Day 3 - Week 77 - Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew and also to the Greek."

"The gospel will save the lost.  Nothing else can do it.  Nothing else is doing it.  Nothing else has done it.  Nothing else shall do it.  The gospel convicts of sin, the gospel converts the soul.  It is by the foolishness of preaching the gospel that men, women, and children are brought out of darkness into light, out of damnation into salvation, out of death into life, out of hell into heaven."  Hyman Appelman

Every time I include a quote from a Christian who I have no knowledge of, I have to look them up and read their story.  Such is the case with Hyman Appelman.  Prior to reading the quote above, I had never heard of Dr. Appelman.  But here's his story:

Hyman Appelman was a major evangelist of the 20th century, preaching all over the United States and throughout the world.  Billy Graham has said, "Dr. Appelman is one of the greatest and most powerful preachers of the Gospel I have ever listened to. Twenty years ago I used to listen to him preach night after night and made notes on his sermons. Some of my own knowledge and inspiration concerning mass evangelism came from his ministry. Thousands of names are written in the Lamb's Book of Life because Dr. Appelman passed their way."

But the more astounding details of Dr. Appelman's life include the fact that he was born in Russia in 1902 to Orthodox Jewish parents.  He arrived in the United States in 1914 as a young boy who, although speaking Hebrew, Russian, Polish, German and Yiddish, did not know English.  As a 13 year old, he had to start school as a first-grader, and then proceeded through the next eight grades in two years, and went on to prep school, university, and law school.  A tremendous amount of drive led him to work fervently, to the point of breaking down in 1924.  He felt empty and
discontent.  He went west for a vacation, and while in Denver, was converted to Christianity.  Romans 10:9 was his verse of conversion, "That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved."

His new found joy was countered with absolute rejection by his Jewish family back in Chicago and the dissolution of his engagement to a nice Jewish girl back home.

Dr. Appelman refused to be ashamed of the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  Even at the price of knowing that he would never be welcomed back into his family home as long as he proclaimed the saving work of Jesus in his life.  But proclaim he did, and untold numbers owe their introduction to the saving power of Jesus to him.

It is easy to say, "I am not ashamed" when it costs us nothing...would we be so bold if it cost us our family?  Would we be so bold if  we were to spend years in prison for our proclamation of faith as many Christians do around the world today?  Would we be so bold if our statement of faith cost us our life?  It has for many throughout the years, throughout the world, and still does today.

I pray we will be bold, I pray we will not be ashamed --- no matter the cost.


 

Day 2 - Week 77 - Romans 1:16 "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek."

In the middle of pain and dark times, you get little glimpses of light.  Returning to my Bible study group tonight was a ray of light in a dark time of life.  Seeing friends' faces full of sympathy, full of God's love extended toward me, brought His light into my soul.  Much needed and much appreciated...both from God, the source of all love, and from sweet friends who allowed Him to shine through them.

Our study tonight focused on the story of Noah, and the grace of God extended to Noah and his family.  Just as the ark was their vessel of salvation from God's judgment against evil, God has offered to us the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, as our vessel of salvation.  Just as Noah was not ashamed to follow God's instruction and build an ark of gargantuan proportions in a seemingly arid environment, I will not be ashamed to proclaim that I believe, yes I most assuredly believe, in the gospel of Jesus Christ...it is the power of salvation to all who believe...it is our ark, delivering us from judgment to a new beginning. 

When hard times come, beliefs are tested.  I am clinging to the power that God gives to me through faith...a faith that has felt shaken, but then confirmed by reading the words of His eternal plan, from start (Adam and Eve), through the almost-but-not-quite destruction of creation through the flood, but culminated in the gift of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

I am not ashamed...but I pray to be even less concerned about people's reaction to my statement of faith.  If I truly love them as Christ instructs us to love others, then I truly want them on the boat!

Starting Again....

...I'm not sure how to start again, because the pain is still so fresh, but I think I must.  I must start again because I must regain my confidence in my God and my Father.  I must because He is my only refuge...He is my only source of strength.  I admit that these past two weeks have been very difficult for me.  There have been times, even now, when I am shaken, when life seems very uncertain.  I am struggling ---torn between knowing that God is good, that He is sovereign, and that He absolutely loves us and feeling abandoned and hurt.  I know that I am vulnerable to the enemy's attacks and I ask for God's fierce protection over me to reject the lies that can come into my mind.  I pray that I do not disillusion anyone by my admissions of this struggle.  I have no doubt that God will bring me through, and that I will grow and learn from it, but right now it's spiritually painful.

Three verses that I am focusing on tonight:

John 14:27 - "Peace I leave with you.  My peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Your heart must not be troubled or fearful."
 
Please, Lord, relieve my fears.  Grant me Your peace that surpasses anything that this world can give.  Even through times when I do not understand what is going on within me, remind me that You are my Savior, that You are my salvation.  That nothing on earth is greater than You or Your plans.

Isaiah 26:3 - "You will keep in perfect peace the mind that is dependent on You, for it is trusting in You."

Please, Lord, keep my mind dependent on You, based on complete trust in You.  You are trustworthy, You are truth.  Let my mind reject all deception and lies.  Take away my anxiety and restore to me Your perfect peace.

John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have everlasting life."

Remind me of Your complete and all encompassing love.  My belief is intact---You are my God, and Jesus is my Savior.  Assure me of my life with You, now and forever.

Thank you, dear Christian friends, for allowing me to be honest.  To share my grief and my struggle...and my faith that God is stronger than all and that He is the One that restores us.  Pray with me, pray for me, and pray for all our family.  Pray that God will draw each one of us closer to Him as we sort through our individual paths of pain.

One more verse tonight...it is our new verse.  Yes, starting again. 

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is God's power for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, and also to the Greek. - Romans 1:16

The Gospel -- God's power for salvation -- thank You Lord for Your plan, Your way, Your truth.  Let me be secure in that.  There is nothing more.

Prayers - Prayers - and more Prayers....Please!

On Sunday, September 16, our lives were changed in the blink of an eye.  Robert and I were traveling home after spending a wonderful weekend with our daughter, Meredith, and her husband, Parrish, in Tulsa.  We were about 50 miles outside of Amarillo when we got "the phone call."  The call that is every parent's worst nightmare, the call that makes your stomach sink into your spine, the call that makes everything else in your world stand still.

Our call came from our daughter-in-law, Dana, who let us know that our son, Michael, had been in a terrible motorcycle accident.  He was in the ambulance as she spoke, and she did not know his status.  The next 40 miles we prayed for God's protection and sped into town, praying for Michael and asking for God to bring him through.  But about the time we approached Amarillo, our other son, Dane, called to say that Michael had not survived...that he was gone.

From that moment to now, we have simply breathed.  We have asked for God's strength to just keep us breathing.  Nothing more, because that's all we can do.  He has granted us breath.  We are still numb...we still don't do much more than breathe, but we do continue to breathe.

For now, I just ask for each continued breath and for His understanding that I don't have many words to say.  I trust Him.  I do.  I love Him.  I do.  But I don't know what to say. 

I ask Him to bring His words to me.  To let me see His grace and His mercy and to feel His peace.  I am beginning to...but I have to be honest, when something this unexpected and this tragic happens, and death invades your previously protected family, you feel completely vulnerable.   There is a sense of fear and dread that the enemy brings to you that God has to replace with the knowledge that HE is on your side.  You have to force yourself to remember that God loves you, that He sees and hears you, and that He cares for you. I know He does. 

Several years ago, my dear friend, Dallas, lost her 16 year-old son, Tyler, in an automobile accident.  At his funeral, she had this song sung and I've never forgotten it...

Sometimes my little heart can't understand
What's in Your will, what's in Your plan.
So many times I'm tempted to ask You why,
But I can never forget it for long.
Lord, what You do could not be wrong.
So I believe You, even when I must cry.
Do I trust You, Lord?
Does the river flow?
Do I trust You, Lord?
Does the north wind blow?
You can see my heart,
You can read my mind,
And You got to know
That I would rather die
Than to lose my faith
In the One I love.
Do I trust You, Lord?
Do I trust You?
I know the answers, I've given them all.
But suddenly now, I feel so small.
Shaken down to the cavity in my soul.
I know the doctrine and theology,
But right now they don't mean much to me.
This time there's only one thing I've got to know.
Do I trust You, Lord?
Does the robin sing?
Do I trust You, Lord?
Does it rain in spring?
You can see my heart,
You can read my mind,
And You got to know
That I would rather die
Than to lose my faith
In the One I love.
Do I trust You, Lord?
Do I trust You?
I will trust You, Lord, when I don't know why.
I will trust You, Lord, till the day I die.
I will trust You, Lord, when I'm blind with pain!
You were God before, and You'll never change.
I will trust You.
I will trust You.
I will trust You, Lord.
I will trust You.
 ~ Twila Paris

Pray for us - pray for Dana, Michael's wife, and his children, Kolbi, Cade and Jocelyn.  Pray that all will draw close to God, and that we will all feel His presence around us.

I love You Lord - take away my fear - bring Your complete and unexplainable peace.  I will trust You.
 

Day 2 - Week 76 - Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him."

When we do something "in the name of the Lord Jesus", how are we to do it?  How does that directive differentiate our actions?

As Christians, we wear Christ's name.  And we should bring honor to it.  The closest analogy that I can make is that when I took my husband's family name (25 years ago this past Tuesday!), I also took the responsibility of bringing honor to that name.  Now, whatever I do is linked to the Hodges' family.  And it is a family that deserves honoring!  They have a great heritage and I am so blessed to be able to be a part of this wonderful family.

In the same way, I have taken Christ's name when I label myself as a Christian.  Whatever I do, should be done in the same way Jesus would do it; whatever I say, should carry the same message as Jesus proclaimed.  As Robert J. Morgan puts it, "That means we should do everything as though Jesus Himself were doing it.  Our every word should be as though Jesus were speaking it."

That's a lofty goal, and one which we will probably never be 100% successful---but that is our goal, that is our aim, and that is what should be in our minds all the time.  It really does come down to WWJD..."What would Jesus do?"  We don't have to wear a bracelet to remind us (although that's not a bad idea!).  When we have Colossians 3:17 embedded in our heart, subconsciously we will be reminded of our responsibility to be an accurate representation of Christ on earth.

I constantly fall short of representing Christ as well as I would like to.  My words can be sharp or sarcastic; my actions can display selfishness rather than the love that I desire to show.  But each morning brings with it another chance to be the person that Christ desires me to be today---to speak as He would, to love as He would. 

To do it all in His name...the name of Jesus...the name above all names!

 

Day 1 - Week 76 - Moving into the last quarter of our trip!

We have accomplished 3/4 of our journey of 100 Bible verses...can you believe it?  Last week I was privileged to get to hear Pam Tebow, mother of football star Tim Tebow, speak at a fundraising event here in Amarillo.  She spoke of the importance she had placed on teaching her children Scripture and that to help them remember the words, she would sing the verses to them.

This morning, I tried her method. It seemed especially appropriate for this past week's verse.

I sang...

Colossians 3:16 - Colossians 3:16 -
Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you
Teaching and admonishing
In all wisdom
Singing psalms
Hymns and spiritual songs
With gratitude in your hearts to God.

Throughout the day I found myself singing my self-composed tune to these wonderful words.  I found myself smiling as I finished, and thinking, "what gratitude is in my heart today!"  God's word is dwelling richly in me because of the past 75 weeks.  And now it's time to move forward and complete these next 25 weeks, so that we will complete our journey.

Let's look back at the most recent 24 weeks and then we'll add another verse to our "Faith" section:

The Holy Spirit's Role in our Lives (6)
Ephesians 5:18 "And don't get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless actions, but be filled with the Spirit."
Ephesians 5:19 "Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making music in to the Lord in your hearts."
Ephesians 5:20 "Giving thanks always for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
Ephesians 5:21 "Submitting to one another in the fear of Christ."
Galatians 5:22 "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control."
2 Timothy 1:14 "Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you...guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us."

Joy: God's Kind of Happiness (12)
Psalm 118:24 "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Philippians 4:4 "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice!"
Philippians 4:5 "Let your graciousness be known to everyone. The Lord is near."
Philippians 4:6 "Do not worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God."
Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
Romans 15:13 "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit."
James 1:2 "Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds."
James 1:3-4 "Knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you will be mature and complete, lacking nothing."
1 Thessalonians 5:16 "Rejoice always."
1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray constantly."
1 Thessalonians 5:18 "Give thanks in everything, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."


Faith: Trusting God and Resting in His Word (12)
Ephesians 2:8 "For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not from yourselves; it is God's gift."
Ephesians 2:9 "Not by works, so that no one can boast."
Ephesians 2:10 "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."
Galatians 2:20 "I have been crucified with Christ; and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me."
Colossians 3:15 "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."
Colossians 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."

Our sixth verse of faith, and the third in our triplet of Colossians 3:15-17, is:

Colossians 3:17 "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

You know what word really stands out for me in this verse?  "Whatever!"    Whatever we do, we are to do it in the name of Jesus, in an attitude of thanksgiving because of Jesus.  Wow - that has to indirectly place some restrictions on what we do, doesn't it?  How can we do things that are not glorifying to God in the name of Jesus?  We can't - it can't happen.  As Christians, we are to limit our words and our deeds to those things that honor our Father.  That really makes you stop and think about just what it is that you're doing, doesn't it?  All the time.  Every word, every deed, should be filtered through the consideration of how God views it.  The only way this can happen is by asking for the Holy Spirit to rule in our lives, otherwise we will never "take every thought captive." 

Our faith drives us to seek to please our Father, we seek to please Him because we are so grateful and thankful for what Jesus has done for us, that He has brought us back into our Father's household and family.  Faith says, "Pay attention to what you're doing.  God gave His best for you, now return to Him your best - in word, in deed."

Indeed!

Day 3 - Week 75 - Colossians 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."

I like the way Robert J. Morgan explains the differences between the types of singing that Paul lists:

"We're to sing out God's Word in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.  Psalms are Bible-based praises that are solid, deep, echoing the words of Scripture (especially the book of Psalms).  Hymns are rich and sturdy songs that stand the test of time.  Spiritual songs are lighter, livelier expressions of our faith and worship."

I'm not sure why churches seem to select one of the three forms and not be able to incorporate all into worship.  I love the hymns of old and I love much of the contemporary praise music.  There is merit to both and I think God loves hearing all styles of praise reaching His ears.  One style does not have to preclude the use of another.  But it seems that we have divided our worship into either solidly traditional or completely contemporary.  The church I attend has one "blended" service, which I think does a very good job of pulling old and new together; the other three services are contemporary.  But whichever style you prefer, Paul does tell us that worship includes singing...so sing!

Our worship should also include thanksgiving...expressing our gratitude to our God for all He has done for us as His children.  I don't think you can be truly worshipping God without feeling this deep sense of thankfulness for who He is, for what He has done, and for His promises yet to be fulfilled.  He is worthy of all of our gratitude...expression of that recognition has to be an integral part of true worship.

I also really appreciate the way Morgan closes out his thoughts on this verse:

"Worship should engage both mind and emotions.  Colossians 3:16 tells us to admonish with all wisdom (our minds) and to sing with our hearts (our emotions).  This recalls our Lord's words in John 4, that God desires us to worship Him in spirit and in truth."

Just as it seems that some churches seem to narrow their worship to one style, it also seems that churches often focus on one of the above elements over the other.  There are some churches that are highly intellectual but lack any emotion, while others are highly emotional without a good base of Biblical teaching and wisdom.  Seems to me that God is always trying to get us to see that balance is good for us in almost every area of our lives - and our worship of Him is to be balanced as well.  We need to feel His Spirit alive and active in our worship services and we should be moved, but our emotions can't be the only thing at work while we worship --- our brains and minds have to be focused on God, and we have to be seeking His truth, not just want makes us feel good.  In fact, worship, at times, should be painfully convicting. 

Sing - any way that glorifies God!
Thank - our Lord for all He is!
Think - about Him, about His Word, and apply it to your life!
Feel - His Spirit within you, prompting you to change, or to action!

Worship God!  He is worthy!