We do not know what to do, but our eyes are upon you.

Each of you has a story of a time, either right now, or in the past, of tumultuous circumstances. At any time, life can spin out of control — and for many of you, it feels that way right now.

We’re going to hear from David Powlison again this week — so many of you loved his gentle humble spirit. (I do too — I am most drawn to people of humility.) In his soothing way, he talks about the storms of life. How like hurricanes they can spread havoc all around us. We may not be able to stop the havoc, but we can be in the eye of the storm with our Savior.

We cannot control the storm.

But we have a rock and a fortress.

This picture hung in the emergency room

when Chris waited to see if her son would live or die

and it gave her strength

Jean Guichard

Our own dear Joyce, who has faced so many storms, sent this picture, reminding her that she is under the cover of His wings.

What Powlison also says, which is easier to receive because of his gentleness, is that storms can help us change, can help us see our own sin. Even when storms are not a direct result of sin in our lives, they can still reveal our idols, our sins, and help us change. When my husband died, it revealed so much that was selfish and sinful and misplaced in my heart. Angela, who has brought a little boy into their home, wrote: “God is doing a painful uprooting in my life through this little boy.” When Anne had a difficult time with a patient this week, at first she was in tumult, but she slowed down, and allowed God to search her. She wrote: “I looked to the Lord and asked Him what was in this for me to grow on. That is when He showed me how starved for love this young woman is and how I was once very much like her.” This is how the godly respond to suffering, and may we do the same.

Two huge things to remember in the storm:

Jesus is your refuge.

Jesus is your refining fire.

He may show you things about yourself so that He can conform you to His image. In question 2 of the ice-breaker, I’m going to ask you to look back, remember a storm, and then remember how God was with you, and how He refined you. It can be a hurricane from the past, or simply a ten minute downpour from last week.  As I’ve been praying for Angela and her family, as they have brought this child into their home, it has caused me to reflect on the storm that came to our home when we adopted Annie.

Anne Brestin Lano

Annie was five, and was like a little stone because of hurt from her past. Steve and I threw ourselves into loving her well. But that triggered a storm in our 11-year-old daughter Sally. She felt, as she put it to us, “rudely displaced.” She spun into a depression, losing weight she really didn’t have to lose, not sleeping, in despair. We got her help, we gave her love, but the storm continued for two more years. In this storm I saw my own failures as a mother — I’d been too lenient with Sally — I’d been too selfish…storms show where we are weak. They reveal our sin. This storm also revealed sin in Sally’s life — but it took time for her to see it.

When she was thirteen, she went to a Christian concert and the singer said, “If you have yuk in your soul and you cannot get rid of it, God can help you.” Sally practically ran forward. And, as she says, “God took the yuk out of my soul so I could love my sister.” When she was on Focus on the Family with me, Sally said: “The night before I was to leave for college, I was snuggling with Annie on top of our bunkbed. She looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said, ‘Sally — you are my very best friend.’ I’m so thankful God took that yuk from my heart.” Storms can always reveal sin — can always help conform us to the image of Christ. Romans 8:28-29 show us God has a purpose in the suffering of his saints, and that purpose is to conform us to the image of Christ. The fire may be painful, but the Potter is at work, making us beautiful. In light of eternity, is this not what matters most?

Martin French

That is the ultimate rescue, whether He delivers us from the actual pain of our circumstances or not.When I met Cyndi, who has also adopted, she told me my adoptions had inspired her, and yet “It was really really hard!” :-)  However, God is molding her into a beautiful woman. Last week Cyndi posted a song that was filled with word pictures to speak to your soul when it is in the midst of the storm — and you may want to see this, if you did not before:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lx3ias0H1os

I think these will be a tremendous two weeks — whether you are in the storm, helping others in the storm, or simply strengthening your soul for the inevitable storms around the corner.

Sunday/Monday

1. What is one thing that stood out to you from the above, and why?

We’re going to begin Psalm 31, a psalm for soul care in the midst of stress. It is a psalm that Jonah, Jeremiah, and Jesus all quoted in the midst of stress. In fact, the final words of Jesus from the cross are in this psalm. It opens with David reminding his soul of times when he was in the storm and the Lord was his fortress, his refuge.

2. Remember one such time — either a big storm from the past, or a smaller storm from last week.

Monday-Wednesday Bible Study of Psalm 31

This is a psalm of lament which was to be sung in the assembly. God wants us to tell Him our need. He also wants to reveal, through suffering, the sin in our lives. He wants us to know He understands our pain, for He has suffered, and that He will, in His time, rescue us — if not on this earth, in that broad place in heaven.

3. Read Psalm 31:1-5

A. There are several word pictures in this passage. Find one, describe it, and imagine how it can help you right now.

B.  Verse 5a are the final words of Jesus on the cross. In every psalm of lament, if you look deeply, you will see The Man of Sorrows. How does this help you in your pain, whatever it is?

C. In verse 5b, David says, “You have redeemed me, O Lord” — and yet David lived before the cross. (Compare with Job — who also lived before the cross, when he says, “I know my Redeemer lives, and I will see Him upon the earth.” How do you explain this?

4. Read Psalm 31:6-10

A.  David says he hates those who trusts in idols, but God will also use this suffering to reveal where David has trusted in idols of the heart. How has suffering revealed to you where you have trusted something or someone other than the One True Rock?

B. What truths does David speak to his soul in verse 7? Do you believe this? Comment.

C. What is the word picture in verse 8?

This is a theme in the psalms — can be seen in Psalm 18:19 and 119:32. We may feel hemmed in by sickness, persecution, or poverty — and yet God will have the last Word, for all of eternity is before us. Eye has not seen the wonders that have been prepared for us. These are transitory troubles.

D.  How can the above give you hope, even if God does not change your earthly circumstances?

Thursday-Friday: David Powlison

David Powlison is a counselor, who definitely uses the approach of gospel transformation in his counseling. Listen to this 7 minute testimony from him.

Link:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWJMBFKoRho

5. What storm did Powlison face? How did it make him think about where is trust was and how did he respond?

6. How might the picture of mopping floors at McDonald’s help you to face where your trust is?

7. Other comments on the above?

The following is a message from David Powlison preached at John Piper’s church. It’s free and if you download it then it will be easier to stop and start. Piper has a long intro! Listen to just the first half, or about 38 minutes, until he gets to the part where “Sarah” begins to see Jesus in Psalm 31. As a background, Powlison is speaking to pastors, encouraging them that in most cases, they are competent to counsel. I think this is relevant to us as sisters counseling one another on this blog. We’ll complete the psalm and Powlison’s message next week.

http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/conference-messages/god-psychology-and-christian-care-of-the-soul-part-1

8. Write your notes on the first half of his message here:

Saturday

9. What’s your take-a-way and why?

Next week we will have a discussion on Courageous, as well as finishing this study. As we are beginning to understand how the gospel can help us overcome not only the penalty of sin, but also the power, I think this could be an interesting discussion. So if you have to time to watch it do — if not, you can still benefit from the discussion. This is from the producers of Saving the Giants and Fireproof. Christianity Today rated it number 10 in the top ten redemptive movies of the year.

LAST WEEK WE BEGAN TO STUDY HOW TO USE WORD PICTURES

TO SPEAK TO OUR SOULS

DRAWING UPON THE PICTURES WE SEE “PAINTED” IN

SCRIPTURE AND IN GREAT HYMNS

WHEN THE WEEK HAD JUST DAWNED

YOU WERE THERE WITH YOUR PICTURES

I CANNOT MENTION THEM ALL — BUT HERE ARE SOME

SOURCE: CRISTEO

ANNE HAD BEEN IN PSALM 18, WHEN “GOD HEARS OUR CRY FROM

HIS TEMPLE AND COMES THUNDERING DOWN TO OUR RESCUE”

AND DIDN’T WE SEE THAT LIVED OUT BEFORE US WHEN OUR OWN TAMMI WAS MISSING

AND THEN FOUND? OUR CRIES WENT OUT TO GOD — AND THEN OUR REJOICING!

Martin French: Warrior Bridegroom

Elizabeth  remembered this picture of Jesus from Revelation 19, when He returns. She wrote, once, on this blog:

This picture moved me to tears. It brings this passage in Revelation to life. It is His coming to me – not just on that great day, but NOW. When I look up these verses I feel Him hoist me up on the horse, holding me, carrying me through my pain – out of my lost-ness and fulfilling that deep deep longing in my soul.

Renee remembered this portrayal of Aleonart from

The Song of Songs, “Awake South Wind” — and of God’s love for her

This amazing passage talks about thanking Him for the warm south wind (His Love)

and trusting Him in the cold north winds (Because He died for us we can!)

William Blake's Job

Angela, who has suffered so with Lyme’s Disease

remembered how God came to Job

in William Blake’s painting

Job portrays the Gospel –

for centuries later there was a greater Job who also suffered

but was not delivered

He did it for us

Julie told of putting Psalm 62 up near her desk when her husband was in Afghanistan

drawing strength from its word pictures: He is our rock, our salvation,

our fortress, our refuge

How can you see The Gospel in the truth that He is the Rock?

THERE WERE SO MANY MORE FROM YOU

BUT I WANT TO CLOSE WITH THREE — BECAUSE THEY HELP US “PEER INTO THE GOSPEL”

WHICH IS THE SECRET OF HELPING YOU TO

TRULY “PUT OFF” AND “PUT ON”

THE VERSE WE ARE INTENTLY HIDING IN OUR HEART

SO THAT WE CAN BE MADE NEW

MARTIN FRENCH: HOSEA AND GOMER

Susan mentioned this portrait of Hosea, who was a Christ-figure, covering Gomer,

who was unfaithful to Him. Such a good picture of the Gospel and how Christ covers us.

Kim, who has been so freed by “peering into the Gospel” said this Rembrandt portrait impacted her so. God accepts her as He did the wayward younger brother, and even as He accepts the hard-hearted older brother.

Trampled Like A Rose by miya

LAURA-DANCER, WHO KEEPS TELLING US  SHE HAS NO IMAGINATION,

FOUND HERSELF MOVED TO TEARS IN CHURCH

AS SHE CONTEMPLATED THE WORDS TO THE SONG “ABOVE ALL”

JESUS WAS TRAMPLED LIKE A ROSE — FOR US!

SO HOW CAN WE NOT LOVE HIM?

A common thread in all of your pictures, was longing to trust God’s love. We are going to continue in Ephesians, the book in which Paul prays that we might “comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth” of the love of Christ.”

It is in the Gospel that you see the height of His love — and peering into the Gospel can change you.

If you are new, follow the directions on the right on this homepage. You’ll need to be approved the first time. Then you’ll be able to make comments whenever. Many copy this into a word document and type their answers there first, then copy them here. I’ve made suggestions for how to move through the week, but you are free to go at your own pace.

Some of you have asked about how Tammi is doing. When she walked into the sheriff’s office, she was disoriented and didn’t know who she was. She is now hospitalized near her step-father and mother in Alabama. Please continue to pray for her as doctors try to understand what happened and for the Lord to heal and comfort her.

Sunday-Monday  Icebreaker

1. Of the above pictures from your sisters on the blog, choose one, possibly two, that help you see the love of Christ for you and explain why. Could one of these become, as Elizabeth said, your “go-to” picture this week to help you in overcoming a negative behavior?

2. Challenge question (If you are just beginning, you don’t have to do this.) We are in the book of Ephesians, in which Paul prays we will begin to comprehend the height, the depth, the width and the breadth of the love of God. That can happen by “peering into the Gospel.” The pictures above are various reflections of The Gospel, and they are all based on various passages of Scripture. Amazingly, the Gospel can be found from Genesis to Revelation. Now — focus on the picture you chose (or another), find the Scripture behind it, and see what you can glean about the Gospel from it.

Monday-Tuesday: Review (If you just joined us, you may want to read last week’s post and listen to the free sermon.)

Putting Off and Putting On

Another way to say this is repentance and faith. There are two steps. This is from Tim Keller:

HERE’S AN EXAMPLE FROM MY LIFE OF HOW I AM APPLYING THESE TWO STEPS TO ONE OF MY NEGATIVE BEHAVIORS. THEN I WANT YOU TO DO THE SAME WITH A  NEGATIVE BEHAVIOR IN YOUR OWN LIFE

I wake earlier than I should and begin to worry about various things. I know we are told not to worry — so what do I do?

A. I must discern the idol and hate the sin. I am worried because I don’t trust God to be in control of my children, my ministry…

I ask myself, “What is the lie I am believing?” I think I can handle things better than God so I am trying to figure things out — a nice term for worry. But I can’t just stop worrying, even though I have discerned it is negative behavior and hate it. I must move to step B.

B. Philippians tells me to have no anxiety about anything but in everything, with thanksgiving, make my requests to God. It also tells me to set my mind on that which is lovely… Therefore, I can ask God to help me sleep (I often will pray Psalm 127:2: It is vain that you rise up early and go late to rest, eating the bread of anxious toil, for He gives His beloved sleep.) But I also need to set my mind on that which is lovely — and the Gospel helps me with that. Many of the actual pictures above come to mind, as well as lines from hymns or verses. Usually, I do find myself turning from my control and resting in Him and going back to sleep. If I still cannot, I will continue in a classic I’m reading from my Kindle on my nightstand, and that can help me set my mind on Him.

3. Your turn: Name the negative behavior, discern the idol, and then your step of faith.

A. (Discern idol and repent — putting off)

B.(Move toward Him in faith — putting on)

Wednesday-Friday: Bible Study and Download Sermon. This sermon is 2.50, but well worth it.

Sermon Link: Link

If you cannot afford that, here is a substitute free Vimeo video that has some of the same points.  Free Vimeo Link

Read (or say by heart) Ephesians 4:22-24

4. Putting off without putting on is ineffective and even dangerous. Give an example, hopefully, from your own life of why this either doesn’t work or actually can be hurtful.

5. There is a link in this passage between putting off and putting on in verse 23. What is it and what do you think this means?

6. Putting on without putting off is dangerous too. In the sermon, Keller talks about the danger of passivity, giving the example of masturbation. If you just ask God to take it from you but are not willing to die, what is likely to happen in time?

7. For those who have journeyed with us, give an example of a sister from this blog who you have seen put off and put on.

8. Listen to the sermon and share:

A. What does Keller say is unique about Christianity and why?

B. Keller talked about stealing as an example. Jay Adams asks, “When is a thief not a thief?” What is the answer and what does this illustrate?

C. Idols are an attempt to solve a problem. Give an example of this and how Christ is a better solution.

D. What else stood out to you from this message?

Saturday

9. What’s your take-a-way and why?

If you can watch the movie Courageous in the next two weeks, we’re going to talk about its strengths and weaknesses in light of Gospel Transformation.

Courageous Movie Poster

THE NATURAL DEFENSES AND CHANGE THE HEART

WHEN DAVID’S HEART COULD NOT SEE,

COULD NOT CHANGE

NATHAN USED A WORD PICTURE

A POOR MAN HAD BUT ONE LITTLE EWE LAMB AND LOVED THAT LAMB

He told David a story of a rich man who took a poor man’s little ewe lamb. David was incensed at the selfishness, the lack of compassion. And then Nathan told him, “Thou art the man.” And David repented. Word pictures have power.

THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE IS A BOOK THAT HELPED ME

BECOME A MORE EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATOR

THE AUTHORS GAVE MANY CONVINCING CASE STUDIES OF HOW

PEOPLE HAD FAILED TO CONVINCE A LOVED ONE TO CHANGE HIS WAYS

BUT THEN,  USED A WORD PICTURE –

AND THEIR HEARTS WERE CHANGED

The authors open with a true story of a man who was being unfaithful to his family, who had decided to leave them to be with another woman. No pleading, no arguments, and no tears could stop him. He had made up his mind.

But one day his daughter told him about a dream she had had. She, her mother, and her siblings had been hit broadside by a careless driver, and their injuries were catastrophic. She was lying on the road, bleeding, when she saw the man who hit them. She said, “It was you, Dad.”

Her word picture penetrated his heart. He repented, came home. He changed.

I have been using word pictures ever since I read that book. I used one with my husband Steve when we were flying home from Thailand after adopting Beth, our fifth child. I was already anxious if I could handle this. Steve wasn’t anxious at all. At one point he leaned over to me and said, “Some of the little boys in the orphanage were so cute.”

I thought, He doesn’t understand. I cannot adopt any more children. Immediately I thought. I need a word picture.

I felt the Lord gave me one. I said, “Honey, look out at that airplane wing and imagine I am out there. I’m trying to keep up with you in your Christian walk, but I think I might slip and plummet to my death.”

He looked astonished. He really hadn’t heard me before — but now he did.

The power of a word picture.

PICTURES HAVE POWER. IT’S WHY JESUS USED THEM ALL THE TIME.

This week you’ll listen to a free Keller sermon on this passage (How to Change 1). Next week we’ll listen to one that costs 2.50, but worth every penny. (How to Change 2.) During these two weeks, memorize the passage Keller is on:

To put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires

and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds

and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22-24

What does “the spirit of your mind” mean? Keller says it is our imagination. This is where we come up with word pictures. He give an example of a man being faced with the temptation of eating steak, though his doctor has told him he must not, for his heart is at risk. He could begin to imagine how good the steak would smell, how wonderful it would taste…

Or, he could imagine himself having a heart attack after eating that steak:

This week I want you to find some word pictures to help you face temptation, grief, unforgiveness, and despair in a constructive rather than a destructive way. I want you to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. Where will you find them? Here are three possible sources:

1) In great Christian music — for example, last week we looked at “O Love that Wilt Not Let Me Go” — one of you commented on the line “I dare not close my heart to Thee.” There is a picture here that can change you and cause you to move toward Jesus instead of away. Print off the lyrics to this song or another that moves your heart and tape it up in your shower and start singing.

2) In the psalms – they are filled with word pictures to help us use our imagination — seeking God as the deer seeks water; the Lord riding the wind to come to our help… These help you visualize your relationship to the Lord. In your prayer time, pray the psalms, and linger over the pictures.

3) In pictures I’ve used in the past on this blog to help you visualize danger, or His presence, or His love. If one really spoke to you, print it off and put it on your refrigerator this week to remind you. Here is a possible one — how you break His heart when you run to an idol instead of Him:

Martin French: Hosea, The Broken-Hearted Bridegroom

Sunday/Monday: Icebreaker and Download the Free Sermon:

Sermon Link

(It will look like you have to buy it, but when you click on the format, you will see it is free. You can also get it on the free sermon page, but I think it is easier to download this way.)

1. What stood out to you from the above and why?

2. Read the word picture that Nathan gave to David in 2 Samuel 12:1-6. Why do you think it got to David’s heart?

3. Do one of the three exercises (song, psalm, picture) above for word pictures and tell us here what you did.

Bible Study: Monday-Wednesday

Begin memorizing Ephesians 4:22 and say it every day.

As an overview (we will spend more than one week on this) read Ephesians 4:17-32

4. Read Ephesians 4:17-19

A. Note the command in verse 17. What relationship do you see between the mind and the walk?

B. How does verse 18 begin, and what does that do to their relationship with God?

C. Imagine another temptation such as gossip, unforgiveness, or over-eating

1) If you were to engage in one of the above,  what lie would you first have to believe — how would you need to be “darkened in your understanding?”

2) Come up with a word picture that would show your alienation from God should you choose to do one of these things

D. What happens to our hearts, according to verse 19, when we walk in our former way of life?

5. Read Ephesians 4:20-24

A. Keller makes a big point about the phrase “the truth is in Jesus.” Make note of this verse.

B. Verse 22 is your memory verse this week. Meditate on it and come up with at least five observations on this verse.

C. Be alert to put verse 23 into practice today. Write down at the end of the day what you did, how you used your imagination to resist temptation.

D. Use your imagination to help you with the “old self” and the “new self,” or the old garment and the new garment.

What is the worst garment you’ve had on — imagine wanting to be rid of it!

And the best?

Cyndi said, “I lift up my arms to the Holy Spirit and ask Him to dress me.”

There are those in Reformed circles that are opposed to using any pictures of Jesus, feeling it breaks the 1st commandment. J. I. Packer’s fourth chapter in Knowing God is an example of this thinking. I do think there are many terrible pictures of Jesus and realize the goal of capturing Him to be unreachable. And yet — I know how much I needed pictures to train my children, and how I am so moved, for example, by Martin French’s drawings (like the one above of The Broken-Hearted Bridegroom). This subject deserves a blog post of its own, and I’ll do it sometime, but I think that if you are worshipping a picture, you are sinning, but if the picture leads you to worship God, it is an icon rather than an idol — and that is a good thing. But feel free to pipe in here with your prayerful and loving thoughts.

6. How do you feel about pictures of Jesus and why?

7. Listen to the Sermon you downloaded above. (Thursday – Friday) and share your notes with us or what stood out to you.

Saturday

8. What’s your take-a-way and why?

THEY ONLY PRETEND TO BE AT FIRST

BUT THEY SWALLOW UP OUR JOY, OUR PEACE

OUR INTIMACY WITH GOD

OUR VERY LIVES

Last week I reviewed my story of my near sin of manipulation and my deep idol of control — and my pattern of losing administrative assistants. One of those assistants is dear Christy, who has forgiven me for my manipulative ways.

Christy

We are good friends now, and though we live an hour apart, we’ll sometimes meet in the middle at a quiet restaurant. In fact, just this weekend I stayed with Christy while I did a retreat in her area, and she ran my powerpoint presentation.

I’ve told Christy’s story before, and of how God gave her insight into her deep idol. But she has been telling me more, realizing how early in her Christian life the idolatry began.

I want to help you see the stones in your heart. I know that doesn’t sound like fun. It sounds like going to the dentist. But I promise you, getting the rottenness out will bring health to your soul and dramatically change your life. The stone you thought was your friend is not your friend. He only pretends to be. I’m excited to show you three very short film clips from an expert on overcoming idolatry, David Powlison. Christy’s story will help set them up. For more of Christy’s story, you can find it on this blog post: http://www.deebrestin.com/2011/03/set-free-from-relational-idolatry/

Christy’s idol brought incredible pain into her life, but it took time for her to see him because he crouches, and tells you that he will give you what you want. But he won’t. He’ll turn on you. He is a beast.

Christy’s idol has been slain and Christy has been set free. Here is part of her story:

As women, we are the relational gender, and our friendships tend to be very important to us. We long for good friends, put time and thought into our friendships, and are devastated when a kindred spirit friendship falls apart. I believe God gave us that relational longing, and it is a good thing, as long as it does not become a god.

Christy suffered under the weight of her “stones” for fifteen years. She now can see how they brought her pain from the very beginning of her walk with Christ. Christy wasn’t involved with drugs or illicit sex at college – she would have known that was wrong. She was immersed in friendship with sisters in Christ. What could be wrong with that?

In the beginning, our idols seem to bring us the comfort, approval, and security for which we all long. Christy remembers the joy she had in the beginning, before her idols turned on her and began to cut her to pieces.

How I remember the excitement of becoming a Christian, and the enormous joy of Christian fellowship. There were three Christian women on my dorm floor to whom I was close, and one of them was my roommate, Sarah. These friendships were so much deeper than any friendships I’d known before. We talked about the things that mattered, we prayed for one another, and they helped me understand that Jesus needed to be my Lord, and not just my Savior. I was closest to Sarah. I admired her so much – she was wise, much more mature in her faith, and warmly encouraging. At night, before we’d fall asleep, I’d pepper her with questions about God or life. She listened and she drew me out. I felt loved and cared for. Sarah’s affirmation meant so much to me. When she’d compliment me on my Christian growth, her favor was like the morning sun, and I’d bask in its warmth.

Deep within her heart, Christy had idols of affirmation and of security. She wanted someone to to always be there for her to encourage her and to love her. She thought she had that in her friends. But as “The Solid Rock,” says:

…I dare not trust the sweetest frame,

But wholly lean on Jesus name

On Christ the Rock I stand,

All other ground is sinking sand.

As dear and as godly as friends are, they cannot promise to always be there for us. They may let us down, because they, like us, are sinners. They may move away. And they may die.

In fact, that May Sarah graduated. She would not be returning to college. Not only that, she was engaged to be married. It would be a double parting. Christy recalls:

I remember vividly how sad I was. I didn’t think I’d ever stop crying. I drove myself home for the summer break and cried all the way. My heart felt totally broken. I felt such a loss and I didn’t think I could ever be happy again without Sarah.

One of the clearest ways to identify our idols is to ask, “What, if you lost it, would make you feel like life was unbearable?” That clearly shows what we are trusting in other than God. In the first clip from David Powlison, he asks us to consider what we fear other than God, what we love other than God, what we seek other than God, and what we trust other than God. You can see all of these things in Christy and her relational idolatry.

When I think about the incident in Mark’s gospel with the blind man and Jesus, and how at first he saw “men as trees walking,” I think that though this story teaches that growth is gradual, it also represents how our idols can keep us from seeing people as Jesus would have us seem them. Instead of seeing them as people with hurts and needs, we can use them, seeing them as a way to meet our own needs. People in the world, because they are completely dominated by their idols, “bite and devour one another,” but we are to put off that way of life and put on Christ. I was devouring my administrative assistants. Christy confesses: “I wasn’t addicted to a substance or running to food for comfort, I was feasting on people.” When the Stonecutter moves in and crushes our idols, our relationships are transformed. We see people, “not as trees walking,” but as Jesus sees them. A new sweetness comes into our relationships with everyone.

What I see in Christy is that she is becoming more and more conformed to the image of Christ. There is a growing radiance and joy in her. It is what Jesus wants for all of us.

This week I want you to watch three short film clips by counselor David Powlison. I have used the term “near sin” and “deep idol.” He uses the term horizontal and vertical — for example, when we are horizontally angry, it is because something is wrong with our vertical relationship with God. One of the things that is helpful, he says, to do is to look at the commands Scripture gives us about God and turn them upside down. For example, we are told to love God — but what are we really loving. Here are some of the commands he addresses:

Love the Lord your God

Fear the Lord

Seek the Lord

Trust the Lord

Watch this three minute video:

Sunday/Monday

1. What stood out to you from the above story about Christy and why?

2. What did you learn from David Powlison’s clip on How To Keep Yourself From Idolatry?

3. Ponder:

A. What do I love?

B. What do I fear?

C. What do I seek?

D. What do I trust?

Tuesday-Wednesday

Watch this:

David Powlinson asked this question: “What am I doing with God when something bad comes out?” Beneath the reaction is an idol.

3. What example from this clip stood out to you?

4. Watch yourself today for bad things coming out — complaining, worrying… Each time, see if you can identify what you are doing with God. When you see it, record it here. (Some of you may stay in the light all day — I’m not telling you to go to the darkness, but if you do, record it here.)

5. Read Psalm 46

a. Describe what is happening to the mountains, the sea, and the nations in the opening six verses.

b. Are you feeling any of that in your life right now? Explain.

c. What does the psalmist tell us to do in verses 8 through 11. How can you apply this to your situation right now?

Listen to this song, written after the author’s fiance drowned.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-tXgsBq418

d. What evidence do you have from the gospel that God’s love will never let you go?

Thursday - Friday

Watch this:

David Powlison asks, “What are we meant to organize our life around?”

6. What stood out to from the above and why?

7. What does Ephesians 5:5 say that covetousness is? And what does covetousness mean?

8. What is your STRONG desire? Be as honest as you can.

Saturday

9. What is your take-a-way and why?

ENCOURAGED BY THE STORIES OF THOSE WHO HAVE BEEN SET FREE

YOU LONG TO BE SET FREE AS WELL

FREE FROM ANXIETY

FREE FROM BEING OVERWEIGHT

FREE FROM BESETTING SINS

I realized as I read your longings that we need to begin with a few weeks of review, which is good for all of us. I am so thankful for the women who have journeyed with us and are willing to continue on as mentors. I know both they and their stories will encourage you.

THE NEAR SIN VERSUS THE DEEP IDOL

Let me begin by giving you a glimpse into my own dark murky soul:

Wasn’t I a warm and caring boss? I never yelled or made unreasonable demands. So why was it that I couldn’t keep a good administrative assistant? Why didn’t they appreciate what they had? The work was meaningful, the travel exciting, the pay good, and the boss encouraging! So what was the matter?

Since it took a good year for my assistant to learn the complexities of the position, I would only hire someone who expressed a fervent desire to work in the ministry long term. So it was frustrating when after just two or three years, she had a change of heart about being long term and resigned. When my fourth administrative assistant resigned, I lamented to my friend Jan Silvious, expecting a sympathetic ear. Instead, she arched an eyebrow, peered at me through her funky rhinestone glasses, and said:

“Dee – this seems to be a pattern in your life.”

What? Was she implying that I was the problem?

We need help to see ourselves as we really are. We can look in a mirror several times a day and not be shocked, but then someone hands us a photograph.

Whoa! I have to change my hair…lose weight…

In the same way, I needed help to see what kind of a boss I really was. My deep idol was control, and my near sin was manipulation. Frankly, I was vaguely aware of my near sin and completely blind to my deep idol — but God, through the body of Christ, His Word, and His Spirit helped me see. Though it was painful, when I finally saw my “stone,” my calcifying tumor, I wanted it out. And though the surgery was hard, my color is coming back, and I am experiencing a radical difference in my relationships. No longer blocked, His spring of life-giving water is flowing, turning my burning wasteland into a lush meadow.

FREE INDEED

One of the rich promises Jesus spoke was: “If the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.” So why is it that that some believers in Jesus Christ are set free from besetting sins, and others remain mud-bound? Each group seems to know the Lord, each group wants to change, but only one does. Though the mud-bound group is weary of repeating their failures and weary of wilderness wanderings, they are stuck. In despair, they cry:

I don’t want to be so irritable, but I can’t seem to change.

I’ve been in counseling for years about forgiving my father, but bitterness clings to me like an icy shawl.

I’ve tried so many times to lose weight and keep it off – it’s hopeless!

Discouragement can lead to settling for a mediocre Christian life with occasional picnics in the desert. But that is not God’s heart for us! The salvation He promises is not only for the next life, but also for this life – not only to free us from the guilt of sin, but from the power of sin.

Medical doctor and esteemed London pastor Dr. Martyn Lloyd-Jones was convinced that the primary cause of so many Christians being perpetually in the doldrums was due to the fact that they did not understand the double power of the gospel to save. Rock of Ages puts it like this:

Be of sin the double cure

Cleanse me from its’ guilt and pow’r  (If someone can give us a great link to this traditional song or a contemporary version, please do!)

Being released from the penalty (the guilt) of sin in instantaneous, happening the moment we respond to God’s gentle call and to the payment Christ made for us at the cross. Being released from the power of sin is gradual, but it is a sure promise from God. Both are works of the Holy Spirit, and if you are born again, then He will continue a good work in you. For some it happens faster, for they learn how to cooperate with Him, and how to differentiate between the near sin and the root problem.

There are treacherous stones lurking beneath the deep waters of our souls – stones that have stymied our journey and cut us to pieces. But God’s light is shining down into the deep dark waters revealing the Scylla that have shipwrecked lives. In response, many of us are crying out to the Stonecutter, asking Him to remove the stones. And He’s doing it. An amazing excitement is rippling out, the joy so characteristic of revival. What are these stones? Though this may surprise you, the word used throughout Scripture to describe our main heart problem is:

IDOLATRY

Many of us have missed this in the past because we thought of idolatry as “Old Testament,” relating not to us, but to the Israelites who were forever being led astray, turning from the God who rescued them to the worship of statues of stone or cows of gold. We think, How crazy was that? Or we look at the little statue of Buddha surrounded by rotting apples and oranges at the nail salon and are mystified. We don’t identify with this kind of worship at all.

But Ezekiel says we have “idols of the heart.” Rather than bowing down to statues, we bow down to money, or to marriage, or to food, or to success… making things under the sun our gods. They become our identity and our source of fulfillment.  Even though we love God, there are others things in our heart of hearts we think we must have to be fulfilled.

Why is it that a study on idolatry can set us free when other approaches have failed?

ATTACKING THE ROOT PROBLEM

So often we have failed to conquer a besetting sin because we have attacked the symptoms of our sin instead of the root problem. Alcoholics Anonymous knows that there is no hope for deliverance until an alcoholic sees and names his root problem. As long as she denies her alcoholism and instead tries to overcome the symptoms it creates, such as a bad temper, or frequent accidents, or absenteeism at work, she will not have victory. She must come to the point where she can stand up before a group and admit, “Hi – my name is Jane, and I am an alcoholic.” Managing symptoms does not work. The beast inside must be slain.

In the same way, unless we as believers identify the root problem that leads to a multitude of surface sins, we are doomed to failure. Though our surface sins are many, there are three categories that cover most of the deep idols that lead to these surface sins. They are:

• Control/power
• Affirmation/approval
• Comfort/security [7]

Why does understanding our root problem free us when other plans fail? Consider. Someone with the deep idol of comfort/security may want to overcome over-eating, over-spending, or over-sleeping. She sets new resolutions, for she wants to lose weight, to be free of debt, or to get out of bed and start her day with the Lord. The usual approach is to attack the near sin: “I’ll get a better diet, a better budget, or a better alarm clock.” But her DEEP idol of comfort will CRY OUT when he is restricted. He will tell her lies: Just one potato chip… just window shop…  just a little more sleep… He is crouching at the door, waiting for her to open it a crack, and when she does, he barrels in, slipping his chains around her.

She must open her eyes to the beast, the liar, the stone god within her heart. He promises relief but delivers bondage. Eventually, as those chains tighten, she gives up, saying, in the language of addicts:

It’s no use!

I love foreign gods,

and I must go after them.

Jeremiah 2:25 (NIV)

DISCOVERING THE BEAST WITHIN

Seeing your “stone,” the beast within, is half the battle. It will take time for our hearts are deceptive, like deep dark waters. All we can see at first is the painful consequences of our “stone.” But begin now to ask God to help you see your root problem, the deep idol that is more important to you than Him, that is causing you to bear rotten fruit.

Before the Holy Spirit can begin His work of setting you free from the power of sin, you must be “born again,” you must be freed from the penalty of sin. Watch this testimony from Chrissie Zepf, a young woman who was born again through the ministry of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.

**If you have an iPad, iPhone, or iPod Touch, please go here to download the Redeemer App from iTunes: Link
Open the app and go to “Stories of Renewal” to find the video mentioned above.

Sunday-Monday

1. Read the above and answer:

A. What are two different works of the Holy Spirit mentioned above?

B. What comments do you have on Chrissie’s story?

C. I (Dee) gave you a teaser into my story. How did the body of Christ help me see what I could not see?

D. List the three primary deep heart idols. Give an example of bad fruit each might produce.

E. What else stood out to you and why?

Tuesday – Friday

2. (Don’t answer if you are just beginning) If you have been on this journey, what is one specific way you are being set free from the power of sin? What helped you the most and what would you say to the women just beginning?

3. If you are just beginning — what do you think might be the deep heart idol that is causing the bad fruit of the near sin in your life? (Don’t worry if you can’t see it yet — but begin to ask God to show you.) Spend time begin still before Him, asking HIm to search you — and to show you how He could be what this idol could never be. (Idols cannot be removed — only replaced.)

4. As you read testimonies from mentors above, their answers to question 2, what resonates with you and why?

Listen to Tim Keller’s Free Message: Removing Idols of the Heart and do the corresponding Bible study:

5. Read Colossians 3:5-11

A. What do you learn about idolatry from verse 5?

B. In verse 10, when we are told to put on the new self, what do you learn about the new self?

I have noticed that the women who are most diligent in renewing their mind through the study are the ones who are experiencing the most victory.

6. What was the first of Martin Luther’s treatises? (All of life is _________________.)

7. Keller says we err in how we think of repentance. Explain.

Ruben: Feast of Simon The Pharisee

8. The deeper our repentance, the deeper our joy. How is this illustrated by the story Keller told from Luke 7:36-50. (Find all you can.)

9. Keller told a story of 16 year old Debbie. What was his point?

10. What do you think is your “functional trust?”

So many of you have come on desiring to lose weight.  I want to encourage you to get on a healthy eating plan, whether it is Weight Watchers or one from A Woman of Moderation or Setting Captives Free. The program needs to be healthy, and I suggest something that you can do for life. But unless you identify your deep heart idol, any victory will be temporary. In addition, each of must grow in our love for Jesus so that we allow Him to be what our idol can never be. Rebecca is one who has successfully lost weight through identifying her deep heart idol of Comfort. Keller talks about the combustion cycle of repentance and faith. It isn’t enough to repent, we must trust Christ to be there for us. This is what Rebecca wrote:

I was afraid. I thought, “If I give up overeating at night before bed, then what will satisfy me?“

She feared God would just let her sit in her pain.

What helped Rebecca overcome her fear? Rebecca desperately needed to see the positive side of this intimate metaphor. This can be seen both through the gospel and through the many passages that sing about our Bridegroom’s love for us.

When Dee’s study turned to God’s love and faithfulness, as seen so clearly in Christ going to the cross for me, they fed my hope that God might really be there for me if I turned from my idol. Scriptures like “I will rejoice over you as a bridegroom rejoices over a bride,”[1] helped me to walk away from my idol and into His arms.

In reality I am just beginning to experience His sweetness in intimacy, to taste Him loving me deeply and passionately. I am starting to see that the whole of life is a dance He is leading me through from the warm sun shining on my face to the warm covering He wraps around my shoulders in times of distress.

11. Do you have a comment on Rebecca’s testimony?

12. Keller gives three points to being set free at the close of his sermon. Explain each.

Saturday:

SO IN 2012, WE ARE HEADED TO HIGHER GROUND!

Many of us have made New Year’s Resolutions in the past: to lose weight, to read through the Bible, to read good books and watch less television, to be the kind of woman who is never unkind or sharp, but has a gentle spirit that is precious in the sight of God. Many of you reading this may think: Yes, I have made resolutions — but I’ve always failed to keep them, so what’s the point?

Those of you who have traveled here on this Bible study blog are likely to have more hope — for you have seen change happen right before your eyes — in the lives of your sisters and perhaps in your own life. To name a few, we’ve seen women:

• Lifted from the pit of depression
• Rescued from gluttony
  
• Delivered from the icy shawl of bitterness, truly released to forgive
• Freed from a habit that we destroying them and their relationships (in my case, manipulation)
• Transformed from discontentment to contentment
• And so much more…
  

It isn’t a quick fix, it is a long obedience in the same direction, but it really is happening. This week is a prelude, as many are still returning from the Christmas break. We will officially begin next week — so please pray for God to bring those who are ready to move to higher ground and who will be faithful to the journey. Please pray for yourself and for those you feel led to invite.

We’re going to be looking at some key passages that show us how to change, passages that godly people who have changed point to as pivotal.  Every other religion tells you to rely on yourself — but that is like struggling with all your might when you are in quicksand — you will only sink deeper. We need a hand from outside of ourselves to pull us out and take us to higher ground.

We have a God who is as near as our very breath, but because He is Spirit, we may forget He is right there. We will also be studying the third person of the Trinity, the Holy Spirit. There has been so much false teaching about Him that sometimes we are hesitant to study Him — yet then we are missing so much power. He is right here with us, even though we cannot see Him. The psalmist says, “As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people.”(Psalm 125:2) Sensing His presence will help you have peace and confidence — you really are not alone.

I often thought of Psalm 125:2 when we lived in Seattle, where mountains practically surround the city. The Olympic mountains line the Puget Sound, and Mount Rainier, in all her glory, looms over the city from the south. Most of the time, however, you can’t see any of them! Whenever my parents visited my dad teased me that there were no mountains, that it was just a grand publicity stunt to lure tourists, for this is how the Seattle skyline often looks, and did every time my parents visited!

But oh, hidden behind those clouds was beauty. Sometimes the sky would be the bluest blue, and you’d look out, and there she was — a mountain so big she looked unreal — taking your breath away. She was there all the time, just hidden from sight.

Mount Rainier

Our God is like that, only so much more so. We may move about our day oblivious to His presence when suddenly we are aware of Him, of His GLORY.

Glory. Tim Keller says that whenever you see the word “glory” in Scripture, think “beautiful and important.” He also says the Holy Spirit’s job is to make Jesus real in our eyes, to make Him “beautiful and important.” As you see how real God is, you will be changed. Instead of focusing on ourselves, if we focus on Him, we will be lifted up.

But before you climb a mountain you should count the cost. Are you committed? Are you willing to persevere, realizing that there will be some hard times to push through? Jesus always told people to count the cost, and so I do too, realizing many of you will turn back.

But oh, how I encourage you to seek the things that are above, to press on toward the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. It’s the only life worth living.

This week we’ll have a short study, and I’d also like you to pray for some specific things, using Scripture to help you pray. You who have been with me are such a gift, you have been strong mentors to others, and I’m counting on you to help us start right, by praying, as God tells us to, for Him to guide and uphold us before we begin officially next week.

For those of you with an I-Phone, and I-Pod Touch, or an I-Pad, (must be able to connect to the internet) I have exciting news. Redeemer Presbyterian Church has a much improved and free ap you can get through I-Tunes. There are so many free Keller sermons on it as well as testimonies. Many if not all of those sermons are also available for free on the internet for those of you who don’t have any of those devices, but this is a very easy way to get them and there are also some additional great testimonies.If you have such a device, go to I-tunes and type in Redeemer Presbyterian Church and then download it, for I’ll be referring to resources found on it in future weeks as optional material.

Sunday-Monday   Icebreaker and Reflections

1. Find two things that stand out to you from the above and share why they do. (Don’t go too fast.)

2.  Meditate on this verse and share your reflections:

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, we we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

A. Tim Keller says that when you see the word glory, think “beautiful and important.” How does that put new light on this verse?

B. Though we have not seen Jesus in the flesh, for most of you, there was a time when He changed from being in the backdrop of your life to emerging as One who was glorious, beautiful, and huge. Share at least one, and preferably two, times when that happened.

Tuesday

3. Will you join us and be committed to the journey? If so, tell us, and pray that God will become more real and more important to you — that you will see His glory!

4. Ask the Lord if there is someone you should invite to join us. If you are on my e-mail list you will be getting an e-mail invitation you could forward. Pray here.

Wednesday – Friday: Scripture and Prayer

Psalm 125: A Psalm of Ascent

There were fifteen steps to ascend to the temple in Jerusalem, and there are fifteen psalms of ascent (Psalms 120-134) that were prayer songs that the pilgrims sang both as they traveled up the mountains to Jerusalem and then as they ascended each step. Their literal ascent paralleled the ascent we are going to make spiritually. They sang as they went, and so will we, for we have learned the power of praise to rescue us.

Psalm 125 is one of these fifteen Psalms of Ascent. Here is a sample from one song-writer of Psalm 125. Listen by clicking here.  If you have another version you like of this psalm song, please share it.

5. Contemplate

Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion,

which cannot be moved but abides forever.

Psalm 125:1

A. Christianity offers the hope of change because the object of our faith is not ourselves. To what does the psalmist compare the one who trusts instead in the Lord?

B. What is the word picture meant to communicate?

C. Take verse 1 and pray it for yourself and for those who will travel with us in this journey. Paraphrase it and write it here.

6. Contemplate:

As the mountains are round about Jerusalem, so the Lord is round about His people.

Psalm 125:2

A. Why is it that we tend to forget this truth, and how would our lives be different if we remembered it?

Charles Spurgeon comments that the “mountains around the holy city, though they do not make a circular wall, are, nevertheless, set like sentinels to guard her gates. God doth not enclose his people within ramparts and bulwarks, making their city to be a prison; but yet he so orders the arrangements of his providence that his saints are as safe as if they dwelt behind the strongest fortifications.”

B. Trouble will come to the believer, as the rest of this psalm testifies, yet God will either remove the trouble or give us the strength to face it and become stronger. How has this happened for you in the last year?

C. Take this verse and pray it for our study, paraphrasing it in your own words. Pray it as well for yourself and your family, perhaps with another paraphrase. Memorize it.

If paraphrasing the prayers of the Bible is new to you — click here to see how one brother did Psalm 125 beautifully: Link

Saturday:

7. What’s your take-a-way for the week?

See you tomorrow, January 7th, for the official start of our journey to Higher Ground!

Time:

8:30am – 3:00pm

Speaker(s):

Dee Brestin

Name of Event:

Spring Ladies Day

Location:

America’s Keswick Activity Center
601 Route 530, Whiting, NJ 08759

City:

Whiting, NJ

More information:

Phone: (732) 350-1187 (ext. 21)

Contact information:

Bill Welte

ONE IMPORTANT LINK BETWEEN

PUTTING OFF THE OLD SELF

AND PUTTING ON THE NEW

IS “BEING RENEWED IN THE SPIRIT OF OUR MINDS”

MARY SERVES AS AN EXAMPLE

REPEATEDLY WE ARE TOLD

SHE PONDERED ALL THESE THINGS IN HER HEART

LET’S NOT SAY GOOD-BYE TO CHRISTMAS

WITHOUT PONDERING

Many of you have a favorite Christmas movie. I love especially the scenes from Luke 1 and Luke 2 in Jesus of Nazareth, as pictured below. Olivia Hussey is a believer and has a radiance that seems befitting Mary. She shows awe, wonder, and amazement. We see her pondering, truly.

"Greatly troubled at the saying, trying to discern what sort of greeting this might be"

"Behold, I am the servant of the Lord, let it be to me according to thy word."

"My soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."

"They went with haste and found Mary, and Joseph, and the baby...But Mary treasured up all these things, pondering them in her heart"

The verses in the captions above are all from Luke. They are so familiar that we tend not to hear them. I listened to my son dramatically read Luke 2 to his children last week, but saw their eyes glaze over. It’s hard when it is so familiar. But at least on this Christmas day, this day that falls once every seven years on a Sunday, let us ponder the verses below the pictures and see if we have a question, a comment, a new insight. And then I will lead you into pondering some other Advent thoughts. Many of these are questions that could be done with children as well.

I promise to keep the homework simple this week — and I’m not giving you a sermon, though if you want one, I’d recommend Keller’s  How To Sing at Christmas — about Mary’s Magnificat I also want to give my website manager David a break this week, so don’t have an easy link, but here is what I can do and you can paste into your browser.

How To Sing At Christmas: http://sermons.redeemer.com/store/index.cfm?fuseaction=category.display&category_ID=6&Name=How+To+Sing+at+Christmas&monthrecorded=&yearrecorded=&scripture=&speaker=all&messagetype=&SKUsearch=&sort=DateNew&CFID=3459427&CFToken=23274446

Christmas Day and Monday: Pondering the Word

1. What’s your favorite Christmas movie and why? (I’ve already told you my spiritual favorite, but I also love Elf and love watching it with my daughter-in-law who laughs through it all every time. I have a son who wouldn’t watch it because it wasn’t spiritual and we made him, and he rolled on the floor with laughter.)

2. Read through the above verses that are captions below the pictures. If one quickens you, camp there, and tell us what you see. Ponder, ponder — for He’s speaking to you!

3. Name one memory from Christmas Eve or Christmas Day of 2011. Why do you want to remember it?

Tuesday: Pondering the Gifts: Though it is true this can become the focus, gifts can also be a way of showing Christ’s love if done not as a duty but as an expression of love. Maybe because people knew I’d be alone this Christmas (though I’m not really — the Lord is so present and I was with dear friends last night) I was given some very thoughtful gifts this year — and each time sensed love from the giver and the Lord. My daughter Annie knew I treasured some small pottery dessert plates that Hallmark once made that have the words grateful, thankful, abundance, and blessed on them. For years she has been combing e-bay, Craig’s list, garage sales…this year she found them! She is the best gift giver in our family for she listens and watches and prays to do it well! I have a friend who reads this blog and and noticed I mentioned I liked Bath and Body and the balsam fragrance and gave me B and B balsam candles. This is “paying attention.” Isn’t that what we all crave — someone who will “pay attention” and not give as a chore? I have a friend who is an amazing bread maker and mailed me, with dry ice, four loaves!  And my sister Sally sent me some old pictures of Steve and me that I had never seen, and I melted. So much love. Gift giving can be meaningful. It’s one of the ways God showed me His love this year, that He is Emmanuel.

Challenge question: The wisemen brought three gifts. What was each and how did each foretell something about Jesus?

5. What was one of the most thoughtful gifts you received this Christmas and what do you learn about expressing love through gifts from that giver?

6. What was the most thoughtful gift you gave, and did it provoke the response you hoped for?

How might you improve in this area?

7. What are some of the most efficacious ways to articulate thanks for gifts given — to people, and to God?

Wednesday — Thursday: Pondering the Music

Music penetrates the heart and when done in true worship gives pleasure to God. How blessed we are. I loved your reflections on music at church, The Messiah, your you-tube postings.

8. I’m going to give you some familiar lines from carols and ask for your reflections.

A. For the hard times, for those of you who are persecuted in your families, for those of you with illness, and with heavy burdens — this from It Came Upon A Midnight Clear:

And ye, beneath life’s crushing load, whose forms are bending low

who toil along the climbing way with painful steps and slow

look now! for glad and golden hours come swiftly on the wing.

O rest beside the weary road and hear the angels sing.

B. For welcoming Him in on a regular basis, from O Little Town — think of it not just for the salvation from the penalty of sin but from the power of sin.

No ear may hear his coming, but in this world of sin

where meek souls will receive him still, the dear Christ enters in

C. Do you agree with this theology from Away in a Manger? Why or why not? What do your children think?

The little Lord Jesus no crying he makes

D. After our studies, does this mean more to you? Explain, from O Come All Ye Faithful

Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing

E. Joy to the World is really a song of the second coming — what hope does it give you?

No more let sins and sorrows grow

nor thorns infest the ground

F. O Come O Come Emmanuel prays this line — did it happen for you with anyone this Advent?

Bid now our sad divisions cease

and be thou now our Prince of Peace

G. From O Holy Night — He appeared and the soul felt its worth — Are you realizing this?

H. Share a line from a carol that impacts you and why

Friday-Saturday   Pondering How God was Emmanuel, with us in Advent 2011

8. What stood out to you in your own life and why?

9. Share one story you read on this blog and why it stood out to you.

10. If you did listen to “How To Sing At Christmas,” what stood out to you?

11. Give thanks to God for gifts from Him this Advent.

I MEMORIZE LUCI SHAW’S POEMS OF THE INCARNATION

BECAUSE THEY FEED MY SOUL EACH ADVENT

WHEN MY SOUL IS HUNGRY FOR MORE

THAN SENTIMENTALITY,

SWEETS,

SANTA,

AND SAPPY CHRISTMAS MOVIES

(NOT THAT I DO NOT ENJOY ALL OF THE ABOVE!)

BUT I WANT MORE

SO MUCH MORE

LAST YEAR I MEMORIZED “MADE FLESH”

TURNING OVER PHRASES THAT MADE ME WORSHIP

THE GOD WHO WAS MADE FLESH

THE GOD WHO WAS WILLING TO BE

“INFINITY WALLED IN A WOMB”

If you are not familiar with Luci Shaw, you are in for a grand adventure. She is my favorite contemporary poet, a woman of great talent, wisdom, and integrity. I can hardly believe how merciful God was to me to let Luci be the woman who opened the door to the writing world for me, mentoring me, publishing my first work. If you love poetry (I know some of you are learning to do so!) then you must get Luci’s book on “Poems of the Incarnation.” When Luci was about four or five years old, her dad recorded her first poem, recognizing her genius. This pre-kindergartener said:

I see a loon

standing against the moon

and it reminds me of

the judgment of God

God gave her a talent, and she has not buried it. She is also a woman of enormous integrity, which I have experienced firsthand.  She has been my mentor, and I wrote so much about her in The Friendships of Women that I embarrassed her. I want you to meet her — and here is a clip of Luci talking about her book, “The Crime of Living Cautiously.” It begins with her doing a stunt I cannot imagine doing at my age — which is about how old she was when this was filmed. Click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL2PExlczrU Please listen too to the challenge she brings about how risks in obeying God can bring us closer to Him. Ponder what this means for you this week. You will see this philosophy again in the 2nd part of Luci’s poem.

Along with Luci’s poem, “Made Flesh” we will listen to my favorite Christmas sermon from Tim Keller, also inspired by the prologue of John. I promise you, this will feed your soul. There’s not a lot of homework, because I know it’s a crazy busy week, but your soul needs it, and it will help you slow down and sense His light in the darkness, His love in the loneliness, and His strength in the exhaustion of all there is to do.

The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it

SUNDAY/MONDAY: ICE-BREAKER AND DOWNLOAD KELLER’S MESSAGE: http://sermons2.redeemer.com/sermons/word-made-flesh

1. What stands out to you from the above and why?

2. Luci, in her video, challenges us to take risks based on our talents, based on God’s leading — how might you live less cautiously this Advent week — how might you love outrageously, how might you trust Him boldly?

Monday-Tuesday: Read John 1:1-5 and Meditate on Luci Shaw’s Poem: Made Flesh, Part I.

After

the white-hot beam of annunciation

fused heaven with dark earth,

his searing, sharply focused light

went out for a while,

eclipsed in amniotic gloom:

his cool immensity of splendor,

his universal grace,

small-folded in a warm, dim

female space—

the Word stern-sentenced to be

nine months’ dumb—

infinity walled in a womb,

until the next enormity—

the Mighty One, after submission

to a woman’s pains,

helpless on a barn’s bare floor,

first-tasting bitter earth.

2. What phrases about Jesus stand out to you and why? (Go slowly – this is fine dining.)

Wednesday: Read Part II. of Luci Shaw’s Made Flesh.

Now

I in him surrender

to the crush and cry of birth.

Because eternity

was closeted in time,

he is my open door to forever.

From his imprisonment

my freedoms grow,

find wings. Part of this body,

I transcend this flesh.

From his sweet silence my mouth sings.

Out of his dark I glow.

My life, as his,

slips through death’s mesh,

time’s bars,

joins hands with heaven,

speaks with stars.

“Made flesh,” in Accompanied by Angels: Poems of the Incarnation

3. What phrases stand out to you from the above and why?

4. List one example from this Advent or this year that the phrase you chose is being made real in your life.

Thursday-Friday   Listen to Keller’s sermon and answer:

5. First Point: The Word

A. Keller gives the illustration that you can’t really say you “know” someone until you have spoken to him. Can you give an example?

B. Concerning the above, what have you learned about dialoguing with God?

C. Keller says Philosophy 101 says you can’t prove anything is true. Therefore, we cannot present a watertight case for Christianity, but we do have a watertight Person. List three ways that Jesus has shown His love by coming down and experiencing the pain we have experienced.

6. Second Point: Became Flesh

A. Keller relates the story of the woman who cried out from the street for help because she was being stabbed. Lights came on, but no one came down. In what ways did Jesus make Himself vulnerable by coming down?

B. By taking on human flesh and experiencing our pain, He became our “Wonderful Counselor.” Explain why this is so and one way He has been a wonderful counselor to you.

7. Third point: Dwelt among us

A. Keller said that the incarnation was “the end of religion as we know it.” Explain what he meant.

B. Write a prayer of praise to The Word who became flesh and dwelt among us.

Saturday

8. What’s your take-a-way and why?

Next week is our final Advent week, then New Year’s Day, and  in early January we will launch a new and exciting adventure, and I hope you will join us and invite friends too! I’m 90% sure what it will be, but would love your prayers for wisdom.

WHEN GOD CAME NEAR

THE SHEKINAH GLORY

WHENEVER HE CAME

THEY WERE FILLED WITH FEAR

MOSES TOOK OFF HIS SHOES AT THE BURNING BUSH

PLOUCHARD: BURNING BUSH

ISAIAH CRIED WOE IS ME

JOB WAS FLATTENED WHEN GOD CAME IN A WHIRLWIND

WILLIAM BLAKE: JOB

AND AFTER FOUR HUNDRED YEARS OF SILENCE

ON THAT HOLY NIGHT

THE PRESENCE OF GOD AGAIN STRUCK FEAR

"The Annunciation of the Shepherds" Benjamin Gervitsz Cuyp Dutch (1612-1652)

When I was young, long before most of you were born, I loved watching television Christmas specials: Perry Como, Andy Williams…and though there were plenty of songs about chestnuts and winter wonderlands, they always had sacred songs as well, often closing with the spine-tingling O Holy Night, where you were reminded of the holiness of Christmas.

This year I watched a few and thought how different this world has become. Michael Buble’s 1st Christmas special did not have one sacred song. The New York Rockefeller Special with the lighting of the tree became pornographic and had to be turned off. No fear. No sense of the holiness of God.

But before I get too critical of the secular world, who does not know Jesus, let me turn this searing light on myself.

Early in our marriage, Steve and I came to love this simple Christmas chorus:

Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
His name is called
Emmanuel.
God with us,
Revealed in us,
His name is called
Emmanuel.

Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
Your name is called
Emmanuel
God with us
Revealed in us,
Your name is called
Emmanuel.

When we realize that God is not only with us, but revealed in us, it should change our relationships with even the difficult people this Advent. Last Sunday after church, doing dishes with my dear daughter-in-law Julie, I told her I had an ethical dilemma. I told her of a new neighbor who was a believer, but whom I perceived might be difficult, and whom I feared  could consume me. She had been calling and e-mailing frequently, asking to get together. Frankly, I was afraid if I opened the door I might be swallowed up. I was looking for support and agreement from Julie, but I didn’t get it. She said, “Mom — don’t you think Jesus would have you be open to her? Just be honest with her about your time. Set boundaries — but don’t close the door.” I protested, but Julie was firm, repeating her stand.

So, I got home, called the neighbor, and told her I had an hour. She came right over, and the poor lady put her watch on the coffee table so she wouldn’t stay more than an hour. She is a widow, talkative, and I asked God to help me listen, to be His love, yet I was antsy. Obedient on the outside but shutting up my compassions on the inside. But then God began to break through. She had been talking about Joel Olstein and how much she loved him, and I realized she had been under false teaching. She suddenly stopped talking and asked me if I liked him too. She was flustered when I said I did not, but she also was very open to finding out why. She listened. Then she told me she was trying very hard to live for Jesus so that she could be in heaven one day with her husband.

SUDDENLY GOD’S COMPASSION FOR THIS WOMAN WELLED UP IN ME. I stopped her, said her name, and pled with her to listen to the assurances Christ gives us. God was with us. She wept. Then suddenly she saw her hour was up and jumped up to get her coat and respect my boundary.

SHE WASN’T DIFFICULT AT ALL. I WAS.

I was not fearing God. I was not being the presence of God to my neighbor.

I was shutting up my compassions from one in need.

God with us. Revealed in us. Our Lord is called Emmanuel.

This week I want to begin with the free Keller sermon where he simply takes these three words: God with us.

It is an amazing phrase. It was first spoken by the prophet Isaiah, proclaimed by the angels to the shepherds, and should be the amazement of our lives. Keller said that when John Wesley was dying, his last words were: “The best thing is God with us.”

Yet Keller spends most of his sermon just on the first word, GOD, before he gets to what he calls the “soft” part, that He is with us.

2. Comment on Dee’s story with her neighbor. Could you identify? How is God calling you to be His love to someone this Advent?

3. We are half-way through Advent. Have you sensed the presence of God? When?

Tuesday-Friday

4. Listen to the Keller sermon, “God with us” and record your initial thoughts.

5. The bulk of the sermon was on the Word God

A. Jesus is God. Look at Isaiah 9:6 and find evidence from those names that Jesus, indeed, is God.

B. Keller differentiates between a general knowledge of God and an experience of God. He gives examples of Old Testament saints that experienced God.

What stood out to you from this and why?

C. Pray for yourself and each woman reading this blog, that she might have a sense of the holiness of God this week.

After all the terrifying experiences when God came near, why, Keller asks, would He now present Himself to us as a helpless baby?

REMBRANDT: SIMEON

WHAT IS MORE HELPLESS THAN A NEWBORN?

JULIE BRESTIN AND NEWBORN OCTAVIA

OR WHAT IS MORE APPROACHABLE THAN A NEWBORN?

YOU CAN’T KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF A NEWBORN BABY!

BIG SISTER TIKI (TEAGHAN) WITH TAVIE (OCTAVIA) AND BABY SADIE IN BACKGROUND

6. Keller talks about why, when Christ came, God suddenly becomes approachable. He tells a story of his wife Kathy in traffic court coming with all kinds of pictures and charts — and winning. But that is not how we will approach God on that terrible judgment day. What will be our defense?

7. Read Matthew 1:21-23

A. According to verse 21, why is this baby given the name “Jesus?” Explain how this great truth allows God to be approachable.

B. Approach God now in prayer, knowing He hears you, knowing you are clean in His sight because of the Savior, and ask Him to be near to you this day. Ask Him to help you walk in the light, to be His love.

C. What was the prophecy of Isaiah according to Matthew 1:23, and what does the name Immanuel mean?

frankincense God with us

Last week at church we sang a new Getty Christmas carol that talked about the prophetic meaning of the gifts of the Magi. Gold meant He was King, and myrrh meant He would die, and frankincense meant He was God with us.

Though I find the fragrance of incense too pungent, I love either the fragrant Christmas balsam candles or the balsam oil you can put in a burner with a tea candle underneath (from Bath and Body) The fragrance wafts up, filling my living room, reminding me:

God is with me.

God is with me.

God is with me.

This will be my first Christmas where the children will all be with their in-laws. (I know I’ll still get to see several sometime during that week.) But I will not be alone. God is with me.

Truly, He is. His presence comes to me through the body of Christ, through the music and fragrance of Christmas, through His glorious Word, and through His Spirit which will never leave me nor forsake me.

God with us.

8. What else impacted you from Keller’s message and why?

Saturday

9. How has God been with you this week?

10. What is your take-a-way and why?