And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV
Key Question:
Is Jesus living His life through you, or are you trying to live it with His help?
Read MoreFor by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works,which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2: 8-10 ESV
Key Question:
Do you live under works (the law) or by grace through faith?
Read MoreWelcome to our Fall book club here at A Branch in the Vine! Thank you for joining us in the study of The Rest of the Gospel: When the Partial Gospel has Worn You Out, by Dan Stone and David Gregory.
My prayer is that we will all come to experience to a greater depth the truth of the key verse of our study: Christ in you, the hope of glory (Colossians 1:27)...that is, our only hope that the glory of God will be manifest in our lives right now on this earth...not just when we get to heaven!
Read MoreThere's a song that's been going through my mind and heart these Advent days. I even find myself bursting into a line of lyric here and there. The thoughts I love most in it are truths that have become more and more precious to me as I reflect Advent after Advent -- that our Emmanuel came to earth from heaven, not just to pay for our sins (as crucial as that is), but also to give us His divine eternal LIFE...deity indwelling our humanity. We can become children of Almighty God!!!
Read MoreLife is a mix, a conglomeration.
There is confusion and clarity, flailing and focus, excruciating pain and exquisite peace.
There is bitterness and sweetness, strength and fragility, "rugged seas" and "smooth sailing."
As Paul Lawrence Dunbar so aptly expresses in his poem Life:
Read MoreBy this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.John 15:8
Have you ever started a job with no job description? I have, and it's pretty confusing.
Years ago, I was looking for a part-time teaching job. A friend asked if I would like to apply to substitute teach in ESL & GED classes. I told her that I didn't have a clue about either one of those. She assured me that it wasn't difficult. All I had to do was follow the teacher's lesson plans. So I naively applied.
Read MoreUntil you rest in the finality of the cross, you will never experience the reality of the resurrection, which is Christ living in and through you! Unless you rest in the fact that Jesus did it all, you’ll be so busy trying to pay off your debt—atone for your sins—that you’ll never grow and enjoy the personal relationship that Christ has provided for you.
Bob George, Growing in Grace
Read MoreToday I’m celebrating Cancer Survivors, those brave but suffering souls who have battled and prayed and cried and begged and pushed through . . . or maybe who have suffered in silence and pushed through inspite of it all. All were scared and maybe still are.
I’m celebrating the loved ones who suffered alongside and didn’t run away from the “not knowing” . . . who cried and prayed and begged and never gave up….
Read MoreLife, glorious life! How we take life for granted, until...
someone we love dies,
our health or safety is gravely threatened,
we realize our days are waning because of the years...
It is then that we value what we've had all along.
But there's a Life that we never need fear will diminish, be endangered, be lost...
In fact, this Life can grow in our experience even in this time-based, fearful, waning physical life.
What is this Life?
Read MoreLife, glorious life! How we take life for granted, until...
someone we love dies,
our health or safety is gravely threatened,
we realize our days are waning because of the years...
It is then that we value what we've had all along.
But there's a Life that we never need fear will diminish, be endangered, be lost...
In fact, this Life can grow in our experience even in this time-based, fearful, waning physical life.
What is this Life?
Read MoreThere's a song that's been going through my mind and heart these Advent days. I even find myself bursting into a line of lyric here and there. The thoughts I love most in it are truths that have become more and more precious to me as I reflect Advent after Advent -- that our Emmanuel came to earth from heaven, not just to pay for our sins (as crucial as that is), but also to give us His divine eternal LIFE...deity indwelling our humanity. We can become children of Almighty God!!!
Read MoreToday my dear grandson Carter turned 10. 10! Double digits, a full decade! Oh how time passes too quickly and here we are.
As I've thought of this precious life, I had been been asking the Lord to give me a verse to pass on to Carter from HIM. First I went one way in my thoughts, and then I went another. But nothing felt totally right, totally it. I was trying too hard instead of letting my heart receive it from the Spirit.
Then it came ... and it was totally perfect!
Read MoreThis month is a special month. This month I celebrate my darling son and his amazing, godly life that our sovereign Father God spared 20 years ago ... and not only spared, but brought to abundant fruitfulness inside and out! Can I tell you the story?
Twenty years ago on February 13, 1998, my beautiful baby boy, Jeremy John Loyd, was diagnosed with thyroid cancer. OK, he wasn't a baby at the time...he was 20 years old and a sophomore at Grace College. But as every one of you moms knows, your baby is always your baby.
Read MoreOh, life has been full of losses lately...deaths, illnesses, failures. And these during and after times of refreshment with loved ones and beaches and the simplicity of Amish peaceful countryside.
As a result, I am reflecting, revisiting, and responding in new ways to previous thoughts...some of which have already been shared. Forgive me. But if you would like to listen in, here is my meditation:
Life is a mix, a conglomeration.
There is confusion and clarity, flailing and focus, excruciating pain and exquisite peace.
There is bitterness and sweetness, strength and fragility, "rugged seas" and "smooth sailing."
For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name... Isaiah 54:5
Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. Psalm 68:5
My dear friend,
I heard a song as I was walking this morning...and I thought of you!
I remembered a poem from days gone by...and I thought of you!
And I thought of grief and joy and love and life...and I thought of you, my precious sister-friend!
And I remembered your delightful, "crusty," out-spoken husband Don, who is now "exploring the mysteries of Christ."
Most of all, I remembered Jesus who has experienced grief and joy and love and life...all of it, so He knows!
So for you my darling Shirley (and for those you love and who love you and your Don) as you face the loss of your dear husband:
Grief Joy Love Life
And so first the poem:
Life Paul Laurence Dunbar
A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in, A minute to smile and an hour to weep in, A pint of joy to a peck of trouble, And never a laugh but the moans come double; And that is life!
A crust and a corner that love makes precious, With a smile to warm and the tears to refresh us; And joy seems sweeter when cares come after, And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter; And that is life!
And then the song:
God Is Love
All we hold is frail and briefPatched together by beliefThe pattern only partiallyRevealed for us to seeWhat are tears but seeds we sow?In fields unseen such harvest growWhose joys will one day overflowThe measure of our grief
REFRAINIf God is loveThen love we trustIs strong enough to hold our sorrowIf God is loveHe carries us We will not fear what comes tomorrowLove will heal usFor God is love
Then suffering's no enemyAnd poverty, no povertyAnd death our greatest victoryWhen swallowed up in life
REFRAIN
Though sorrow surge at every stepYet goodness is assuredFor none that harms or troubles hereWill speak the final wordLove speaks the final word
REFRAIN
Until you rest in the finality of the cross, you will never experience the reality of the resurrection, which is Christ living in and through you!Unless you rest in the fact that Jesus did it all, you’ll be so busy trying to pay off your debt – atone for your sins – that you’ll never grow and enjoy the personal relationship that Christ has provided for you. Bob George, Growing in Grace
The total payment has been made. The slate is wiped clean!
We are lavishly loved and forever forgiven in Him!
So we can quit trying to earn what we already have in Christ. We can live the abundant life the Lord has promised...the resurrected, indwellingChrist living it through us...as us, not as someone we admire or think we should be like.
Let the truth of this song wash over you...live the life the Lord has given you...Him living through you!
The Power of the Cross
Oh, to see the dawn of the darkest dayChrist on the road to calvarytried by sinful men, torn and beaten thennailed to a cross of wood
This the pow'r of the crossChrist became sin for ustook the blame, bore the wrath we stand forgiven at the cross
Oh, to see the pain written on your facebearing the awesome weight of sinevery bitter thought, every evil deedcrowning your bloodstained brow
This the pow'r of the crossChrist became sin for ustook the blame, bore the wrathwe stand forgiven at the cross
Now the daylight fleesNow the ground beneathquakes as it maker bows his headcurtain torn intodead are raise to life"finished" the victory cry
This the pow'r of the crossChrist became sin for ustook the blame, bore the wrathwe stand forgiven at the cross
Oh, to see my name written in the woundsfor through your suffering I am freedeath is crushed to deathlife is mine to livewon through your selfless love
This the pow'r of the crossson of God slain for uswhat a love, what a costwe stand forgiven at the cross
Until you rest in the finality of the cross, you will never experience the reality of the resurrection, which is Christ living in and through you!Unless you rest in the fact that Jesus did it all, you’ll be so busy trying to pay off your debt—atone for your sins—that you’ll never grow and enjoy the personal relationship that Christ has provided for you.
Bob George, Growing in Grace
FATHER FORGIVE THEM
Embracing our total forgiveness by our Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning death on the cross for every sin,
one by one,
all of them,
what we have done and will do,
and, not only that, who we are apart from Him...
...is essential for life, that is, the life of God in us!
Yes, the living, resurrected Christ indwellingour spirit made new...
This is basic to forgiving others, because in reality, we can't do it on our own...but the forgiving indwelling Lord can and does, as we live from His life!
So whether we have been blatant sinners in the same category as the prodigal son...
...or subtle, pride-filled sinners a la elder brother,
Embrace that forgiveness today, dear friend, and live!
And forgive...by the indwelling, forgiving Christ! Amen!
I will be their God, and they shall be my people...for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more. Hebrews 8:10-12 ESV
LORD,
Is it necessary for someone to die in order for another to live?
You should know! Remember the Cross?
...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. Heb 12:2
Is the joy that another might live?
Is that why as moms we come to "death's door" to birth life into this world?
And is that just a picture of a deeper spiritual reality?
Is that why we need to admit our failures? own our mistakes? grieve our inabilities? release our expectations?
And even "take the blows" when misunderstood? mistaken? misjudged?
But You know all that too! Remember the trials and beating?
“Do You not answer? What is it that these men are testifying against You?” But Jesus kept silent. Then they spat in His face and beat Him with their fists; and others slapped Him... Matthew 26:62-63,67
But it's so hard to die so that another might live! So hard to chose love over self-protection and self-justification!
And You know that too, don't You? Remember Gethsemane? Remember the Father's will?
And He went a little beyond them, and fell on His face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” ...He went away again a second time and prayed, saying, “My Father, if this cannot pass away unless I drink it, Your will be done.” Matthew 26:39, 42
Is it so that the healing life of your Risen Self can do its life-giving work in another?
In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation... Heb 5:7-9
Now it's my turn, isn't it? Is that what Paul meant when he said,
Now I rejoice in what I am suffering for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is still lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions, for the sake of his body, which is the church...to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Col 1:22,27
May it ever be so in my life also, O my sacrificial, crucified, risen, obedient Savior...only through Your indwelling LIFE!
For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made his light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that his life may also be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. 2Cor4:6-12
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job descriptions, charlie brown
By this is My Father glorified, that you bear much fruit, and so prove to be My disciples.John 15:8
Have you ever started a job with no job description? I have, and it's pretty confusing.
About 8 years ago, I was looking for a part-time teaching job. A friend asked if I would like to apply to substitute teach in ESL & GED classes. I told her that I didn't have a clue about either one of those. She assured me that it wasn't difficult. All I had to do was follow the teacher's lesson plans. So I naively applied.
Well, guess what? As my application reached the supervisor's desk, the beginning ESL teacher was in a very serious accident. This was at the end of the first week of class. By then, beginning ESL students don't know much more English than the day they walked in. There were no lesson plans and no curriculum, because the teacher was so experienced that she did her own "curriculum". Needless to say, I was terrified. But God met me in my need (and that's for another post!).
BUT that first year, I had no job description. I just took the bull by the horns and prayed and taught and loved it. And I think the students did too, by God's grace! (I taught that class for 9 more years!)
However, without a job description, I made many mistakes and often got myself in trouble. Most of the time, my mistakes were from my ignorance...or from my zeal to "do things right". As a result, in several instances, I unknowingly went over the head of my supervisor and assumed her role. Not good!
That's what happens for us believers with living the Christian life. I don't think we truly understand our "job description." We try to do in our own strength the things that only God can do.
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John 15 is a perfect place to start to understand what it means to be a Christian (the branches) in relation to our Father (the Owner/Gardener) and His Son (the True Vine).
So let's look at WHO does WHAT in a vineyard?
First there's the Gardener or Vinedresser. His job is to care for the vine and branches by watering, fertilizing, and above all... pruning. Without that almost "violent" pruning, a rich crop cannot come forth.
And after all, the vineyard owner's reputation is at stake! If someone sees a barren vineyard, no one shames the branches or even the vine, but rather the owner/vinedresser. That's because whoever does the work gets the credit or the blame! So it's his job to do whatever is necessary to ensure an abundant crop of grapes. Even the good, new growth gets cut back so as to bring forth an abundance of fruit.
A Pruned Branch 138_5713
As we've seen in a previous post, that is what the Father does for us branches. Sometimes we may feel like we've grown so much and have been "fruitful"...then all of a sudden, the desert! dryness! seeming barrenness! But the process is not done yet!
Then there's the Vine. The Vine is the source of life for the branches, which then enables the fruit to come forth. Without the life of the Vine flowing through healthy branches, nothing fruitful can happen!
Jesus is the Source of life for us His branches. In another post we saw that Jesus, the I AM, is LIFE itself! In Him was life, and the life is the light of men...I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly. John 1:4; 10:10b
And that's why the main job of the branches is to abide or stay connected to the vine. The branches are the vehicles for the life of the vine to flow through so that fruit will come forth.
Jesus said, Abide in Me and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. John 15:4
So what does it mean to abide in Christ? It means to live in & from, remain in, sink down deep into, rest in, stay [experientially] connected to HIM!
My couch of abiding138_5823
Here's a feeble, but hopefully helpful, illustration of what I think it means to abide. I have this wonderful couch in my living room. It is hard to sit or lie on this couch without falling asleep. When I come home from a full day of teaching, I look forward to sinking my weary body into that couch. I'm often able to just put some instrumental music on and surrender to the comfort of my glorious couch. Later, I leave that place refreshed and energized!
However, sometimes I still have things I need to do before supper time. So I abandon my tired self to my life-giving couch and make my phone calls or read my lessons or do whatever duty or desire dictates. I still come away refreshed because I'm working from a position of rest.
That's what I think abiding in Christ means. I do what I do from my position of rest in my Glorious Vine. I'm secure in Him and He in me. His resurrection life flows through me, His branch, to bring forth the fruit designed by the Father for my unique life.
What about you? Are you living the Branch-life? Do you do what you do from the position of rest in your Glorious Lord Christ? Or are you trying to do what only God can do -- give life and produce fruit?
I am the Vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me, and I in him, he bears much fruit; for apart from Me, you can do nothing. John 15:5
CHAPTER 23: POURED OUT
Key Verse:
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 2 Timothy 4:6-7 ESV
Key Question:
How is God's love manifested through us?
Read Chapter 23: Poured Out and answer the following:
1. What is the difference between God’s kind of love and human love?
2. How has God’s love come to us? What does this say about how we will live out His love?
3. In what ways does the flesh deceive us into thinking that fulfilling selfish desires will bring us life? What does God say will bring us life? What is God saying to you concerning this truth now?
4. Why is it vital for us to know that Jesus is our need-meeter?
5. How does seeing ourselves as God’s asset, not His liability, release us to be poured out for others?
6. How has God individually made you as His vessel, to manifest His life to others in ways different from other believers?
7. How do Dan’s comments about operating in your own world affect the way you think about Christ living through you? In what ways have you thought differently before? How did these different views affect your Christian life?
8. As He lives through you, what is Jesus most interested in? What does God have to say to you through this truth now?
9. What does it mean to be expendable for the kingdom? How was Jesus expendable? How does God want you to be expendable?
10. In the sense that Dan uses the word, what does it mean to be an intercessor on someone’s behalf? Is there someone Jesus wants to intercede for through you?
11. Reread the last paragraph of the chapter. Why is it so important that we know we are loved?
Janet Renner Loyd has been a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ most of her life. Her formal education includes a degree in education from the University of Arizona and also a degree in Bible & Theology from Moody Bible Institute. For more than thirty years, she has been involved in teaching and leading women’s Bible studies, retreats, and meetings…most notably Precept upon Precept and various studies that she has personally developed. Professionally, Jan recently retired from teaching language and writing to GED and adult ESOL students.
About her life, Jan says, “The most important thing about me is my relationship with my Father God through my Lord Jesus Christ. I am forever grateful to Him for His love, mercy, and grace to me and my family and friends...and the world.”
Jan has been happily married to John Loyd for more than forty years. They have two adult, married children and five lively young grandsons.
