Making Me His

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Week One of my God’s Promises adventure:
Deuteronomy 30 became my Context Passage and I chose verse 6 to memorize and ponder this week.
Promise to memorize:
Deut. 30_6 NASB

Day one, I was rather troubled by the “circumcision” aspect—after all, I’m not a guy. But when I used my concordance, it led me to Colossians 2:8-15. This “circumcision” is the symbol used to describe God’s cutting away the old nature from me, making me new in Jesus Christ.
I am new in Christ! How amazing! HE did it! I didn’t seek Him. I didn’t save myself. I didn’t and can’t separate myself to be holy like Him. This is work only He can do. And here, in this verse, He promises that He has made me His own. And a really fabulous bonus in this is the joy of knowing that He will work in the lives of my descendants, too! WOW!

Yesterday I noticed in the Colossians passage that He is the one responsible for ALL the aspects of my salvation. How wonderful is that? I am not responsible for being “good enough” to “make it in to heaven.” HE did that!
Today I saw that He has forgiven ALL my transgressions. Psalm 103 immediately came to mind and when I went there, verses 11 and 12 popped out. I pondered how complete is His forgiveness of my sins–“as high as the heavens” and “as far as the east is from the west.”

That second image in particular is very strong. Think of a globe (our earth). If you were to able to walk north (of course, you have to ignore oceans and other “obstacles” for the sake of illustration) …in a straight line, and finally reach the North Pole. What happens if you keep walking the same line right across the top of the earth? That’s right. Suddenly you are going south! And if you could keep walking south until you got to the South Pole, and you crossed that barren landmark and kept walking in your straight line, what direction would you be walking? Yep. North. Hmmm. OK, now let’s start at our home again but this time let’s say you walk east. Keep walking in a straight line east. Will you ever cross a point where you won’t be going east? No. Turn around and walk west. Same thing. This is a magnificent picture of God’s complete forgiveness of our sin. I love His Word! This truth about His loving kindness to me just thrills me every time I read it.

QUESTION: What has God taught you this week in your time with Him in His Word?

Promises, Promises! A New Year- A Fresh Start

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Every autumn I begin thinking of how I want to structure my personal time with God in the coming year. One year I chose to use a devotional called Heart Aflame: Daily Readings from Calvin on the Psalms. ISBN 0-87552-458-3 (pbk) It was a very fruitful year for me spiritually. Other years have been other books, but for this year I decided to try a less “other person’s work” approach. I am planning to focus on God’s Promises.

He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature…

The scheme is this:

  1. Every Sunday I am going to spend some time reading the Word mining for a promise that bears more meditation.
  2. I will read the surrounding context, and choose the main promise as a verse I will work on memorizing during the week.
  3. I am going to make a 3×5 card for each week with the context passage noted, the verse written out

(to look back to for memorizing process) and then notes during the week of other passages that correspond…things I find in the margin notes, or that I stumble across and that play into the Word that the Spirit is speaking to me.

I’m excited about this project. As I was reflecting on how to share it with you, I thought I should tell you that one of the things I really want to do—have wanted and sought to do for years—is to KNOW God.

Years ago I read the book, Knowing God, by J.I. Packer. It is a Christian classic that really impacted my life. (I encourage you to find a copy and read it.) Packer emphasizes the fact that God is so vast that learning about Him is an eternity-long project. God reveals Himself in Scripture in so many ways that just draw you to Him and make you love Him more and more. His promise-making and promise-keeping are part of who He is in relation to us, His special creation. So, I want to think about what He has promised me. I want to make this year one that warms my heart with love, joy and faith in my wonderful, faithful, Promise-Keeping God and Savior.

I hope you will find a way to meet God regularly this year. I would love to have you tag along on this adventure with me. Each week I will post my passage and promise. OOPS! That is a big promise…so, I will add the word “try” to that-

Post a comment below if you like. I’d love to hear from you.

QUESTION: What will be your “New Year” resolution in your relation to Jesus?

Old Age Bloom

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Lately life in our fallen world has been tugging hard on me… I am feeling “old”—a very unpleasant feeling because I am subtly saddled with the culture’s preoccupation with youth and vitality. The sense of drifting off into old age is troubling. In the past few days, knowing that I am sinking into despair over this, I have asked God for a renewed sense of joy and enthusiasm and a proper perspective on aging.
Just this morning as I was downloading pictures from my camera the Holy Spirit tapped me on the shoulder. You see, this picture of these glorious begonias was taken yesterday—November 3.

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So what is the big deal? Well….. I live in the Inland Northwest and normally by this time of year, we have had a hard freeze and sometimes even snow. Not this year! Night before last was our first frost. Yes, first frost! Wow! Even our garden flowers have been blooming wildly until just two nights ago. This planter full of wax begonias has just gotten showier when ordinarily they would have faded back near the end of September!

Back to the photo download and God’s little nudge to my inner man. I immediately thought of the place in Psalms that speaks of how the people of God display His glory in their old age.

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What an encouraging reminder of what God plans as I age. So my prayer: “Lord, I want to be a wildly beautiful display of your glory even in my old age! Thank you for the reminder that this is Your promised plan for me!”
Question: What part of growing older is hard for you? Have you asked God to help you put it into perspective?

WWJD in Roseburg?

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

live at peace

Beloved Brother just wrote an e-mail to us this morning asking about what we thought regarding the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:38-48. “”but I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on our right cheek, turn the other to him also…” His Men’s Bible study group had apparently tried to apply this to anyone who might have rushed at and assaulted the shooter in the Roseburg shootings in an effort to save lives. I assume they think Jesus requires us to not “assault” the bad guy but just let him do his evil. Hmmm. I disagree. Here is what I wrote to my brother.

Very interesting passage of Scripture your Men’s Bible Study tackled! We (Spouse, Mother and myself) discussed it over breakfast –thrashing out the issues your group must have worked over, too. “Spouse” is like you and knows if he were in a situation like the Roseburg shooting (or any of the ones in the past few years) that he would rush the shooter with the intent to stop the carnage. (He candidly admits his human instinct would be to “smash the guy’s face” in the doing.) His motive would be to defend others from the evil intent of the shooter to kill.

Turning the other cheek is often misread, I believe. Scripture teaches us to defend the helpless [Psalm 82:3, 4] and to seek righteousness [James 3:18]. KILLING IS A CLEARLY EVIL ACTIVITY in this context. [Exodus 20:13] Doing whatever you can to stop someone from killing is acting righteously.

Notice the wording of Matthew 5:39, 40. The aggressor is facing you, smacking you on the cheek. Now think about the shooting situation. To stand, watching, while someone else makes a punching bag or shooting target out of another is wrong. In contrast to this assault on other human beings, if someone smacks you they want to stir up a fight with you. It may be a verbal goad or an actual physical assault, but it is aimed at an individual trying to provoke conflict. We are called to be at peace with our fellow man in as much as possible it lies with [us][Romans 12:18]. So not retaliating (“turning the other cheek”) will make the perpetrator’s intention of confrontation fizzle. “FOR LACK OF WOOD A FIRE GOES OUT.”[Proverbs 26:20] We get to choose to live as people who are not quarrelsome and belligerent. We represent Jesus who always responded peaceably. However, if an attacker is trying to kill you or hurt you, defend yourself. But if he is only trying to pick a fight, don’t go there! Love him enough to not let him sin against his fellow man (you). Stop the fight before it begins.

Our contemporary culture has been trumpeting the humanistic idea that if we all are “nice” bad things won’t happen. But they do, no matter how pleasant we may try to be. We must stand for the right and yet must love our enemies. Sometimes love shows by saying, “I love you too much to let you continue in this evil activity. It will gather God’s wrath on your head, and you don’t want that.”

One of the most fundamental things about studying God’s Word is to remember that Scripture will never contradict itself. Scripture will interpret Scripture. Faithful study requires digging and thinking—and most of all a reliance on the Holy Spirit for the true teaching we need. Wisdom from God teaches us to hear the whole counsel of Scripture and to apply God’s wise principles on what we read and study. It is very easy to cherry pick verses from the Bible to satisfy any human idea. Probably you have heard this example of two different passages that show this: “Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him.” [Gen. 4:8] and then “And Jesus said… ‘Go thou and do likewise.’ ” [Luke 10:37]. Think the Matthew 5 passage through in light of all else you hear God saying in His Word.
Hope this answers your questions about what we think.

QUESTION: Are you a peacemaker or a willing participant in quarrels and fights?

A Sample Page- “Give”

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

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This is the text that faces the image. It is intended to help a parent discuss the concept with his child. I hope this gives the idea of how the it will look.

GIVE
Read Mark 12:41-44, 2 Corinthians 9:6-11.
What did Jesus mean that she gave more than everyone else? What do we have to give to Jesus? Children usually don’t have independent income so discuss actions that can be gifts to others and thus to Jesus. What can you give to show others you love Jesus? Running errands for a busy parent or neighbor, cheerfully helping with chores, talking with an elderly family member, doing the best job possible on any project.
Read Ephesians 2:8-10.
Discuss and clarify that giving to others, or giving money to church or charity does not earn our salvation. We display our gratitude to God for His gift to us by giving generously to others. Discuss the Gospel truth of Jesus’ gift of life for us.

Book on the Horizon!

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Oh, this book project has been a roller coaster ride! Painting and lettering the pages was the easiest part–even though I re-did them three times (not counting the “re-do” of cover and title pages). I have learned so much. Now as I prepare to send off the last bit of text to my publisher, I am reminded of my goal of wanting to influence the generations to come. I want to be “a mother in Israel” (Judges 5:7)—one who is a repairer of the broken walls, (Isaiah 58:12)– a landmark preserver.(Proverbs 22:28) I am praying that these pages are used by God to help boys and girls and their parents to grasp and pursue a vision of a life lived for Jesus.

As my father would say, I’ve “flubbed around” and managed to run down many trails that led nowhere. But, God is good. He has faithfully directed me and so today, I am ready to send the text to my publisher and expect that I will be seeing a “real” book sometime in the near future. I’m excited to know what you think about it. I’ll keep you posted—watch for my new website, coming soon— so you can order your own copies for the loved little ones in your life.
Question: What do you think of the pages?

Sensible Seasons

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

“I can’t do it all!” –Her words made me feel sorry that I had applied more pressure to an already overwhelmed young woman. I had asked if her family and she were planning to come to the mid-week small group Bible study. OOPS! Too much pressure! Her words were part explanation, part a cry for help.
She’s a mom of three grade-school aged children. The school year has just begun and so the activity level is ramping up at a frantic rate. I remember those days and even now get a knot in my stomach thinking of the tension and pressure I felt. This season of “Back to School” is both exciting and overwhelming for most of us moms. The calendar fills up with so many activities that between the “must do’s” and the “want to do’s” floods of panic sweep over.
Hearing her litany of activities was exhausting –especially since I am so much older and now less energetic than she in her prime. But as we talked, it was apparent that she has had the sense to think through what is on the schedule. Each activity was necessary and manageable. And she was sensible enough to say “no” to the extra mid-week study for herself, since she has a ladies’ Bible study that she has already put into her plan.
Her biggest need—and probably all of our need—is to step back, breathe and analyze each thing on the calendar and priority list. This season of her life makes it wise and necessary to be in her children’s classrooms. It makes it wise for her to spend time in her kitchen making wholesome food for her growing little ones. It makes it wise for her to carve out time for personal fitness activity. I was glad to be able to affirm and reassure her (from my “been there-done that” vantage point) that her choices were good and even though life is busy right now, it is most certainly a season, not a permanent condition.

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We humans often forget that how things are today is NOT how they will be forever. So stop. Breathe. Analyze. Think through what is on your calendar. Ask yourself about each thing:
• Does it have long-range value?
• What or whose expectations have put this activity on the calendar?
• What would happen if we don’t do this?
• Is there anything NOT on the calendar that should be?
This season will pass. It matters what you do during it, and if it is extra busy, remember that it isn’t forever.
QUESTION: What items on your calendar need to be re-thought?

Salting Their Oats

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

Have you ever wondered what the saying, “salting the oats” means? If you have been around horses, you know they are obstinate. Given their size, people aren’t able to physically force horses to do their bidding, but must rely on training and techniques that gain the desired results. Sometimes a horse needs to drink water to be ready for work that Rancher Man knows is coming. But, being a “dumb animal” it has no desire to drink just then. Rancher Man has a wise method of encouraging his equine partner to drink the water he needs. He salts the oats the horse is eager to eat. Aha! Salt creates thirst and now, with a full belly and well hydrated the horse and Rancher Man are ready for the day’s work. 4540643316_ee9759e11c_o
We want our children to know and love Jesus, but are not sure how to stir up that desire in them. May I suggest one method to help you lead your little ones to the Living Water and experience the joy of their drinking deeply?

I’ve recently returned from visits with my eight grandchildren and their parents. My son’s family has begun a valuable practice of daily hearing Daddy read a chapter of the Bible after dinner, before anyone is dismissed from the table. This simple method of intentional “oat salting” could easily be adapted by most families. Let me give you a picture of what this looked like.
While we visited, on two successive evenings Daddy read from I Samuel (Chapters 5 and 6) about the capture of the Ark of the Covenant by the Philistines.

To recap the story for you: When the Ark is put in the temple of the false god, Dagon, God causes the Philistines’ beloved god to fall on its face and after a second fall which resulted in the statue’s dismemberment, the residents of Ashdod are distraught. Their panic escalates when there is an outbreak of tumors all through the land. To try to end their troubles they rid themselves of the Ark by placing it on a cart drawn by two cows which have never been yoked for pulling before. Their calves are locked up away from them and the Philistines watch to see where the cart will go. Its supernaturally direct route to the land of God’s people sends the clear message that they have tangled with the one True God.

After reading the chapter, Daddy asked a few simple questions to the children and gave some plain explanations of Philistine idolatry helped them understand the significance of the idol’s “face plants” at the hand of Almighty God. The short reading and talking session ended with a suspense building question: “I wonder what the Philistines will do with this troublesome Ark of the Covenant?”
Night two was started with a short re-cap of the previous night’s reading. After the next chapter was read, a discussion (primarily between adults and older children) ensued about cows and calves, the dynamic of a cow finding a nursing calf, and what a yoke is and how an animal would ordinarily react at the first use of it. All of this led to a clear awareness of the supernatural intervention of the True God.

It is wonderful that this family is hearing God’s Word—unadorned—each day. It only takes a few minutes and the questions and talk that follow help each child learn the skills of processing what has been read and heard. Deeper conversation began between the adults and older children and although the younger ones probably didn’t understand much of the dialogue, they are being shown a model of spiritual fellowship around Scripture. This “salting the oats” creates a thirst for the Living Water and will develop spiritual depth in children who are not only versed in Bible stories, but trained in the truths they are meant to convey.

What will you do to intentionally help your children love and understand the Word of God?

Photo attribution:

Photo by Andrew Wilkinson, no alterations

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

www.flickr.com/photos/andrew_j_w/

Hello world!

Posted on by Karyn Jeffrey

This blog started when I began painting some pictures for my grandchildren. Now I am nearly done with the project of publishing those pictures in my book, Life in Letters: A Christian Young Person’s Guide to Virtue, Integrity and Peace. The evolution of the book has been amazing.

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As an artist, it has been a joy to make the pictures. As a calligrapher it has been a challenge to produce
“beautiful writing” page after page. As a writer, it has been a stretch to do the writing right. (Is that good grammar?) Now, as publication nears, I am excited to meet my readers and interact with you about living a life for God. So, I begin this blog as a tool toward that end.

My choice of title and tagline reflect Psalm 8. There, the Psalmist extols God’s splendor and majesty. And in an astonishing truth, verse 5 declares that He has crowned us with glory and majesty, too!

It is my prayer that all of my life and activity will glorify Him—reflect Him. I desire that my art, writing, cooking, cleaning, befriending, “wife-ing”, “daughter-ing,” indeed, every aspect of my life devoted to reflecting His splendor and majesty.

Won’t you come with me on the journey of reflecting the splendor and majesty of our great Creator and loving Father?