Love rejoices in the Truth

I was struck by a small verse yesterday:

"[love] rejoices in the truth"

~~~~from I Cor 13 ... it was one of those times where you just cannot get a verse out of your head.

Here is the whole section on love from I Cor 13:



"Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things."

Those who have known me for a long time may remember years ago when I inserted my own name in place of the word "love" in this section.

Try it with YOUR name....here is mine:

Clevsea suffers long
Clevsea is kind
Clevsea does not envy
Clevsea does not parade herself
Clevsea is not puffed up
Clevsea does not behave rudely
Clevsea does not seek her own
Clevsea is not provoked
Clevsea thinks no evil
Clevsea does not rejoice in iniquity
Clevsea rejoices in the truth
Clevsea bears all things
Clevsea believes all things
Clevsea hopes all things
Clevsea endures all things

Do you think that all the above is true of me?

Do you think that IF it were that it would be because I am just that great?

Of course NOT. This is when we can see how the fruit of the HOLY Spirit might look in us and in our behavior when we submit to the Lord Jesus Christ and allow His Spirit to exhibit in us.

It's not the fruit of the Clevsea------it IS the fruit of the HOLY Spirit.

When did you last share the Gospel?

When was the last time you shared the Gospel?

I know many of you are at home, busy with your children and families, and keeping house, but I am curious about this.

If I asked this a different way it might help.

How often do you share the Gospel? About once a week? Once a month? Once a year? Once every 3rd year?


Do you rely on "lifestyle" evangelism?



I'm not judging or even admonishing....however I have thought a lot about lifestyle evangelism vs. speaking words evangelism.

The Bible says "faith comes by hearing, and by hearing the word of God." There is a lot more to it than just that one phrase, I know.

I don't know "why" the Lord God chose to use mere people to "speak" the words of salvation one to another, but it seems that He did choose that method. I also don't know "why" the Lord chose prayer as His system of working here in our lives, but it seems He did.

It stands to reason that if you act nicely to someone over the course of time that you have earned the "right" to share the gospel with them. But that is not how I see the spread of the gospel in the book of Acts. It seems like there was some "teaching" in fact Peter and Paul would often go over the history of Israel first and then explain that Christ was the Messiah. They did not live next door to these people they were sent to preach/teach to. The majority of them would not have known their "lifestyle" or seen them kick their dog or neglect their yard work.

I have tried lifestyle evangelism but smiling and taking my neighbor some warm cookies has not ever once converted any of my "near ones" to the Faith.

Again if my actions are very rude, etc., then that could well stand in the way and the unbelievers around me would have one more reason (excuse really) to ignore the clear teachings of salvation.

I guess I'm saying that I don't want to wait 20 or 30 years for my smiles and good deeds to speak for me and in some mysterious way communicate the gospel to other people.

I think that I need to actively pray for those who are "ready" to come to me or me to be there in front of them and then a conversation revolving around Christ and His Truths can begin.

It seems to be "words" that are used. Actions do speak louder than words, I acknowledge that, it can't be denied. But when it comes to sharing the gospel I need to use my mouth and the Scriptures, I believe.

Here is some teaching from Rom 10:

14 How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? 15 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written:


“ How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace,
Who bring glad tidings of good things!”

16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “LORD, who has believed our report?” 17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."

My goal is encouragement, not rebuke.

Anti-Frantic

Frantic....rushed....freaked out....that is how some women live whether they work outside the home or are stay at home wives/mothers.

I think a lot of this is attitude and I also think that it doesn't take much to trip us into a feeling that we are not getting enough done. I don't like that feeling and I got it last night.

What happened? Nothing much. One of the three cats dropped some pooh on the kitchen floor on his way to the basement and his litter box. As I stooped over to wipe it up I could then see my kitchen garbage can was grossly filthy.

Something about that angle.

Anyway I went to bed thinking that I was a lousy housekeeper because I have a dirty garbage can.

How stupid.

Sure a new one would look good and if I could clean this old beige one a bit it might look better but really ought I to hang my whole estimation of myself upon this garbage can? Ought I allow that dingy dirt there to make me "feel" anything?

I doubt it.

Recently I read something Quaker Jane wrote on her website. She said that the "plainness" of her wardrobe was the direct result of asking the Lord God for "happiness."

Wow. She asked for happiness and received a huge transformation of her clothing.

I'm not at all certain that is the same for every woman because I don't think putting on a dress, etc is capable of bringing happiness. However..........I know the peaceful joy and contentment of wearing the clothing that I like to wear.

For me that's a long comfortable cotton dress the more "billow-y" the better. I love aprons, shawls, layers of more cotton dresses when it's colder. I love that peaceful feeling that I get because it's how I want to be clothed. So when I compare my experiences to Quaker Jane's then I do know exactly what she is talking about.

I don't know why clothing is so powerful----and it's powerful it 2 ways. Clothing communicates so much to those around us. It also impacts how we feel and walk and can impede what we are attempting to do and the opposite.

Does anyone else feel more ready to clean or cook when you have a certain outfit on?

It's the same for sporting outfits. Someone wearing all the needed ski clothing is much more ready to slide down the mountain side on their feet than I am in fluffy dresses and aprons.

It's as though clothes can get you ready.

It's also as though clothes can set the mood.

I personally am impacted by the clothes I wear but don't mistake my meaning here. To be peaceful, content, loving, joyful, patient and to be walking just like our Lord walked is all in the domain of the Holy Spirit and whether we have the Holy Spirit and whether we are walking in the Spirit or in our flesh.

The Lord's gifts are fantastic. And they are gifts. His fruits are lovable and lovely and we ought to seek Him and ask Him for them and for His help to walk in the Spirit and not in the flesh.

As long as we have these flesh bodies we will be capable of anger, frustration, worry and so many other sins (and your clothes and kitchen garbage can will not be of help or hindrance) but we Christians need only seek the Lord Jesus and beg Him for His Spirit and His fruits and His gifts!

I do believe that peaceful living is within the reach of every Christian.

Studying James in regards to Faith

This week I read James every day. Yesterday I shared with my friends an idea on how to enhance our reading of James. Here it is:

If you need to get your study revved up a bit then try this.

Take the word "faith" and write that on a blank piece of paper.

Then *every time* the word "faith" appears in James write down in some 4 or 5 words what the text said about faith.

Go ahead and give that a try if you want to. Don't read this blog post any further until after you've done that because I have included below the results of my doing my own assignment. If you are not inclined to try that then read on.





Here are my results:

I looked for the word "faith" and listed everything that James said about it.

Using a reverse concordance (after I studied and searched the hard way) I was able to make certain that "faith" is used 16 times in the original writings which, of course, were in Greek.

I can tell you that every time the word faith is used it is the Greek word "pistis" which is Strong's # 4102. That Greek word means faith so it's no wonder that Bible translators decided to translate pistis into the word faith. It's the same word used in Eph for the well-known verse "by faith you have been saved through grace."

I can also pass along that #5218 hupakoe (or hupakoee) never appears in James. That is a word best translated as obedience or attentive listening, there is even a submission factor to the word due to the "hup" part that has to do with putting yourself under a teaching or teacher.

Some Bible versions have translated hupakoe as "faith" rather than as obedience. It is interesting, in any case, that James never used hupakoe due to that fact that he was pressing the "works" issue to such a huge degree. One might think that he would have used that word at some point and that is exactly why I looked into the matter.

Here is what James taught us about faith:

#1) Faith gets tested which produces patience ~~1:3

#2) Ask for wisdom in faith ~~1:6

#3) Don't hold the faith of Jesus with partiality toward rich people which is judgment ~~2:1

#4) The poor are rich in faith ~~2:5

#5) Faith without works is dead ~~2:14-26

#6) Prayer of faith will save the sick ~~5:15

Many blessings of Jesus to you,

Clevsea

Titus

At times I select a passage of Scripture and I read it repeatedly for a set amount of time. This week I chose the little letter to Titus. I will share what has overwhelmed me from Titus this week. (And, it was not the expected Titus Two Woman teaching that I might have thought it would be.)



Here are some key verses from Titus:

" [God] ... has in due time manifested His word through preaching, which was committed to me according to the commandment of God our Savior;" ~~Titus 1:3

"[the unbelieving] ... profess to know God but in works they deny Him." ~~1:16

AND....it goes on to say that they are disqualified for every good work.

So....this is the whole point; the words "good work" are often used in Titus. Let's look at how many times in chpt 2 and 3:

" ... our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for ***good works.*** ~~ Titus 2:14

"Remind them to be subject to rulers and authorities, to obey, to be ready for every ***good work,*** to speak evil of no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing all humility to all men." ~~Titus 3:1-2

" ... I want you to affirm constantly, that those who have believed in God should be careful to maintain ***good works***..." ~~ Titus 3:8

" ... let our people also learn to maintain ***good works,*** to meet urgent needs, that they may not be unfruitful." ~~Titus 3:14

That is FOUR times in only TWO chapters. Amazing.

But let's not get confused and start to think that our good works will bring us salvation. There are many, many, many solid Biblical teachings that clear that up. But have you ever noticed that Paul even included that thought right there in Titus? It's clearly taught in Chapter 3:4-7

"But when the kindness and the love of God our Savior toward man appeared, 5 ***not by works of righteousness which we have done,*** but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

This is what keeps popping out at me during my week's Bible reading.

Thank you,
Clevsea
: )

TWO Questions about Covering

Basically one question is what do women do when their husbands don't get 100% on-board with the covering.

The second question was concern about not looking pretty for one's husband if one were to start covering.

Clevsea's Answers:

Some women will not cover without their husband's blessing. Not me. I would cover regardless.

Why?

Because the headship order as given in the covering passage (I Corinthians 11) clearly shows that my husband is outranked by Jesus. Anytime I personally am faced with choosing between the Lord God and my husband I will choose God. There are times when I place myself under my husband's decisions even though I feel that they are not the Lord's most highest calling for he and I. Covering is not one of those areas for me however and I would choose covering to obey the Lord and His clear teaching in I Cor 11. Sometimes husbands are not even Christians and they have not read the Bible. To me that makes them somewhat untrustworthy to decide some things for me that I can see I am clearly accountable to obey.

But like I said many women will not cover unless their husband is 100% for it. I respect that. They feel that covering would defeat the purpose under those circumstances.

But for me I do not think that submission to one's husband is the whole purpose. The angels are named as one other purpose in I Cor 11. Whether we are speaking of "good" angels or "fallen" angels we cannot know from Paul's letter. Either way it seems best to simply obey what we are taught and not overly concern ourselves with what we cannot know.

Many other ladies with disapproving husbands cover regardless and they either "go for it" and cover in the most religious looking way that they can or they are way more discreet and wear hats more and hanging veils & kapps and bonnets less.

MANY ladies do concern themselves with how they will look. That is not foolish. As the covering passage says we (females) are made for them, not they for us. Part of the marriage is often a physical attraction, not always, but many times. So perhaps certain wives make themselves "attractive" when they are alone with their husbands but they still dress modestly in public and cover.

Taking your husband's sensibilities into account is very smart. You may get to the point where you and he can sit done and look at the zillions of covering websites and view all the options out there. You may be able to discern his taste in coverings by taking the time to do this.

There are ladies that I have known who freaked their husbands out, so to speak, by their choices and they later learned how important their physical appearance is/was to their husbands. This is why I say it is not a foolish struggle. A wise wife gives thought to this.

If a lady is married to such a man then it is possible to only cover for prayer and not when going places with the husband. I know we'd like to pray all the time but this is one compromise that has worked for some marriages.

Keep praying and seeking the Lord Jesus Christ for your clothing and covering choices. He will guide you and then you will obey that guidance. Sometimes you and I will choose obedience to the Lord over obedience to the husband but that too will be rewarded in some way in the Lord's timing.

Let me add that many husbands change. This is the truth.

At first they are frightened. The "frumps" scare them. They like tight clothes or they think that they do. After some time passes many, many husbands wind up SEEING the truth and thanking their wives for covering up their bodies and heads. They will eventually see the worldly women's attire and start to "wake up" to how ungodly it is. Then the see their wives with new eyes and realise that she is saving her charms for privacy. And....they like it after all!!

Clevsea

Christian Internet Guidelines

This is a manner of posting and emailing that I think would help people on the internet:



#1) Pray before, during and after an email.


#2) Please be careful to really read what another has written or do not respond.


#3) Walk away from the keyboard at the first sign of anger.



#4) In other words don't post comments or write emails when angry.


Further comments:


Personally I only email or blog when I'm in an upbeat mood. I will not open my email if something is going on in my life that upsets me and if/when I get upset at something in an email I do not respond in my flesh.


Try to remember that we Christians have a daily choice. Day by day we walk in the Spirit or we walk in our flesh.

In regard to anger, have you ever heard this? Anger is almost always a "how dare you" reaction. If you think about this for the next 2 weeks I believe that you see the truth of this.

For example: When someone cuts you off in traffic the fast rush of anger is really based on "how dare you pull out in front of me....you might have caused an accident."


Or....when someone says something to you like, "don't leave your stuff there" it common to have a "hey, don't tell me what to do" reaction within us that is pretty quick to surface.


Remember that as Christians we can take every thought captive to the Lord Jesus Christ and rise above our fleshly reactions. We don't have to give in to our first impulse.

Consider joining me in these guidelines. Email and blog when you're in a good mood and when you are upset sign out and give yourself some time.


If you have already made a fleshly error then don't fear asking for forgiveness when you truly know that you have caused hurt and you truly feel sorry. That step is the most effective way to bring healing to relationships.

Side NOTE: Having shared this with an on-line friend she remarked that this would be great to practice in real life as well as on-line.



I responded with this:

Yes, it would be great if we practiced this in real life. I think that submitting all of our thoughts to the Lord is a good thing for our real lives.

Walking in the Spirit instead of in the flesh in another thing that really works in real life.

For myself taking note of when I get a "how dare you attitude" has helped a lot. It does seem to be at the root of most anger. Mostly that quick anger that you don't think is so close to the surface and yet it can be.

The forgiveness thing I learned from the Bible, of course, but one of my children taught it to me in a way that really got my attention. One of my daughters, while in her teen years, would grant instant forgiveness, right on the spot if
you asked for it. So simple. No grudges, no revenge, no keeping lists of wrongs.

I'm not sure what she was doing mentally if you didn't ask for forgiveness but I sure do know what she did if you asked. I really learned from that and I had been a Christian for a long time when she taught me this.


Thank you and may Christ's peace be multiplied to you.

Clevsea