Are there degrees of death?

I know it sounds like a silly question. Are there degrees of death? Can a person be a little dead? I’m no doctor, but I’m pretty sure dead is dead.
I have often heard and even said the phrase, “The ground at the foot of the cross is level.” What does that mean? It means that sin is sin. Any sin, every sin, all sin required the blood sacrifice of the cross. “In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.” Hebrews 9:22 So every time you and I go to the cross, seeking forgiveness for our sin may we not be guilty of self-righteousness like the Pharisee in Luke 18, “Also He spoke this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others: “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, ‘God, I thank You that I am not like other men-extortioners, unjust, adulterers, (addicts, drunks, gamblers, unwed mothers, angry, inappropriately dressed) or even as this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I possess (I pay my bills on time, I save money, I am educated, I dress well, I don’t drink or use drugs). (Parenthesis added for emphasis). This Pharisee thought he was only partially dead but the others were fully dead. See the Scripture says, “The wages of sin is death….” Romans 6:23 “But each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then, when desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, brings forth death.” James 1:14-15 Sin brings forth death. That means what we would consider even the slightest sin results in death. The greatest sin results in death. All sin results in death. So before we minimize our own sin, we need to consider the cross was required for all of it. You and I were saved through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross. The person standing next to you is saved through the work of the cross. That brother or sister in Christ has been saved by the cross. The ground at the foot of the cross is level.
Diane

DETOURS…

Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto your own understanding, in all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths.”

Last week I sat and listened to Gloria Gaither talk about how she has seen God work in her life through interruptions. As I sit here today I have to say that God has worked in my life more through Detours than interruptions. As a child I thought I knew what I wanted to be when I grew up – a TEACHER. Then, I started substitute teaching during my early college years and a teacher friend of mine told me not to go into teaching – I didn’t fit into the four walls of a classroom. DETOUR 1. So, I decided to go into the Behavioral Sciences and Psychology so I could still work with children in some capacity. I graduated from College and started my masters while working at a children’s home. Then I met someone working at a university in student development and she suggested I move into this new and exciting field of work with college students. DETOUR 2. So, I finished my Masters and went to work in the college setting as a counselor. Then I fell in love with the leadership development and community service. DETOUR 3. Next thing I knew I was a Director of Community Service and a Leadership program at a College in Kentucky. While there I started to do workshops, seminars and conferences and then I began teaching. DETOUR 4. OK, so now I’m teaching…. While not having any plans except to continue working in the university setting God came along with another DETOUR – number 5 placing me back in counseling and service work in the Church Setting. Now, I’m working with Adults and doing major bible study programs. Thinking God has now brought me to a wonderful place allowing me to teach, counsel and work in community service all together I was ready to settle in for awhile. Along came DETOUR 6 when a series of family events took me to another job in the Addiction and Homeless field. Again I’m saying OK now I’m not just teaching people how to serve I am teaching and counseling those in direct need of compassion.

Are you still along for this ride? I certainly was because I found out again God wasn’t ready for me to settle in. Because of the ongoing family situation God choose to move me out of OHIO and move me back to NJ. Yes, you guessed it this was the move to KESWICK. DETOUR 7 was really a detour because I came to KESWICK and basically did nothing of what I had been doing my entire life. This detour brought me to the front desk in Guest Services where many of you met me for the first time. Interestingly enough at that location nothing was stagnant for very long, soon Robert Hayes had me doing seminars and workshops and then I started TEACHING again for the Biblical Institute. Then came DETOUR 8 – I decided to leave KESWICK and go back to my work with the homeless and addicted. It’s been just over a year since that Detour and God has allowed me new opportunities including a job that enabled me to get a lot of my Doctoral work done on company time and pay. This brings me up to DETOU R 9 – with all my class work done for my doctorate God is bringing me back to KESWICK. This time around I’m still teaching and doing workshops, but now I’m Directing two different departments at KESWICK – the Bible Institute and Guest Services.

Whew… I look back and see that every detour has added to my life and my ability to do the next thing God had in store for me. Does your life ever feel like a bunch of detours and you wonder if you’ll ever get back on the road you started on? I’ve learned that as long as I am listening to HIM – his detours have been better than anything I could have ever designed for my life. Sit back and enjoy the ride…. God knows the BEST ROUTE to your DESTINATION.

Jeremiah 29:11
LDJ

The most valuable gift

Job 6:11- 14 “What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me? A despairing man should have the devotion of his friends, even though he forsakes the fear of the Almighty.”

Do you have a family member or a friend who is going through a crisis? How have you responded in the midst of it all? Have you avoided them because you don’t know what to say or do? Maybe you have come to them and given them an “I told you so.” Perhaps you have tried to comfort them but your words and deeds have only added salt in the wound and now you just stay away. When a crisis comes there is a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness. Most often the feeling of loneliness is overwhelming. It may feel as if no one cares or understands the pain. The stress in the midst of crisis may seem like it is more than anyone could bear.

We know that God is always there in the midst of the pain the midst of the struggle (Isaiah 41:10). As the Body of Christ we…you and I…..are also called to minister to those who are hurting. 2 Corinthians 1:3 & 4 …the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. Job needed his friends in the midst of his suffering and pain. He was despairing, he was feeling hopeless and he needed his friends. Job’s friends did rally around him and for the first week they gave Job exactly what his aching heart needed…their time, presence, comfort and a listening ear. Unfortunately in the time that followed they opened their mouths. Your valuable time and a listening ear is what you can give to those who are hurting. It is timeless and priceless.

Has God placed a friend or family member on your heart? Are you telling yourself you will take care of it later? Do you think there are others who will make the call, make the visit, take the time to listen? God is calling you and me. Don’t ignore the voice of God and reach out to the person who has been on your heart and mind. You may be the only person who is answering the call. A time will come when you too will need the most valuable gift you are lovingly and obediently giving away…….your time.
Mary Ann

Meditation…my Last Word on the Subject

I recently read a magazine side-bar on the topic of meditation and the author, Nancy Christie offered the following for you to consider…

“The word meditation often conjures up images of saffron-robed monks in faraway mountain retreats- but the age-old practice is actually much more accessible than that. Even in the simplest forms, it can drop your blood pressure and heart rates significantly.” (Hey, that’s benefit enough to give it a try!)

In the article she suggests 10-20 minutes, but as I can already hear your collective shouts, I would propose beginning with 2-3 minutes. I know it doesn’t seem like much, but if you are going nonstop in your day, making the choice to stop, sit still and breathe for 2-3 minutes is a big step.

Dr. Herbert Benson, Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and author of The Relaxation Response, offers the following as “a simple routine to get started:
Find a chair where you can sit comfortably and quietly. Keep your legs uncrossed, feet flat on the floor; hands loosely in your lap. Close your eyes. Take a few deep breaths to begin. Then slowly and gently breathe into your abdomen.”

Okay all you faith-sisters out there, you can do this! Just in case you don’t know how to breathe; take note, your tummy should expand with each inhale and flatten when you exhale.
Dr. Herbert says to, “Concentrate on your breath and remove your focus from the chatter in your mind. Don’t try to stop thinking, just don’t attach your attention to it. Each time you get swept up in your thoughts, move your attention back to breathing.”

Trust me when I tell you, this will take some focused practice, but the benefit to your body is immediate. And it will be from this relaxed state that you can move forward and meditate on the Word the one sure thing we have to bring restorative peace to our soul and spirit.
Stephanie

Afterthought:
Just in case you’re wondering if it’s biblical to relax, here is something for you to consider:

“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day God finished His work that He had done. So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all His work that He had done in creation.” ~~ Genesis 2:1-3

A Little Bit More on Meditation

One of the components of meditation that almost every woman I know struggles with is stillness. Most of us are so busy doing that sitting still can seem an almost insurmountable task. So today we’re going to focus on the physical aspect of meditation.

In my ministry here at Keswick, stillness and quiet is something which is encouraged often. As women who are more like Martha than Mary, the suggestion to sit still and breathe is often met with a bit of resistance. “How can I take time to sit still, breathe and relax when I have so much that needs to be done?” I totally understand the question because I am what my Mom likes to call “a busy little bee” – or is a beaver?

Anyway, over the years my precious Mom has encouraged me to rest, relax and to just stop the busyness of my life long enough to regroup and refresh. So much so that she’ll send me off on a retreat. A few years ago she provided for a weekend at a very nice hotel by the ocean. It was a packaged weekend titled, “Creative Escapes”, and believe me I thoroughly enjoyed it. I felt rested and calmed for the first time in quite awhile. In fact, I didn’t know how stressed and tense I actually was until I relaxed. The difference I felt in my body was tangible.

If we were to start today, sowing the seeds of “quiet and stillness” into our own lives -in preparation to meditate- what would it look like? I recently read a magazine side-bar on the topic of meditation and the author, Nancy Christie offered the following for you to consider…

Come back tomorrow for the conclusion.

Until then, may the joy of the Lord be your strength. May you seek and find shelter under the shadow of His wing.

“When I remember You on my bed, I meditate on You in the night watches. Because You have been my help, therefore in the shadow of Your wings I will rejoice. ~~ Psalms 63:6-7 NKJV

Stephanie

Meditation 2

Yesterday we took a step toward reclaiming the word “meditate”. My intention was to motivate my own sluggish heart to remember the things of old.
In times of trouble it is often easy to get so caught up and almost entranced by our distress that we all too quickly forget our God and the history in which He has proven His faithfulness to all generations.

As I pushed forward after yesterday’s writing I was wholly encouraged by the following text from Psalms and I share it with you in the hope that you too will remember the God of your salvation; the One who stood with you in times of rejoicing and times of trouble. Jeremiah 29:13 says, “You will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.”
Psalms 77:1- 20
In the Day of Trouble I Seek the Lord

“I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, and He will hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted. When I remember God, I moan; when I meditate, my spirit faints. Selah You hold my eyelids open; I am so troubled that I cannot speak. I considered the days of old, the years long ago.
I said, “Let me remember my song in the night; let me meditate in my heart.”
Then my spirit made a diligent search: “Will the Lord spurn forever, and never again be favorable? Has His steadfast love forever ceased? Are His promises at an end for all time? Has God forgotten to be gracious? Has He in anger shut up His compassion?” Selah Then I said, “I will appeal to this, to the years of the right hand of the Most High.”
I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember Your wonders of old. I will ponder all Your work, and meditate on Your mighty deeds.
Your way, O God, is holy. What God is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; You have made known your might among the peoples. You with Your arm redeemed Your people, the children of Jacob and Joseph. Selah When the waters saw You, O God, when the waters saw You, they were afraid; indeed, the deep trembled. The clouds poured out water; the skies gave forth thunder; Your arrows flashed on every side. The crash of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; Your lightning’s lighted up the world; the earth trembled and shook. Your way was through the sea, Your path through the great waters; yet Your footprints were unseen. You led Your people like a flock by the hand of Moses and Aaron.”

Dear ones, whatever your trouble, cry out to God, remember Him and offer Him praise; praise to the one who is in the wind, the waves and whose Spirit is in you.
Through it all, in the midst of it all, let your heart meditate on Him.
Stephanie

Meditation
What do you automatically think of when you hear the word “meditation”?
In my experience, more often than not, when the word “meditation is mentioned there is an almost automatic frown that comes across the face. The reasons why are, I’m sure, as varied as are the individuals. The most common is its associate with “The New Age Movement”. And the last thing any born-again believer wants to be associated with is something as extreme as new age.

I think it’s time that we reclaim the word and make it our own in thought and in practice.
Let’s begin with the definition – simply put, meditation is:
1. the act of meditating
2. continued or extended thought; reflection; contemplation 3. devout religious contemplation or spiritual introspection 4. a devotional exercise of or leading to contemplation1

Let’s take one further step and define contemplation. The act of contemplating is:
1. full or deep consideration; reflection 2. thoughtful observation or study 3. a long and thoughtful observation 4. a calm, lengthy, intent consideration So, what shall we say then? As believers in Jesus the Christ, the Messiah, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, we are blessed with the awesomeness of God’s written, inspired Word; the most scared Book of books. We have in our midst something worthy of deep consideration, contemplation, observation and continued reflection.

I think it’s safe to say that meditation is far above and beyond the redundant and ridiculous contemplation of one’s naval. In addition it’s something every one of us could begin to practice today and discover a type of devotion to God that our souls have longed for. Can I get an Amen!

To be sure, mediation is not something that is unmentioned in Scripture. If I read and discern correctly, it is something that was indeed common. Check out the following Scripture:
Psalms 19:14: “Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.”
Psalms 119:97, 99: “O how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. I have more understanding than all my teachers, for your testimonies are my meditation.”
Psalms 1:1-2: “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night.”
Oh, I love this one:
Joshua 1:8a: “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it…Stephanie

Pick me UP…

During the course of my career I have spent time with, or worked with people that have struggled with depression. Unfortunately, it is one of the most common struggles in the life of Christians. I would suspect that those of you reading this either have struggled yourself or know someone close to you that has dealt with bouts of depressions.

If you were to study counseling you would find that there are a multitude of theories out there on how to “get over it”. Let me just say here – you don’t just “get over it”. The slide down is gradual, so is the climb out.

“What makes depression so powerful is the totality and the intensity with which it takes over the whole person. It isolates, drains physically, burdens emotionally, afflicts mentally, pollutes the imagination, obscures the vision, and overshadows hope; it enslaves you to its wishes as it weakens the will. In addition, it continues to serve you lies and, if allowed to progress long enough, develops poisonous habits, making death its ultimate triumph.” (Fincher)

Scripture gives us examples of people that have found themselves in this kind of despair. If we were then to look to scripture we might just unpack the “key” to unlocking the “chains” depression can have on us. Depression is totally opposite of everything God intended us to be and to do. Depression becomes the opposite of God’s goal for us: to Glorify and Worship Him.

Therefore, we can conclude that Worship becomes the prescription for depression. Romans 12 tells us to be “transformed through the renewing of our mind” ~ Worship transforms. Let’s take Psalms 77 as an example. In verses 1-6 we see Asaph talks frankly about his condition, in verses 7-10 he gives us his thoughts about his condition. Asaph then tells us of his resolution in verses 11-20: to meditate, to remember, and to consider all the deed of the LORD.

Are you struggling with depression? Do you find yourself feeling Blue? Do you need a pick me up? You can start now to Praise the LORD! Begin by reading and meditating on Psalms 104 to 106. Those three Psalms allow us to focus on “our creator” (104), “His faithfulness” (105), and “our salvation” (106). It won’t be instantaneous, but God promises it will transform!

LDJ

Nino Fincher “Depression RX”
www.christiancounseling.com

The Battlefield of the Mind 2

As we continue to consider practical ways to win the battle for our minds, let’s pick it up where we left off yesterday…

“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2 The most effective way I know of to accomplish this is to:
1. Know God’s truth and promises
2. Be ready for battle
3. Persevere

We need to “Know God’s truth and promises” or else we will have no ammunition in our arsenal. “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ”
2 Peter1:3-4, “His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, but which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature”
We need to “Be Ready for Battle” or else we will be easily overcome and discouraged. If we are not suiting up and ready for battle be will be caught unawares and unprepared. Knowing we are in a battle will give us the attitude necessary to fight. “Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.” Ephesians 6:11-13 We need to “Persevere”. Oh, sister, how I know, I mean I really know, how easy it is to give up. When those unwanted thoughts press in, they feel powerful and overwhelming -don’t believe it, not for one moment. Our thoughts only have power if we give it to them. Our propensity is to ‘try’ battle but surrender as soon as we realize our enemy is not going to give up easily. We must press-on. We must persevere. The battle was not won on our behalf without a fight. Jesus had to persevere through the first slash of the whip, the first stroke of the hammer, to the very end when He surrendered His Spirit into the Father’s Hands. Yet, the victory came when He rose again, conquering sin and death. Because He rose, you can persevere. Don’t give up. Don’t give up. Don’t give up. Ever.

Diane

The Battlefield of the Mind 1
War is raging on the battlefield of your mind. In the past few days/weeks I have had the privilege of ministering to some seriously hurting people. In various ways, they are battling to regain control of their thoughts. It is no place that you and I have not found ourselves at times in our lives. Perhaps you are in one of those times yourself right not. It seems as if there are times our thoughts are on a runaway train that we can’t keep on the track let alone stop. Oh, how powerful our mind is.
Because we live in a fallen, sin-sick world, our mind is much more likely to dwell on fleshly things rather than things of the Spirit. Have you ever noticed that when you want to sit and mediate on the Word that your mind flits hither and yon to everything BUT the Word. Yet, when you try not to think about something it seems as if that is all you can think about!!
“Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.” Colossians 3:2 How are we to do this? I know from experience that sometimes it feels impossible to tear our thoughts away from the negative, fearful, worrisome, angry, bitter, etc. So how do we “Set our minds?” Set means: “to direct with fixed attention; to place oneself in position in preparation for an action; to apply oneself to some activity”1 To direct, to place, to apply – all three imply intentional action, choice. This scripture could say – choose to set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. The most effective way I know of to accomplish this is to:
1. Know God’s truth and promises
2. Be ready for battle
3. Persevere

Tomorrow, I’ll go into some detail as to how these 3 things help in the battle for our minds.
Diane