  Matthew 4:19 

Ezekiel sees the fruit trees offering both sustenance and healing -

 

¹² Fruit trees of all kinds will grow on both banks of the river. Their leaves will not wither, nor will their fruit fail. Every month they will bear fruit, because the water from the sanctuary flows to them. Their fruit will serve for food and their leaves for healing.” 

Galatians 5 reminds us we are God’s fruit bearers and in Matthew 10 Jesus’ tells us: 

Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils: freely ye have received, freely give.  Matthew 10:8 

The fruit of our lives, lived for the Glory of God, will fill others up with His love.  We will be His ambassadors who bring healing to broken lives.    

Insanely, incessantly, incredibly we get to be vessels of God’s glory.  That’s why my spirit shouts every time I read Ezekiel 47.   It isn’t just a cute story of a man wading in the waters who sees a sea come to life.  It is depictive of how my world can be transformed from rivers of living waters flowing out of the Throne of my living, loving Savior and Lord.   I get to be His emissary.   I get to deliver living water, food for the hungry, healing for the broken because out of my innermost being, His holy temple, flows rivers of His life-giving, life-sustaining waters. 

May the Glory of His presence fill the world around me today as I go with His flow. AMEN!

suemccarysargis

9/19/2014

CONSISTENT - Ezekiel 42-43

Ezekiel is still in the vision and one again I ask God for the take away this morning:

 Ezekiel 42

16 He measured the east side with the measuring rod; it was five hundred cubits. 17 He measured the north side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. 18 He measured the south side; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod. 19 Then he turned to the west side and measured; it was five hundred cubits by the measuring rod.

 

Ezekiel 43

10.  Let them consider its perfection, 11 and if they are ashamed of all they have done, make known to them the design of the temple—its arrangement, its exits and entrances—its whole design and all its regulations and laws. Write these down before them so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations.

Consistent.   Constant, steady, regular, stable, unchanging, undeviating, in agreement with

That is the word that comes to mind as I read these few chapters in Ezekiel.

In Ezekiel 43:10-11 God says "tell them ....to consider its perfection."  "its arrangement, its exits and entrances—its whole design ....so that they may be faithful to its design and follow all its regulations."

God has designed me with perfection, and God has ordained that I follow Him fully, faithfully, consistently.  Who I am in the midst of His people and who I am in the world should not vary from who I am in His presence.  It is all too easy to go about my day and, though not an intentional mindset, be quite inconsistent with respect to His perfect design of me and of His plans to transform a world consistently, through this life He has designed with perfection.  And though once lost, I have been found by Him and He has transformed by His grace, through His forgiveness.  Therefore, I must and I long to consistently consider His perfection and be faithful to His design.  These verses come to mind:

Psalm 139  - You formed my inward parts, You knitted me together in my mother’s womb, I praise You for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; wonderful are Your works; I know this in the depths of my soul  

1 Peter 2:9  - You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His very own to show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Amen, may it be so this day Lord Jesus.

suemccarysargis

9/17/2014

 

PRECISE - Ezekiel 40

Ezekiel 40: 2 In visions of God he took me to the land of Israel and set me on a very high mountain, on whose south side were some buildings that looked like a city. 3 He took me there, and I saw a man whose appearance was like bronze; he was standing in the gateway with a linen cord and a measuring rod in his hand. 4 The man said to me, “Son of man, look carefully and listen closely and pay attention to everything I am going to show you, for that is why you have been brought here. Tell the people of Israel everything you see.”

Israel was exiled to Babylon. Twenty-five years into what would be a 70 year captivity God escorts  Ezekiel back to his homeland in a vision.  He is shown with precise detail the walls, the rooms, the gates, the inner court and the Holy of Holies and every single measurements is given.   

As I read these chapters in Ezekiel I asked God what my lesson was from a slew of measurements.  Why could it possibly be important for us to read, ad infinitum, such details  and the word that came immediately to my mind and heart was "precise".  

 
·       Look closely
·       Listen carefully
·       Pay close attention 

When God speaks to us, either through His word or through the teaching of His Word, or if He should give a vision or dream we are to look closely, listen carefully, and pay close attention because when we then tell the people what we have seen and heard we need tell exactly, precisely what we have been shown.   

 

A young man I fellowship with told me of a dream he had that was very troubling to his soul and he wondered why he remembered this dream when he didn't usually dream, or remember them at least.  I think the tendency is to discount all or parts of our visions (and sadly even what we read in God’s Word) because it seems nonsensical.  I wonder if that is how Ezekiel felt. Why all the fuss about stats - thickness of walls, distance between, number of steps etc?  But Ezekiel was a seasoned prophet and it was second nature for him to look closely, listen carefully, pay close attention and then to tell the people precisely what he saw.  We are not so seasoned, so it is even more imperative we understand that whatever God speaks to us to share with others must be precisely what He tells us, completely what He tells, only what He tells us. 

A funny saying just crossed my mind - "the devil is in the details." I looked that up and basically it means that the details are crucial.  For instance in a medical lab where tests are being done, one tiny thing missed will cause the results to be faulty, and, it comes to my mind, then hell's to pay.  Here is the online wiseGEEK.com’s explanation:   

"The slang term “the devil is in the details” . . . .one might say “the devil's in the details” to refer to very small but ultimately important components of a larger task. For example, performing a scientific experiment in a laboratory is a hugely involved task which can sometimes be highly dangerous. A small error at the beginning can translate into a useless experiment at the end, so experimenters are reminded that the devil's in the details. This reminder is intended to encourage the scientists to check their work, and to be thorough and careful in the lab." 

I think this is so appropriate because if we do not pay close attention to all God speaks to our hearts and then follow through as He directs, precisely as He directs then satan gets to confuse and wreak havoc all too easily.  

Look closely, listen carefully, and pay close attention

It is a valuable take-away.

suemccarysargis

9/16/2014