In Matthew 15 the Pharisees and Scribes come to Jesus and challenge Him on the law and their own manmade traditions.  They continually try to trap Jesus with these challenges yet Jesus doesn’t take the bait. Rather He is able to respond to them by pointing out how they have twisted and added to the Old Testament laws.
          I am challenged again by thoughts that I hold near and dear to myself.  What traditions do I cling to for dear life? What am I lacking in understanding that causes me to attempt to keep the letter of the law? Recently, I shocked my daughter during a conversation about tattoos. I should have taken her picture when I told her that I have come to the conclusion that my issue with tattoos is simply that I do not find them very attractive. It wasn’t about chapter and verse that I could point out; it wasn’t a “holier than thou” opinion. I simply have become aware that tattoos are not important but the souls and hearts of others should be my concern. I don’t post this for controversy. This is between my legalistic heart and God working in me to love above all else. You may not feel the need to bring the tattoo question before the Lord, but I am sure each of us has one “legal” matter we would like to ask Jesus about. At the least, we would want Him to agree with us. At the most, He would rather we agree with Him. Are we willing to have Him change our hearts on a matter?

Blessings,
Kathy Withers

Kathy’s on staff at America’s KESWICK in the Development Department. Kathy has been married to her husband Dave for 27 years.  They have two adult children. Kathy is active in her local Church and has taught Sunday School and Bible Studies for women. Her passion is to encourage women to deepen their walk with Jesus Christ by finding and living out the truths of God’s Word.

I will sing of Your love and justice, LORD. I will praise You with songs.
I will be careful to live a blameless life-when will You come to help me? I wil lead a life of integrity in my own home. I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them.
I will reject perverse ideas and stay away from every evil.
I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors. I will not endure conceit and pride.
I will search for faithful people to be my companions. Only those who are above reproach will be allowed to serve me.
I will not allow deceivers to serve in my house, and liars will not stay in my presence.
My daily task will be to ferret out the wicked and free the city of the LORD from their grip.

          I planned to just use portions of Psalm 101, but I couldn’t decide what to cut, so I just decided to use it all. This is all from the New Living Translation.

          I am so impressed with this passage of Scripture.  This psalm shows that this person knows what he stands for and he’s willing to take a stand for it.  And verse five says, “I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors.  I will not endure conceit and pride.”  Basically this psalm is giving a pattern for living.

          I recall hearing Maya Angelou tell of when she had asked a person to please leave her home because they were using language she would not tolerate in her home.  That lady has standards, and she is willing to uphold them.

          How do we respond to an off-color joke?  Do we just giggle with embarrassment, or do we let the person know that is not acceptable in our home?

          We need to pray that God will give us the courage to maintain our standards even when it might seem to be awkward to do so. I see a trend today that we are so concerned about offending the offender that we are becoming a people with no standards at all. As Christians we should be a group with standards and unbelievers need to know there are certain lines that WILL NOT be crossed.

MARILYN WILLETT HEAVILIN 

 Is a wife and mother; author & International conference speaker
 Author of Roses In December,
December’s Song
Becoming A Woman of Honor,
Profound Common Sense
When Your Dreams Die,
Grief Is A Family Affair,
I’m Listening, Lord

 

I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer.  (Psalm 17:6 NIV)

         “How are you feeling today?” can be one of the worst questions someone can ask us, at least if we want to be honest with them.  We are taught to have the joy of the Lord and to rise and shine as Christians and never be down or discouraged as believers.  I am not sure about you, but this seems like a tall order to complete some days.  Our strength does come from the Lord (Nehemiah 8:10), but there are still days when life seems to grip our hearts and lives and we become discouraged.
          I have a saying that I use over and over in my life: “I NEED A POSTCARD.” To me a little postcard in the mail from a friend can be such a blessing.  It can tell me how they are doing, that they are on vacation or maybe they just send a friendly hello with a verse of Scripture to encourage me.  A postcard always brings a smile to my face and brings a little joy.
           When life gets me down and discouraged and my heart is heavy, I find myself asking the Lord to send me a postcard of hope, encouragement, direction or whatever I think I need for that day.  Sometimes I have asked for a certified letter instead when things are really discouraging.
          Is your heart discouraged today?  Do you need a postcard?  We need to be in the Word daily to read and hear His words for us and we need to be in prayer daily to share our hearts with Him.  You might say that this is too basic and yes, we already know to do this … but are we doing it?  Sometimes when our heart is discouraged, we have stepped away from the Word and prayer without realizing how far we have gone.
          I call on you, O God, for you will answer me; give ear to me and hear my prayer (Psalm 17:6 NIV).  When I pray and then ask for a postcard, it is exciting to know that I will get one from the heavenly postal system.  It is always awesome to see the notes that He sends my way.
          God is always moving in our lives.  We do not always see it at the time and of course hindsight is 20/20.  We need to keep moving forward, and if we hit a road block of discouragement, ask for a postcard of direction, yell out for help and wait for the heavenly mail system to deliver just what we need.

Lynn A. Wilson

Writer for “Real Victory for Real Life” 
365 Devotional Thoughts in the Spirit of America’s Keswick
VOLUME 2
 To order a copy of “REAL VICTORY For REAL LIFE” 365 Devotional Thoughts in the Spirit of America’s Keswick, forwarded by Dr. Joseph Stowell visit  www.americaskeswick.org  and click on store. 

 

          I couldn’t resist sharing this from a recent post by Tedd Cadd found on Mary De Muth’s blog “Your Life Uncaged”.”There is a line from Leonard Cohen’s song ‘Anthem’ that serves as a reminder to me when I get into that place where I am trying to control everything and make it perfect. 

         The line is, “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”

          So many of us run around spackling all the cracks, trying to make everything look just right. This line helps me remember the beauty of the cracks… 

         It reminds me that our imperfections are not inadequacies, they are reminders that we’re all in this together. Imperfectly but together. 

         As I read that, I was reminded of lighthouses. Each lighthouse has a different light pattern and different paint and different design. Each lighthouse protects ships from dangers unique to its specific position. Should the lighthouse want to mimic another light, it puts the ships in its vicinity in danger. So the ships looking for a safe harbor need to see the real light pattern-not the made up one. 

        Each person’s story will touch lives but only when the story is told authentically. 

         We don’t find Jesus because of the parts of our lives that are whole. We find Him (or, perhaps, He finds us) because of the cracks. 

         So the Light comes in-if the crack is bigger, even more light gets in. If we buy into the lie that all is made perfect when Hhe comes in-and if we then start patching up the cracks-then others only see the lie and begin patching their cracks. 

         If I patch up my cracks and you patch yours, we will never find each other. We remain in darkness. 

        Like the lighthouses, my cracks and another’s are different but there are some similarities. When I tell you I was sexually abused as a child, you already know some things about me that I haven’t said. But our stories are also unique. And each story needs to be heard.

          When I finally got so very weary of patching my cracks-especially the big ones-I gave up. “Whatever you want to do, God, is fine with me.” 

         I expected Him to remove my pathetic spackling jobs and I wasn’t disappointed. I was unprepared for the pain He had to inflict to remove the debris.

          But instead of bringing a big bucket of Holy Spackle, He began framing each crack for a window. The most painful of all, He is taking all the broken pieces of my childhood-my life, one by one, and fashioning them into works of stained glass art, each window custom fit to a crack. 

         We are surrounded with darkness in a world run by the Prince of Darkness. If the Light has come in and if we refuse to board up our stained-glass cracks, others can see the beauty of our cracks-each drawn most desperately-violently even-to the colors in the cracks they share with us. That is where hope begins.If we insist on patching, we are boarding up a cathedral.How about you? How has God framed your pain to make a stained glass window?” 

         The Gifts of Imperfection by Dr. Brené Brown

Blessings,Kathy Withers

 
Kathy’s on staff at America’s KESWICK in the Development Department. Kathy has been married to her husband Dave for 27 years.  They have two adult children. Kathy is active in her local Church and has taught Sunday School and Bible Studies for women. Her passion is to encourage women to deepen their walk with Jesus Christ by finding and living out the truths of God’s Word.

 

          Another meeting at the Diner with a godly woman and it always leaves me thinking and searching my heart afterwards. This morning I opened my Bible to the reading for the day and find Matthew taking on the challenge to follow Jesus. I pick up the Believer’s Commentary on Matthew 9:9 and read this:
“The tense atmosphere building up around the Savior is temporarily relieved by Matthew’s simple and humble account of his own call. A tax-collector or custom house officer, he and his fellow officials were hated intensely by the Jews because of their crookedness, because of the oppressive taxes they exacted, and most of all, because they served the interests of the Roman Empire, Israel’s overlord. As Jesus passed the tax office, He said to Matthew, “Follow me.” The response was instantaneous; he arose and followed, leaving a traditionally dishonest job to become an instant disciple of Jesus. As someone has said, “He lost a comfortable job, but he found a destiny. He lost a good income but he found honor. He lost a comfortable security, but he found an adventure the like of which he had never dreamed.” Not the least among his rewards were that he became one of the twelve and was honored to write the Gospel which bears his name.”
          A good reminder for us is that when you and I follow Christ we may lose what the world considers success and position.  Note that Matthew didn’t lose due to unemployment or other factors beyond his control. He CHOSE to follow Christ, quickly, and it seems without fear or worry of the cost. Unlike me, who has to think about it, Matthew got up and and followed. Sometimes you and I need to think less and act more. What might you need to walk away from in order to follow Him and gain ALL that He has?

Blessings, Kathy Withers

Kathy’s on staff at America’s KESWICK in the Development Department. Kathy has been married to her husband Dave for 27 years.  They have two adult children. Kathy is active in her local Church and has taught Sunday School and Bible Studies for women. Her passion is to encourage women to deepen their walk with Jesus Christ by finding and living out the truths of God’s Word.

 

          I just love Pat Spies and her service to coordinate our Victory Calls. She is faithful to encourage the writers, collect the posts and get them scheduled and sent out. Pat is also faithful to edit my spelling and grammatical errors. She also advises me regarding a verse that I might need to tie up my thoughts. However, it never fails that when I think a Victory Call is complete and I hit send that I catch an error or incomplete thought on my own. I then have to email Pat and send her a revised copy with my own corrections. We always chuckle about this comedy of after thoughts. The best part is that Pat or I usually catch the errors.

          I wish I was as careful and as quick to note my errors with all my words before I “hit send.”  All of us have experienced the times our written words haven’t communicated what was on our hearts or at least the recipient didn’t think so. If we haven’t done it with the written word we sure have done it with words we have spoken. There is no way to get those words back after you send them. So, here is a thought from Louie Giglio, “Loose lips sink ships. Jesus, eliminate harmful torpedoes from my tongue.”

          May your written and spoken words today be encouraging and edifying: If they aren’t, then don’t hit send!

          Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14

Blessings,
Kathy Withers

Kathy’s on staff at America’s KESWICK in the Development Department. Kathy has been married to her husband Dave for 27 years.  They have two adult children. Kathy is active in her local Church and has taught Sunday School and Bible Studies for women. Her passion is to encourage women to deepen their walk with Jesus Christ by finding and living out the truths of God’s Word.

 

“Hear this, you heads of the house of Jacob

and rulers of the house of Israel,

who detest justice

and make crooked all that is straight,

who build Zion with blood

and Jerusalem with iniquity.

Its heads give judgment for a bribe;

its priests teach for a price;

its prophets practice divination for money;

yet they lean on the LORD and say,

“Is not the LORD in the midst of us?

No disaster shall come upon us.” Micah 3:9-11

          Has this verse described you at times as it does me? Oh, I DON’T mean that we overtly detest justice but neither do we actively pursue it.

          I DON’T mean that we intentionally go out of our way to make crooked all that is straight but neither do we intentionally make straight that which is crooked.

          I DON’T mean that we chose to build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity but neither do we stand up against those that do.

          I DON’T mean that we personally give judgment for a bribe; or teach for a price or practice divination but perhaps we look the other way because it is easier and safer.

          I DO mean that in so many ways we often live life on our terms day after day without conscious thought to God’s righteous rule in our life. Yet, here’s the clincher, yet we “lean on the Lord and say, “Is not the Lord in the midst of us?'”

          Guilty as charged!

          How about you? Lord, forgive my foolish, self-centered way of life. Forgive my presumption upon your kindness. May my life always reflect that you have bought me with a price; that I am Yours and You are mine.

Blessings, Diane

Diane Hunt is part of the Development and Addiction Recovery teams at America’s Keswick. In addition to being a Biblical Counselor, she is a Women’s speaker for retreats, conferences and events. She is a regular writer for Victory Call and one of the authors of Crossing the Jordan Bible Study. She has been married to her husband John over 28 years. She has 2 adult children and 3 grandchildren and 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all. She delights reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.

For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us.
(2 Corinthians 1:20 KJV)

      During a particularly challenging season in my life, I watched as what I thought were many constants went into chaos.  Unfortunately, my first instinct was to run to friends, family, even books.  My inner storm continued until I willingly yielded to the only One who can truly restore peace – my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. 
      Once I submitted to Him, He reminded me that only He is unchanging, immovable and sovereign.  These and so many other attributes and characteristics about God are useful in my everyday life and especially when I find myself in internal chaos.  I must train my mind and my heart to run to Him first, instead of to other people or things.
      One tool I use is to rehearse things that are ALWAYS true.  These phrases and the corresponding Bible verses are not dependent on my current circumstances.  The list is personal, but not exhaustive or comprehensive.  I use the list to review and remember what God promises to me, what He has done for me, and what is always true.  Here’s part of my list:
* God loves me and never stops loving me (1 John 4:7-11)
* God is sovereign (Ephesians 1:3-6)
* God is all-knowing (John 16:29-30)
* God is all-powerful (Nahum 1:3)
* God offered me salvation through the death and resurrection of Jesus (Romans 6:23)
* Salvation is forever (John 10:29)
* I accepted the offer of salvation and am a daughter of the King (Romans 5:8-10, Romans 8:15-16)
* God pursues me (Luke 15:1-10)
* God hates sin (Psalm 97:10)
* There is forgiveness from sin for the asking (1 John 1:9)
* All things in my life are for His glory and my good (1 Peter 5:6-11)
* God is good – all the time (Matthew 19:17)
* God allows difficult times to increase our faith and trust in Him (James 1:2-4)
* All God’s promises are “Yes” in Him (2 Corinthians 1:20)
* God desires to hear the wishes of my heart – even though He already knows them (Psalm 37:3-5)
* God is always listening (Psalm 121:3-4)
* God is my protector (Psalm 18:1-2)
   Pray about creating your own list.  Your list may be different.  God will give you things that meet you where you are.  Feel free to use some of the same entries, or start from scratch.  I pray it will be profitable as you continue on your journey with the Lord. 
  
Donna Connors

former staff and writer for “Real Victory for Real Life” 
365 Devotional Thoughts in the Spirit of America’s Keswick
VOLUME 2
 To order a copy of “REAL VICTORY For REAL LIFE” 365 Devotional Thoughts in the Spirit of America’s Keswick, forwarded by Dr. Joseph Stowell visit  www.americaskeswick.org  and click on store. 

 

Forever, O Lord, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens.  Psalm 119:89

          The Bible – start to finish – is God’s Word.  “All Scripture is breathed out by God…” 2 Timothy 3:16 Since the creation of the world in Genesis 1 – God’s Word, yet unwritten, was already true. 

          God’s Word is reliable – it says the same thing for every generation – The Word does not ebb and flow with world events, or each new generation.

          We can rest in the truth because it is unchanging – forever fixed in heaven. In a world where so much is rapidly changing, it is reassuring that God’s Word does not change and we can run to it day after day to find hope, peace, comfort and direction, an anchor for our souls. 

          Growing up… I heard the saying over and over, “there are only a few things in life that are certain” – “Death and taxes.” I’m not so sure about death because Enoch did not die (Heb 11:5) and those that are raptured will not experience death (regardless of WHEN on the calendar of world events you believe it will happen) 1 Thess 4:16-17.  Regarding taxes, even taxes are evaded by many dishonest and crooked people. 

          BUT THIS I know – one thing in life IS certain… GOD’S WORD IS FIRMLY FIXED IN THE HEAVENS. YOU CAN COUNT ON IT WITHOUT RESERVATION. 

          Immerse yourself in His steadfast Word and cling to the ANCHOR. Beyond a shadow of doubt, it will give you the most stability in life – without exception. 

   Blessings,
Diane

Diane Hunt is part of the Development and Addiction Recovery teams at America’s Keswick.  In addition to being a Biblical Counselor, she is a Women’s speaker for retreats, conferences and events.  She is a regular writer for Victory Call and one of the authors of Crossing the Jordan Bible Study. She has been married to her husband John over 28 years.  She has 2 adult children and 3 grandchildren and 3 adult step-children with 7 grandchildren making 10 in all.  She delights reading and teaching, but mostly laughing at the funny things her grandchildren say and do.  

 

          The following devotional is one that I receive weekly. When I read it today I instantly wanted to share it with my Victory Call sisters because all of us are experiencing life which is full of sadness and celebration. How are we to think on these things? The following devotional offers a perspective that I ask you to consider today, in the midst of your sad or celebratory moments. Stephanie P.

          “In normal life your celebrations don’t usually intersect with your sad times and your sad times aren’t typically your times of celebration. When you’re sad, you don’t really feel like celebrating anything much. The opposite is also true; when you’re celebrating, you don’t want your good spirits dampened by reasons to be sad. We try our best to keep our sadness and our celebration separate.          

          It just makes life less complicated.

          But Jesus has called us to be a sadly celebratory community or a celebratory sad community. Now why is this true? It’s true because Jesus calls you to a life of uncompromising honesty and a life of unchallenged hope. If you’re going to be honest, really honest, then you’re going to be sad. Why? Because you can’t be honest without recognizing the horrible legacy of damage that sin has left on each one of us and on the surrounding world.

          Sin damages us, it damages our relationships, and it damages our environment. There’s nothing you’ll ever examine or experience, this side of eternity, that hasn’t been damaged in some way by sin. The destruction is so widespread it almost leaves you breathless. When you’re really honest about how broken the world actually is, you can’t help but be profoundly sad.

          Yet we’re not just called to be people of honesty, we’re called to be people of hope as well. When you begin to consider how magnificent God’s love really is, when you begin to understand how powerful his grace is, and when you begin to realize that God is right now exercising both his love and his grace so that this world would be fully and completely restored, you can’t help but celebrate. This God who’s the ultimate definition of love and wisdom won’t leave us and the surrounding world alone until we and it are fully and completely restored to what we were meant to be in the beginning.

          So we should be the saddest and most celebrant community on earth. And we should be sad and celebratory at the very same time. We’re sad because we know how bad things actually are and we celebrate because we know that the help that Jesus offers us reaches to the deepest level of our need.

          Are you sad at the condition of your world and does your sadness dance with your celebration because you also know how great God’s life-transforming grace actually is? When you take those honest looks at your world, have you remembered that God won’t quit or rest until he’s made all things new?…

          May both celebration and sadness dance in your heart to the rhythm of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and may you weep with joy and celebrate with sadness until He makes all things new once again!1″
~~Paul David Tripp

Stephanie Paul serves as part of the Addiction Recovery Team at America’s Keswick as Director of Women’s Addiction Ministry. She has been married for almost 30 years to Sesky Paul who is a graduate of the Colony of Mercy. Stephanie serves alongside him as Care Group leaders in their church. They have two grown children.
Her single focus in ministry at Keswick is to image Christ in grace and truth to wounded and hurting women, encouraging them to make Jesus the truest Lover of their soul and the One in whom all hope lies.
1 http://paultripp.com/wednesdays-word