Firstfruits

Carolyn

Happy New Year!

Some of my friends chose a word for the year. Maybe there’s a “one word” thing circulating, and I’m just realizing it! My one word for the year though came easy. Firstfruits.

I woke up thinking about that on January 1 and spent some time studying what it meant in the Bible, just using my simple concordance at the back of my Bible.

When the Israelites came into the land, they were to offer firstfruits of their harvest to God (Lev. 23:9-14, Ex. 23: 16, 19, Ex. 34:26, Deut. 26). In Nehemiah 10:35-36, they brought the firstfruits of the ground and the firstfruits of fruit and trees. My Bible notes say, “The firstfruits of the ground were given to the Lord as an acknowledgement of His status as landowner.”

In Exodus 23:17, we see the Feast of Harvest was one of the three annual feasts at which they would bring the firstfruits of their labors which they had sown in the field.

My Bible notes say, “The Israelites were to offer to God the fruit that ripened first, even though there was always a possibility that the rest of the crop would not ripen or be harvested because of some unforseen circumstance. By offering the first of the produce to the Lord, the people expressed their trust in God’s provision and their gratitude for His good gifts.”

I also looked into the New Testament. Romans 8:23, we have the firstfruits of the Spirit.

James 1:18, which follows a beloved verse of mine (every good and perfect gift is from above, James 1:17), says, “Of His own will He brought us forth by the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of His creatures.”

Revelation 4:4, being redeemed from among men, being firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.

Then this: Christ is risen from the dead and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep! (I Cor. 15:20) My notes say, “Because Christ rose from the dead, those who are asleep in Christ have a guarantee of their own resurrection.”

Obviously, this could become a very in-depth and exciting study!

These are just some glimpses of what I read. I can give my firstfruits of all I have been given (what all does this include?), but is my very life a kind of firstfruit (James 1:18)?

As I thought about giving my firstfruits, the area I was convicted to give this year is of my time, the firstfruits of the day, trusting God will make the rest of the day effective, even when I’ve given up time in the morning.

So my 2015 goal is to spend time in the morning reading the Bible and praying – before I do anything else — before I get ready, before I eat breakfast, before I make lunches, before everything! I am using the M’Cheyne reading plan to read through the Bible in a year. So feet out of bed and on the ground, downstairs, praying, reading, before anything else.

I want to be realistic – anything we do in a new way can be hard to keep going. But I’ve pushed through and here I am on the 8th day. I’ll take it a week at a time and see how it goes. But I can tell you this so far: it’s been a complete blessing! I’m learning so much in my time in the Word. It’s amazing how four select passages can intertwine with one idea. More on that in a future post.

For today, my word for 2015, firstfruits.

Honor God with your possessions, and with the firstfruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine (Proverbs 3:9-10).

Weekend Wrap-up

Carolyn

These are just some quick thoughts as I wrap up the last week or two that have been on my mind.

  • I heard a lady on the radio yesterday giving her testimony. She had been living a really rough life, and she wanted to know if God was real. She shared how God revealed Himself in this moment of crisis in an unmistakable way. At the end of the call, she threw in this statement that has stuck with me: “I wasn’t looking for God to change my life; I only wanted to know if He was real. But once I knew that He was real, my life was changed.” I loved that thought. When we experience the reality of who God is and what Christ has done for us, we will be changed!

IMG_7291

  • I went to a cross country match to watch a family friend run. What I loved was seeing him at the end, even though he was surely tired, sprint to the finish, even overtaking another runner at the very last moment. This running with the end in sight, with a focus on the finish, was a picture to me of how to run the life of faith which is compared in Scripture at times to a race:

    Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

  • This week we celebrated the day that my daughter came home from the hospital 14 years ago ago after a three month stay. She was born three months prematurely (27 weeks along, 2 pounds) and came home on her original due date. It’s hard to pass milestone moments like these without pausing again to remember and give thanks to God for her life and His protection over her and for the many miraculous ways we saw His hand at work during those challenging days. These are indeed stones of remembrance.

100_6234

  • Then finally we wrapped up the football season for my son this week. It was a great season, and I am glad to see his hard work and discipline in the sport, his great coaches who use the sport as a means to bring gospel truths into their lives, and the friendships he has developed.

IMG_7271

Verses for the Day: Galatians 4:12-20

Carolyn

Note: To find out about the verses for the day, click here. And to read the other posts in the Galatians series, click here. (They appear in reverse order.)

In this passage of Galatians, Paul expresses again his concerns for the Galatian believers. We saw last time that he seems to go back and forth between identifying a concern and responding to it with the truth of the gospel. What an excellent pattern that we can put to use in our own lives, always returning to the gospel, reminding ourselves of the gospel, putting ourselves in places to be taught again the gospel. It will never grow old. It will never be outdated. It will never be powerless. It will change us and shape us and form us.

This is what Paul wants for these Galatian believers. He desires that Christ be formed in them (v.19). Paul is coming to them as a spiritual father. He calls them his “little children” (v.19). As a father cares for his child, Paul is laboring over these young believers (v.11, v.19), and he expresses concern over them: “I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for you in vain” (v.11).

Paul asks them, “How is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements?” He says “you desire to be in bondage” (v.9); “you observe days and months and seasons and years” (v.10); “I am afraid for you” (v.11); “what then was the blessing you enjoyed” (v.15); “Have I become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” (v.16); “I have doubts about you” (v.20.)

These sound like heavy concerns on Paul’s heart. Picture a wayward child, a person walking away from his or her faith. They have been given the knowledge of the truth, but they are turning from it. They are being deceived. They have been set free in Christ and are returning to bondage. And Paul comes with the truth of the gospel to expose the lies and help them return to the freedom that Christ has given them. He does it with the love of a father who so desires their best, that is that Christ would be formed in them. This is why Paul writes; these are his concerns.

Paul reminds the Galatians of how they received him initially (v. 14). They have not injured Paul at all (v.12), and they did not despise or reject him and the trial that was in Paul’s flesh (v.14). They would have plucked out their own eyes for him (v.15). Paul urges them to become like him (v.12) and contrasts himself with the false teachers. Paul is telling them the truth (v.16) and means good for them. The false teachers court them, but for no good; they want to exclude them, so that the Galatians will be zealous for them (v.17).

The false teachers would have them be in bondage to the law, observing the days and months and seasons and years, depending on the law rather than grace. But Christ came to set them free, and Paul desires them to be zealous for a good thing (v.18) and that Christ be formed in them.

We have seen that through Christ’s death and resurrection, by faith in Him, we are delivered from this present evil age (1:5), redeemed (4:5), adopted (4:5), and given new life. We are justified (made right with God) by faith (2:16, 3:11, 24). By faith, we become a child of God (3:26) and heirs to the promise (3:29). We are given the blessing of God (4:15). We are given the Spirit of God (4:6). We are no longer a slave, but a son (4:7).

The law which we could not keep points us to our need for a Savior, Jesus Christ, who could perfectly keep the law. He sacrificed Himself for us, forgiving our sins, that we can live in newness of life. And all that we have been given in Christ enables us to live for Him, in freedom, not in bondage.

Paul desires these truths to take root and sink deeply into the hearts of these Galatian believers so that they might be full of joy and free in Christ. Do we know this freedom and joy?

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for being our Creator, Savior, Redeemer, Father, King. Thank you for giving us all that we need for life and godliness. Thank you that we can turn from sin and turn to you for forgiveness. Thank you that you love us and have made a way for us to know you. Thank you, Jesus, for humbling yourself to death on a cross to bring us to God. Thank you for the joy we find in trusting you and walking with you. Thank you for your Spirit who teaches us and leads us. Let us believe your truth and live in this freedom that you accomplished for us. My heart is full of gratitude. Thank you for a relationship with you, for seeking us. May we now seek You and find true blessing and joy. Keep our eyes fixed on you. May we study your Word so we can know you and be reminded again and again of this glorious gospel of grace that has saved us and redeemed us.  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Verses for the Day – Galatians 4:8-11

Carolyn

Note: To find out about the verses for the day, click here. And to read the other posts in the Galatians series, click here. (They appear in reverse order.)

In this letter to the Galatians, it seems like Paul is going back and forth, back and forth between identifying the way these young Galatian believers are turning away from the true gospel to declaring this true gospel again. Like a seesaw, up and down, exposing one way of erroneous thinking or living and revealing again the great truth of the gospel of grace.

You might remember he started this letter not with words of praise and affirmation as he does in others of his letters, but straightaway he began to deal with these issues at hand.

Galatians 1:6 “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel,”

Galatians 1:7 “… there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ.”

Paul goes on and in 3:1 asks, “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth…?”

As we’ve seen, Paul discusses false teachers, circumcision and law, and contrasts them with justification by faith. We are saved not by works, but by grace, a gift of God.

Each time Paul gives one of the issues at hand, he brings it back to the gospel of truth, this simple message, and Jesus who frees us from all of these many kinds of bondage.

Today in Chapter 4, verses 8-11, Paul tells the Galatians that when they did not know God, they served those who by nature were not gods (verse 8). It seems to indicate that we are worshipers. We will always worship and serve something, either the true God, or things that are not gods. We’ve seen that from the Old Testament idol worship up to today where many are worshipers of things like self and materialism. Who are we serving and worshiping?

Paul goes on in today’s passage to ask them, now that they have known God – or rather were known by God (indicating it is God who first knows us, before we can even know Him!) – how is it that they turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which they desire again to be in bondage (verse 9-10). He tells them they observe days and months and seasons and years, and Paul is afraid for them, that he has labored in vain (verse 11). It’s possible to observe religious holidays, Sabbaths, special feasts, and totally miss true worship of the risen Christ. These observances can have the appearance of worship, but lack the heart of true worship.

If they truly knew God, how can they return to lesser things, the things that bring them into bondage? And what about us? How do we do that as well? Do we observe days and seasons but miss meeting our almighty God and having true worship of Him?

And what is our remedy for this? A turning back again and again to the gospel of Christ, the true gospel that tells us who we are and who He is. We receive forgiveness at the cross of Jesus Christ, a cleansing from our sins and unrighteousness, if we confess those sins (1 John 1:9). Just like Paul bringing these believers again and again back to truth, we need this as well. We need to know and obey God’s Word and be led by His Spirit into truth.

PRAYER: Thank you, Lord, that you are worthy of worship. Thank you that in you, we find full satisfaction. Forgive us for turning aside to other things, lesser things, for returning again to bondage when you have set us free. May we know you in such a way that these other things no longer are desirable, but you are our heart’s longing and affection. May we worship you and walk in your ways now and always. Bring us back again to your amazing gospel of grace that frees of from sin and law/works to know and love you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

My Father

Carolyn

daddy

The other night we were at my mom’s, and when I got home, this picture was on my camera. Because my mom recently moved, my daughter had found this picture leaning in a room against the wall. She asked my mom who it was, and my mom told her it was her grandfather. I think she was taken with the thought and took the picture to capture it.

45 years ago today my earthly, biological father passed away. He was on his way to work and died in a car wreck. I was an infant. Though I’m confident he loved me (a realization that didn’t actually strike me until after I had my own children), I never had the opportunity to know him, and that is a certain loss in my life. I often wonder what it must have been like for my mother to walk through that day, to receive the call that he wasn’t at work, to have the policeman knock on the door, to arrive at the hospital to discover he was already gone.

I’ve never had thought to write about him, perhaps because my experience of knowing him was so brief. I remember during my childhood wondering what part of me was like him. I am a lot like my mom, so I wanted to know if there was anything about me that could connect me to him. But I didn’t know him, and I only knew life with a mom and a sister. It wasn’t sad to me that I didn’t have a dad because I knew nothing different, though at times I felt different from my friends.

It feels strange to write about him. Perhaps it’s something sacred that isn’t meant to be shared. Perhaps I don’t even know enough to write. And perhaps that is sad. But there are some things that I do know that I wouldn’t have known otherwise that I remember now with praise and thanksgiving.

Psalm 68:5 says, “A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.” I can tell you that verse is true. God has been a Father to me, and I’ve always had a strong sense of Him being my heavenly Father, the one who loves and cares for me. His faithfulness to us has been so obvious, and His presence so near. He has watched over and protected me all the days of my life, and the absence of an earthly father made this reality more clear to me. I praise God for that.

My father’s family, though they did not live nearby, have always been involved in my life. We spent most Christmases with them growing up, and I would visit my grandparents frequently, particularly in summertime. They stepped in to love us and care for us, even though their son/brother was gone and we lived farther away. My parents were only married five years, but his family never lost touch with us, always sought us and invested in our lives. I know their love, and I love them, and that also is a gift.

Many men in our church stepped up to reach out to us – inviting my sister and me to father/daughter banquets or inviting us on activities with their families. What kind and generous thoughts. My best friend’s dad always showed me love and kindness, and her parents made me feel like one of the family. Others come to mind, a gift to know godly men who cared for us.

And then my mom remarried when I was 14. “Step-dad” hardly feels like the appropriate word for him as much as he was involved in our lives and how much he loved us and eventually my own children. He was a wonderful, godly man who went to be with the Lord four years ago now.

I’ve had the blessing of not just one father, but many father-figures, and knowing my heavenly Father most of all. On a day that could be reflected upon with sadness, I reflect on it with joy. As Job said in Job 1:21, “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” And He has given so much more. He has given me Himself.

Galatians 4:6, “And because we are his children, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, prompting us to call out, ‘Abba, Father.'”

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that I know you as my Father, that you have loved me as your child, adopted me as your own, redeemed my life from the pit, and set my feet upon a rock. Thank you for caring for me so personally. You are this same heavenly Father to all those who believe upon your Son, who by faith trust in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins and eternal life. Through Jesus’ sacrifice, His death and resurrection, we are given access to you by faith. What was broken by sin was restored in Christ. And this Father/child relationship is the sweetest and most significant one we can know. Thank you that I can call you “Abba, Father.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.

SaveSave