In our Oaks Class we have been studying the book "Experiencing God" by Henry & Richard Blackaby and Claude King. This has been one of the best studies I have ever lead in all the years I've been teaching class. I personally have been challenged to go deeper much deeper in my relationship with God and I hope that this blog will give you a taste of what I am experiencing and create a desire within you for more of God in your life.
We have discovered that there are 7 Realities of Experiencing God that we must take to heart if we are going to go deeper with Him.
Reality 1: God Is Always At Work All Around You - God did not create the world and then abandon it to function on its own. He is at work all around us, but often we don't notice.
Reality 2: God Pursues A Continuing Love Relationship With You That is Real And Personal - The key word here is a "continuing". To think that the creator of the universe and mankind is "chasing after" us...He is in "hot" pursuit of us because of His great love for us. It is His desire that we return that love in a real and personal way.
Reality 3: God Invites You To Become Involved With Him In His Work. Often we ask God what is your will for my life? That is the wrong question to ask.(its too self-centered) The question we should ask is "What is God's Will"? You will find that answer in Matthew 22:37-40 and Matthew 28:18-20.
This is often referred to as the two greatest commandments and the great commission. You will discover that God's will is for mankind to be reconciled to Himself.
Reality 4: God Speaks by The Holy Spirit Through The Bible, Prayer, Circumstances, and the Church to Reveal Himself, His Purposes, and His Ways. Do you believe that God speaks to us today? Well He does. We cannot get to know God personally if we don't listen to His voice or learn to recognize His voice. In John 10:2-4 God says that his children recognize His voice and follow Him. Do you hear the voice of God calling you? If not, why not?
Reality 5: God's Invitation For You To Work With Him Always Leads You To A Crisis of Belief That Requires Faith And Action. To follow God you have to walk by Faith because without Faith it is impossible to please Him (Hebrews 11:6) Often times when God asks us to do something we will think that we cannot do it. God delights in taking weak vessels like us and displaying His power through us. Then He gets the glory He deserves. Folks will say "Whats that"? Wow!! Its God!!!!
Reality 6: You Must Make Major Adjustments In Your Life To Join God In What He is Doing? These adjustments may relate to your thinking, circumstances, relationships, commitments, actions, and beliefs. You can't stay where you are and go with God at the same time. We need to be moldable and be at God's disposal to be used as God chooses.
Reality 7: You Come To Know God By Experience As You Obey Him And He Accomplishes His Work Through You. When you come to Know God is is essential that you obey Him. The more you walk in obedience the more God will reveal Himself to you.
In our Oaks class we are now discussing ways in which God speaks to us. Last Tuesday November 2nd we discussed how God speaks through His written Word the Bible. We had an awesome experience practicing this principle. I wrote 20 different scriptures on a slip of paper and passed them out. Before each person choose a slip of paper we prayed that God would give the write scripture to the right person for whom He wanted to speak through His Word. We separated for 10 minutes and mediatated on the scriptures chosen before we came back and shared as a group.
It was amazing the women that received a message from God. The scripture they had chosen was perfect for the situation they were in. One lady shared that she has been worrying too much lately and God revealed to her even before she chose her verse that it would be one on worry and it was! Another lady was struggling with being a good example at school. Her heart is that others will know that she is different because of her faith. Her verse was "let your light shine before men so that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven". Another lady who is going through some health issues got the verse "outwardly you are wasting away but inwardly you are being renewed day by day". A reminder to keep her focus on that inward renewal and that the troubles she is facing are light and momentary. Time and Time again when heard testimonies of how the verse chosen was perfect for the situation. Ladies I am here to tell you that God cares about everything you are going through and wants to help you through it.
I am so thankful to have a group of ladies to connect with on a weekly basis. I invite you to join us if you are interested in growing stronger in your faith. We meet weekly on Tuesday evenings at 7pm at Media Church in Oxford. http://www.mmchurch.org/ All women all ages and stages are welcome. The youngest that attends our class is 11 and the oldest is in her 60's. We accept everyone just where they are. Come and feel the Love and Christ and the love of the church. There are no fees or pre-registration required. Just show up..you'll be glad you did!
If you have any questions, please contact me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com
Robin
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Monday, October 3, 2011
Experiencing God? What is that all about?
As I sit here and think about EXPERIENCING GOD, I say to myself, "Who wouldn't want to experience God". Who would not want to connect with the GOD of all Creation? The ONE who LOVES you just the way you are. (Enough to send His only Son to die on the cross for your sins) The ONE who is ALL- KNOWING (His directions are always right). The ONE who is ALL-POWERFUL (He can do anything). Who would not want to get to KNOW I mean really KNOW and EXPERIENCE a living relationship with this GOD? Unfortunately there are many out there who really don't seem to care. Maybe they don't believe He exists? Maybe they don't believe He Loves them and cares about them. I am here to tell you that whether or not you believe it doesn't change the facts.
GOD loves and cares for you more than anyone ever will and HE desires for you to know Him, Hear His voice and to Follow HIM. For He knows that this relationship with Him is what you have been looking for. It is the missing link in your life.
You may say but Robin, I accepted Christ as my Savior, a long time ago, I was baptized, I attend church every week. Or you may say but Robin, you don't have to go to church to be saved, I did all that religious stuff and I know I'm saved now I can move on, do things my way. I say, deep inside are you
at peace, or is something still missing? For many out there, something is missing and that something is
a personal relationship with a living God. Many out there know about God but they do not KNOW GOD. They are not living their lives the way the Bible teaches..they have been doing things their way and are living miserable, depressing lives in bondage to sin. JESUS wants to set you free. God is doing a new thing, He is calling WOMEN back to Him. Its not about getting "religious", its about really letting go of life as you know it, and letting God do HIS thing in your life. Learning to trust HIM completely and living your life in a way that others will know that you are "GODS WOMAN" and trust me God takes care of His women. God is inviting you to join Him in His Work.
Having said I that I invite you to join us on Tuesday evenings at Media Church at 7PM. We are currently studying "Experiencing God". The women there are all at different stages in life. God is drawing them into a deeper relationship with Him...and He is calling you too. No matter where you are or what you've done...... Come Home Running His arms are open wide, His name is JESUS yes He's the One. HE is the answer you've been looking for, Come Home Running just as you are....Hope to see you soon. If you have any questions, please e-mail me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com or check us out at "Oaks of Righteousness" womens ministry page at http://www.mmchurch.org/
GOD loves and cares for you more than anyone ever will and HE desires for you to know Him, Hear His voice and to Follow HIM. For He knows that this relationship with Him is what you have been looking for. It is the missing link in your life.
You may say but Robin, I accepted Christ as my Savior, a long time ago, I was baptized, I attend church every week. Or you may say but Robin, you don't have to go to church to be saved, I did all that religious stuff and I know I'm saved now I can move on, do things my way. I say, deep inside are you
at peace, or is something still missing? For many out there, something is missing and that something is
a personal relationship with a living God. Many out there know about God but they do not KNOW GOD. They are not living their lives the way the Bible teaches..they have been doing things their way and are living miserable, depressing lives in bondage to sin. JESUS wants to set you free. God is doing a new thing, He is calling WOMEN back to Him. Its not about getting "religious", its about really letting go of life as you know it, and letting God do HIS thing in your life. Learning to trust HIM completely and living your life in a way that others will know that you are "GODS WOMAN" and trust me God takes care of His women. God is inviting you to join Him in His Work.
Having said I that I invite you to join us on Tuesday evenings at Media Church at 7PM. We are currently studying "Experiencing God". The women there are all at different stages in life. God is drawing them into a deeper relationship with Him...and He is calling you too. No matter where you are or what you've done...... Come Home Running His arms are open wide, His name is JESUS yes He's the One. HE is the answer you've been looking for, Come Home Running just as you are....Hope to see you soon. If you have any questions, please e-mail me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com or check us out at "Oaks of Righteousness" womens ministry page at http://www.mmchurch.org/
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Oak of Righteousness??? Huh...thats not me!
Oak of Righteousness???? Say what? Thats certainly not me!!!!
Lately I have heard that statment more than once and I smile. Just so there is no confusion I'd like to share with you what you are in Christ.. A person is a "Oak of Righteousness" when they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, Repented of their sins, and are sincerely following the teaching of the Bible but only in God's sight. When God looks at us, he doesn't see what we used to be...He see's Jesus in all his perfecton..... Even though we are not perfect, we are forgiven and our sins have been washed away. Therefore we are an "Oak of Righteousness" in God's sight... Praise the Lord!!!!
Although from our perspective..some of us are little acorns....a seed that hasn't sprouted yet...others are acorns with a little sprout...and others are young oak trees, and others are mature Oak Trees with a strong faith. No matter where you are in this example....the important thing is that you are alive and growing in faith. Someone told me one time that if you are not growing in your faith you are backsliding...cause there is no such thing as standing still. What do you think?
In our Oaks of Righteousness Class, we have just started reading and discussing the book "Experiencing God". So many folks "know about" God but they don't "know" God. God desires a deep intimate personal relationship with each one of His children and has made that possible through Christ. (John 17:3)
No matter where you are in your life, no matter what stage or age. You are welcome to join us on Tuesday evenings at 7PM at Media Church. I'm sure you will fit right in. Contact me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com if you have any questions.
Read: Isaiah 61:1-3
Look at the type of people God was referring to when He referred to them as Oaks of Righteousness....interesting.
Come check us out and don't let our name scare you!
Robin Martin
Lately I have heard that statment more than once and I smile. Just so there is no confusion I'd like to share with you what you are in Christ.. A person is a "Oak of Righteousness" when they have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, Repented of their sins, and are sincerely following the teaching of the Bible but only in God's sight. When God looks at us, he doesn't see what we used to be...He see's Jesus in all his perfecton..... Even though we are not perfect, we are forgiven and our sins have been washed away. Therefore we are an "Oak of Righteousness" in God's sight... Praise the Lord!!!!
Although from our perspective..some of us are little acorns....a seed that hasn't sprouted yet...others are acorns with a little sprout...and others are young oak trees, and others are mature Oak Trees with a strong faith. No matter where you are in this example....the important thing is that you are alive and growing in faith. Someone told me one time that if you are not growing in your faith you are backsliding...cause there is no such thing as standing still. What do you think?
In our Oaks of Righteousness Class, we have just started reading and discussing the book "Experiencing God". So many folks "know about" God but they don't "know" God. God desires a deep intimate personal relationship with each one of His children and has made that possible through Christ. (John 17:3)
No matter where you are in your life, no matter what stage or age. You are welcome to join us on Tuesday evenings at 7PM at Media Church. I'm sure you will fit right in. Contact me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com if you have any questions.
Read: Isaiah 61:1-3
Look at the type of people God was referring to when He referred to them as Oaks of Righteousness....interesting.
Come check us out and don't let our name scare you!
Robin Martin
Sunday, August 14, 2011
God Is Life - 1st John 5
WE have been taking a look at the book of 1st John and learning that God is Light and God is Love and God is Life....and hopefully learning what all of that means. Now we will continue our study.....
John is telling us in Chapter 3 how much God loves us and that we ARE His children. Take comfort in that...we are children of the only true God...we are HIS and HE loves us so very very much.
He continues to repeat the importance of living a life worthy of the name of Jesus. The importance of
obeying God's word and loving one another in the body of Christ. John goes as far as to say if you choose to live in sin after accepting Christ then you are not a child of God. He also says that if you do not love those in the body of Christ that you are not a child of God. What does it mean to love your brother or sister in Christ? We need to have concern for them and help them whenever we can. John ends chaper 3 by telling us that we will know that Jesus lives in us by the Spirit that he gave us.
In Chapter 4 John begins by telling us to test the Spirits to see if they are from God. John is recognizing that not all spirits are God sent and we should not believe all of them. John says that any spirit that says that Jesus did not come in the flesh is not from God. You cannot have God w/o acknowledging that Jesus came as a baby through the virgin birth. Anyone who does not acknowledge Jesus is anti-christ which means against Christ and a false spirit is at work. John continues to tell us that we have nothing to fear from them because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and God's Spirit is greater than the other spirits in the world. False teachers will have a following....the world...they follow the false teaching of evil spirits because often they will tell them exactly what they want to hear. But we are from God and those that listen to us know the true God in whom is the Spirit of Truth.
Remember that God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all and God is Love and whoever lives in love has been born of God and when we live in love we can have confidence on judgment day that we are His. We will not live in fear of the coming judgment because "perfect love casts out fear". And Jesus Christ is perfect love. John reminds us again that if we love God we will love our brothers and sisters in Christ. As many times as John repeats this it must be awful important.
So many folks today say they love God but they don't want to be involved in the local church which is the Body of Christ. I have a real hard time with this. How can a person say they love God and yet not
love His Body. One of the first signs I had when I put Jesus first in my life was a love for the body of Christ. A love that I didn't have prior to that. And still yet today God has put a love in my heart for people that the world just don't understand. Often I am asked "why do you care"? I often answer its a God thing and that it is. If you are ever going to be what God wants you to be you must get over this hurdle and stay connected to a body of believers. Not just for what you can get but for what you can give. The church will be the ones you spend eternity with. Why would you want to go to heaven to spend eternity with Gods people when you can't seem to stand a couple of hours a week down here with them.
Examine your heart cause something ain't right!! If you are in this position you need to cry out to God in prayer and ask Him to give you a willing heart, to give you a brand new start. To create in you a love that is real...to give you a willing heart. And keep crying out to HIM until something inside of you changes.
Chapter 5 begins GOD IS LIFE.
Making God first in your life means that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and have made Him Lord of your life. You are thus living a Life of Love which God enables you to do. We love God so we carry out His commands all day every day. And His commands are not burdensome...they are not a heavy load. What commands am I referring too? Not the OT commandments but the NT commands. To love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to Love your neighbor as yourself...thus the world will know that we are from God, His children and be drawn to Him. Because we love God we love to do his will.
I've explained this to others like this. When I was a child and even now...I love to please my earthly parents. Why? Because I love them. I don't want to disappoint them. Thats the way it is with my heavenly Father...I obey Him because I love Him and don't want to disappoint Him. And it really is a JOY to serve and follow Jesus. I am able to overcome the world because of my faith in Christ. What does this mean. It means that I can rise above the temptations of the world. It means I can choose to respond to the situations in life that God allows in a way that pleases Him. Why? Because I know that He will give me the ability to do what He has called me to do. God will never call you to do something that He cannot equip you to do.
This power from God comes to all those who put their faith in Jesus. John makes it very clear in verses ll and 12 that if you have the Son you have eternal life and if you do not have the Son you do not have ethernal life. So you see that God is LIFE, not just LIFE here on earth but ETERNAL LIFE. John concludeds this book by saying that He wrote this letter so that we can KNOW we have eternal life and with that knowledge comes special privileges. One of them being the confidence that when we come to God in prayer that He hears our prayers and we have whatever we ask of Him if it is His will.
John proceeds to tell us some of the things we should pray for....He says that we should pray for each other....he refers to a sin that leads to death. What is that sin? It could be many things. In the Bible there are accounts of folks that committed a sin and were killed instantly for it. You see God doesn't take sin lightly and neither should we. John reminds us again, that anyone who is "born again" should not continue to live a lifestyle of sin. John also reminds us that those that are "born again" are kept safe by God and Satan cannot touch us. John ends this book by reminding Gods children to keep themselves from "idols". An idol is anything that you put between you and God.
We live in a world where there are so many "idols". A 21st century idol could be money, sex, drugs, alcohol, anything that you are addicted to that you know isn't God's will for you. It could be a person, your husband or your children or your job or your home. It could even be your ministry. I must constantly examine my heart and let God speak to me about such things. Then as His Holy Spirit teaches and leads me I must be willing to let them go and "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness" knowing that everything else will take care of itself.
Its my prayer that the Holy Spirit has spoke to you as you have read these lessons. Its my prayer that if you are not in a right relationship to God through Christ that you will consider taking the steps to do so.
It is also my prayer that you will live a life worthy of the calling that you have received. It is my prayer that you will continue to grow in your love relationship with God...for no one no where will ever love you like HE does. It is also my prayer that if you are not part of a church family that you will start looking for the right church for you. Its out there...ya just gotta find it...and I bet you won't have to look
very far.
WE are told in John 10:10 That Jesus came that we may have life and have it to the full. The abundant life....are you living the life God desires you to live?
Remember that GOD is LIGHT...GOD IS LOVE...and GOD IS LIFE...now what more could a girl want?
Joyfully serving Jesus
Robin
* We have begun our study of "Experiencing God" in our Oaks class that meets on Tuesday evenings at 7PM at Media Church in Oxford. All women all ages and stages are welcome to join us. If you have any questions contact me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com.
John is telling us in Chapter 3 how much God loves us and that we ARE His children. Take comfort in that...we are children of the only true God...we are HIS and HE loves us so very very much.
He continues to repeat the importance of living a life worthy of the name of Jesus. The importance of
obeying God's word and loving one another in the body of Christ. John goes as far as to say if you choose to live in sin after accepting Christ then you are not a child of God. He also says that if you do not love those in the body of Christ that you are not a child of God. What does it mean to love your brother or sister in Christ? We need to have concern for them and help them whenever we can. John ends chaper 3 by telling us that we will know that Jesus lives in us by the Spirit that he gave us.
In Chapter 4 John begins by telling us to test the Spirits to see if they are from God. John is recognizing that not all spirits are God sent and we should not believe all of them. John says that any spirit that says that Jesus did not come in the flesh is not from God. You cannot have God w/o acknowledging that Jesus came as a baby through the virgin birth. Anyone who does not acknowledge Jesus is anti-christ which means against Christ and a false spirit is at work. John continues to tell us that we have nothing to fear from them because we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us and God's Spirit is greater than the other spirits in the world. False teachers will have a following....the world...they follow the false teaching of evil spirits because often they will tell them exactly what they want to hear. But we are from God and those that listen to us know the true God in whom is the Spirit of Truth.
Remember that God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all and God is Love and whoever lives in love has been born of God and when we live in love we can have confidence on judgment day that we are His. We will not live in fear of the coming judgment because "perfect love casts out fear". And Jesus Christ is perfect love. John reminds us again that if we love God we will love our brothers and sisters in Christ. As many times as John repeats this it must be awful important.
So many folks today say they love God but they don't want to be involved in the local church which is the Body of Christ. I have a real hard time with this. How can a person say they love God and yet not
love His Body. One of the first signs I had when I put Jesus first in my life was a love for the body of Christ. A love that I didn't have prior to that. And still yet today God has put a love in my heart for people that the world just don't understand. Often I am asked "why do you care"? I often answer its a God thing and that it is. If you are ever going to be what God wants you to be you must get over this hurdle and stay connected to a body of believers. Not just for what you can get but for what you can give. The church will be the ones you spend eternity with. Why would you want to go to heaven to spend eternity with Gods people when you can't seem to stand a couple of hours a week down here with them.
Examine your heart cause something ain't right!! If you are in this position you need to cry out to God in prayer and ask Him to give you a willing heart, to give you a brand new start. To create in you a love that is real...to give you a willing heart. And keep crying out to HIM until something inside of you changes.
Chapter 5 begins GOD IS LIFE.
Making God first in your life means that you have accepted Jesus Christ as your Savior and have made Him Lord of your life. You are thus living a Life of Love which God enables you to do. We love God so we carry out His commands all day every day. And His commands are not burdensome...they are not a heavy load. What commands am I referring too? Not the OT commandments but the NT commands. To love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and to Love your neighbor as yourself...thus the world will know that we are from God, His children and be drawn to Him. Because we love God we love to do his will.
I've explained this to others like this. When I was a child and even now...I love to please my earthly parents. Why? Because I love them. I don't want to disappoint them. Thats the way it is with my heavenly Father...I obey Him because I love Him and don't want to disappoint Him. And it really is a JOY to serve and follow Jesus. I am able to overcome the world because of my faith in Christ. What does this mean. It means that I can rise above the temptations of the world. It means I can choose to respond to the situations in life that God allows in a way that pleases Him. Why? Because I know that He will give me the ability to do what He has called me to do. God will never call you to do something that He cannot equip you to do.
This power from God comes to all those who put their faith in Jesus. John makes it very clear in verses ll and 12 that if you have the Son you have eternal life and if you do not have the Son you do not have ethernal life. So you see that God is LIFE, not just LIFE here on earth but ETERNAL LIFE. John concludeds this book by saying that He wrote this letter so that we can KNOW we have eternal life and with that knowledge comes special privileges. One of them being the confidence that when we come to God in prayer that He hears our prayers and we have whatever we ask of Him if it is His will.
John proceeds to tell us some of the things we should pray for....He says that we should pray for each other....he refers to a sin that leads to death. What is that sin? It could be many things. In the Bible there are accounts of folks that committed a sin and were killed instantly for it. You see God doesn't take sin lightly and neither should we. John reminds us again, that anyone who is "born again" should not continue to live a lifestyle of sin. John also reminds us that those that are "born again" are kept safe by God and Satan cannot touch us. John ends this book by reminding Gods children to keep themselves from "idols". An idol is anything that you put between you and God.
We live in a world where there are so many "idols". A 21st century idol could be money, sex, drugs, alcohol, anything that you are addicted to that you know isn't God's will for you. It could be a person, your husband or your children or your job or your home. It could even be your ministry. I must constantly examine my heart and let God speak to me about such things. Then as His Holy Spirit teaches and leads me I must be willing to let them go and "Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and His Righteousness" knowing that everything else will take care of itself.
Its my prayer that the Holy Spirit has spoke to you as you have read these lessons. Its my prayer that if you are not in a right relationship to God through Christ that you will consider taking the steps to do so.
It is also my prayer that you will live a life worthy of the calling that you have received. It is my prayer that you will continue to grow in your love relationship with God...for no one no where will ever love you like HE does. It is also my prayer that if you are not part of a church family that you will start looking for the right church for you. Its out there...ya just gotta find it...and I bet you won't have to look
very far.
WE are told in John 10:10 That Jesus came that we may have life and have it to the full. The abundant life....are you living the life God desires you to live?
Remember that GOD is LIGHT...GOD IS LOVE...and GOD IS LIFE...now what more could a girl want?
Joyfully serving Jesus
Robin
* We have begun our study of "Experiencing God" in our Oaks class that meets on Tuesday evenings at 7PM at Media Church in Oxford. All women all ages and stages are welcome to join us. If you have any questions contact me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
The OAK Tree...A Message of Encouragement
I received this card from a very special lady in my life and I want to share it with all you Acorns/Oaks out there.
God never promised that life always go smoothly...as a matter of fact he said "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world" John 16:33 He also says "Come to me all of you who are weary and heavy burden and I will give you rest.....learn from me and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." God also says in His Word that our trials come to make us strong and this poem is a reflection of that. Its so comforting to know that no matter how hard trials are in life there is rest for our souls and its found in Jesus Christ. Will you let Him wrap His arms around you today and hold you tightly until He commands the wind to stop?
A mighty wind blew night and day.
It stole the oak tree's leaves away,
then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark
Until the oak was tired and stark.
While other trees fell all around.
The weary wind gave up and spoke,
"How can you still be standing, Oak?"
The oak tree said, " I know that you
Can break each branch of mine in two,
Carry every leaf away, Shake my limbs, and make me sway.
But I have roots stretched in the earth,
Growing stronger since my birth.
You'll never touch them, for you see
They are the deepest part of me.
Until today, I wasn't sure
Of just how much I could endure
But now I've found, with thanks to you,
I'm stronger than I ever knew."
Whatever it is that you are going through...try to remember that you're stronger than any problem you encounter or any disappointment life will bring.......
I'm thinking of you...believing in you..... and caring for you.......
Love and Prayers...
Robin
And they shall be called Oaks of Righteousness a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor...Isaiah 61:1-3
God never promised that life always go smoothly...as a matter of fact he said "In this world you will have trouble, but take heart for I have overcome the world" John 16:33 He also says "Come to me all of you who are weary and heavy burden and I will give you rest.....learn from me and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." God also says in His Word that our trials come to make us strong and this poem is a reflection of that. Its so comforting to know that no matter how hard trials are in life there is rest for our souls and its found in Jesus Christ. Will you let Him wrap His arms around you today and hold you tightly until He commands the wind to stop?
A mighty wind blew night and day.
It stole the oak tree's leaves away,
then snapped its boughs and pulled its bark
Until the oak was tired and stark.
While other trees fell all around.
The weary wind gave up and spoke,
"How can you still be standing, Oak?"
The oak tree said, " I know that you
Can break each branch of mine in two,
Carry every leaf away, Shake my limbs, and make me sway.
But I have roots stretched in the earth,
Growing stronger since my birth.
You'll never touch them, for you see
They are the deepest part of me.
Until today, I wasn't sure
Of just how much I could endure
But now I've found, with thanks to you,
I'm stronger than I ever knew."
Whatever it is that you are going through...try to remember that you're stronger than any problem you encounter or any disappointment life will bring.......
I'm thinking of you...believing in you..... and caring for you.......
Love and Prayers...
Robin
And they shall be called Oaks of Righteousness a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor...Isaiah 61:1-3
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
1st John 2:3--4:21 God Is Love
The book of 1st John is gives us 3 Definitions of God. God is Light, God is Love and God is Life. This book also tells us what a Christian life should look like. It goes right back to the basics of our faith. Being a Christian means so many different things to different people in our world today. There is much confusion about this subject. What is a Christian? I hope this study helps you to understand how God intends those that call themselves Christians to live their lives. Get our your bible and look up the scriptures but before you do that pray and ask God to reveal His truth to you. To help you understand and apply this teaching to your life.
READ 1st John 2:3-11
Last time we talked about God being Light and how important it is for Christians to walk in the Light in order to have fellowship with God. Now we are going to talk about God being Love and how important it is that Christians walk in Love in order to have fellowship with each other. Fellowship means having in common with or sharing with. Christian fellowship means sharing the things of Christ. Its God's desire that we have fellowship with Him and fellowship with one another in the church. Love is the main ingredient in this relationship. Remember the two greatest commandments God gave the NT church was to Love God and to Love others. Matthew 22:37.
In verse 3-4 of chapter two we are told that "we have come to know God if we obey His commandments. The man that says he knows God but does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him." In this section of scripture John is talking about assurance of salvation not security. Assurance of your salvation comes when you keep God's commandments. He is not talking about the Law here (10 commandments of OT) He is talking about his own family commandments that you find in the NT. The NT is full of commandments, things like carry each others burdens, rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, don't quench the Spirit,be patient,kind compassionate. ect. John is saying in order to have fellowship with God and enjoy it by having assurance in our hearts that we are his children we must keep His commandments. We do not do as we please but as Jesus commands. We know God by experience. If you walk in disobedience you do not know Him your life is a lie. Jesus said in John 8:29 that he always did what pleases the Father, Jesus always did but we don't but that should be our desire. John 3:36 says that he who believes has eternal life, but when we walk in obedience we have the assurance of that life. John 14:15 says if you love me keep my commandments. Because of our love for God we should want to go beyond the call of duty. Some people want to live as much as possible like the unsaved and still be a Christian. Often times folks ask me can I do this and still be a Christian? The question they should be asking is what can I do to please God?
What is your attitude toward sin? Do you take it lightly? I assure you God doesn't. He paid a high price so that your sins may be forgiven. When you sin do you cry out to God and ask for forgiveness? When you do God will restore your fellowship with Him and bring assurance to your heart. If we are going to walk in the Light we must walk as Jesus did. Live according to his teaching. Jesus never messed up but we do. When we mess up...admit it and quit it. We must walk in Love. This was not something new...the church had heard this many times before (John 13:34-35, John 15:10-12) and so have you. They had forgotten? Have you?
.
Take an inventory of yourself by asking yourself the following question.....Do you hate your brother? It is impossible for you to walk in the Light if you hate your brother. There is a natural darkness that we are all born into (Eph. 4:8, John 3:19)...that is what John means when he says we are walking in darkness if we hate our brother. We are not responsible for being born in darkness but we are responsible if we reject the Light that comes from the Word of God. When you walk in the Light the darkness flees. This is a test that John gives us to see if we are in darkness. John 8:12 "I am the light of the world whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life". Have you trusted Christ as your Savior and made Him Lord so that you don't hate your brother? (Brother here means your brothers and sisters in Christ. John is talking about your church family.)
READ 1 John 2:12-17
Here John changes the subject and talks about 3 different degrees of believers.
Fathers are the saints who have known Jesus for many years and have matured in their faith. Phil. 3:10 would describe these folk.
Young Men are not as mature as the fathers because of lack of experience but they have learned the secret of overcoming the enemy by the Blood of Christ and the Word of God.(Eph. 6:17 tell us that we have to put on the armor of God in order to defeat the devil. Part of that armour is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. ) These young believers have learned how to live for God by resisting the devil.
Dear Children are those that are immature in their faith. They know they are God's child but that is all they know and some feel its all they want to know. Have you ever met someone like that? I have. They want to be saved so they don't go to hell, but they still want to do what they want to do. They are not walking in the Light nor are they walking in Love. They may or may not attend church or bible study but even if they do..they think it is enough. The Word of God is like food. You need it daily in order to become strong and to grow in your faith.
John reminds the church in v.15-17 that they are not to love the world. He is talking about the world system here. The organized system headed by Satan which leaves God out and is in opposition to him. Read John 14:30 "satan is the prince of the world" 16:11 he is referred to as "prince of the world". Eph. 2:2 refers to before we were saved we followed the ways of the world. Gal. 6:14 says we are either for one system or the other. Again John tells us not to love the world and then he tells us of three different types of sin. The Lust of the flesh(sinful desires from within) Lust of the eyes (beautiful things) and the Pride of life(what you take pride in, what makes you feel superior to someone else) Satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden and Jesus in the wilderness in these same three areas, and today Satan tempts us in the same way. I have heard it said that every sin we can commit falls under one of these three categories. Interesting...think about that. In verse 17 he tells us why we should not love the world...because these tings will pass away but whoever does the will of God will live forever.
READ 1 John 2:18-29
Remember in the church at that time false teachers had come in and the people were getting confused. There are false teachers in the church today that do the same. That is why it is so important that you study God's word so you know false teaching when you hear it.
When John refers to "dear children" he is referring to all of God's family. The last hour has been going on ever since Jesus left this earth. Anti-christ means either "against" or "an imitation". Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ, God in flesh, is the antichrist. John is saying in v. 19 that these people were people that were in the church professing to be Christians, they were baptized, took communion had all the outward signs. How can you tell if a person is really not a child of God? John says here that one way is they will eventually leave the assembly of believers and go right back into the world system. (2 Pet. 2:22) Even among the 12 disciples that followed Jesus and sat under his teaching was a traitor..a hypocrite.( Someone pretending to be something they are not.) His name was Judas. He was at the first communion service when Jesus washed the disciples feet. Jesus calls him a "devil" in John 6:70. See you can fool people sometimes but you can't fool God. He knows your every thought and your every intention. The bible says "be sure your sins will find you out". In John 3:3 Jesus told Nicodemos that if you want to have eternal life...you must be "born again". Are you born again? What does that mean anyhow?
Ask yourself the following questons:
1. Have you faced up to your sins in the light of the cross of Jesus Christ?
2. Have you come to God in repentance, acknowledging your sin? (repentance means turn from)
3. Have you cast yourself to Jesus and Jesus only for salvation? (you cannot ever be good enough without Jesus)
4. Is there evidence in your life that you are born again? (that your old sinful way of living, has died and now you live a new life in Christ) Gal. 6:15
5. Do you love the word of God, do you hunger for it as food?
6. Do you love the church (God's people)?
7. Do you love the Lord Jesus?
2 Corinthians 6:15 tells us to examine ourselves. I'm not talking about whether or not you commit a sin but what you do after you sin. Do you continue? We can have fellowship with God in spite of the fact that we are weak, and we have fallin short because of the blood of Jesus, God's son keeps cleansing us from sin. (1 John 1:9) He is our advocate. He is on our side. We can have fellowship with each other when we walk in Love. We must recognize that we are called to live differently than the world. We now live for God. Obedience is the test of life. We know whether we have eternal life or not if we keep His commandments.
We are not under the Law (OT) but under Grace (NT) God's Riches At Christs Expense is my favorite defination of grace.
Law says: If a man does he shall live
Grace says: If a man lives he will do.
God does it to you before He does it through you. We obey God because we are saved not because we want to be saved. You have to have a life from God before you can live for God.
You cannot have fellowship with God and other believers if you are living in sin. Proverbs 28:13. John said in John 10:27-28 "My sheep (children) know my voice and listen. We follow Him. He gives us eternal life and no one can snatch them out of his hand". I believe in the security of the believer, but I also believe in the insecurity of the make-believer.
John proceeds to tell the church that they (the true believers) have an annointing from the Holy One (Holy Spirit) and they know the truth. He proceeds to tell them to stick with the truth. To let it remain in them. Not to be decieved by false teachers. If you want to know if someone is teaching a false doctrine. Ask them who is Jesus Christ? If they say he is anyone other than God who came in flesh, as His only begotton Son...they are teaching a false doctrine. John is saying KNOW JESUS, KNOW GOD, NO JESUS, NO GOD. He proceeds to tell them that because they have the Holy Spirit they do not need anyone to teach them. John is not saying that we should not have teachers. Everyone needs to sit under good teachers. The Bible teaches in Ephesians that God gives the gift of teaching to certain people so they can teach. He is saying that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. (John 14:26) The Holy Spirit will also remind them of what Jesus said (1 Cor. 2:14) The man w/o the Spirit will not understand the things of God they are foolishness to him.. We study and the Holy Spirit teaches. We need to know if what we hear/read is truth. (John 10:27) We need to test every teacher you hear or sit under, including me. Ask God is Robin teaching the truth? I have mentioned before that I enjoy J. Vernon McGee's teaching and often share with others what he teaches. When I read his commentary, the Spirit within me confirms his teaching and gives me understanding. If I don't agree with it or understand it, I don't repeat it. I depend on the Holy Spirit to confirm what to share and what not to share.
v. 28 Says that we are to abide in Him. To abide in Him means to walk in the Light and walk in Love because God is Light and God is Love.. Live like Christ is returning today so you will not be ashamed if he should. 2 Cor. 5:10 "says we shall stand in the presence of God someday and give account of our works here on earth".
It is one thing to testify that we know Christ and are in Him, it is another to have a life that reveals that he is our righteousness. John is telling us in v. 29 that the way we recognize other believers is by their lives not their lips. Righteousness is a family trait of the Father and His Children. Gods children take after their Father.
*Righteousness is someone in a right relationship with God through Christ that results in doing what is right.
I do hope you find my this blog helpful. If you have any questions feel free to comment or contact me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com.
And as always if you are interested in a Ladies Bible Study class, please join us on Tuesday evenings at Media Church in Oxford @7PM. All ladies are welcome. Check us out at http://www.mmchurch.org/
August 2nd I will be finishing the study on 1st John 5 - God is Life
READ 1st John 2:3-11
Last time we talked about God being Light and how important it is for Christians to walk in the Light in order to have fellowship with God. Now we are going to talk about God being Love and how important it is that Christians walk in Love in order to have fellowship with each other. Fellowship means having in common with or sharing with. Christian fellowship means sharing the things of Christ. Its God's desire that we have fellowship with Him and fellowship with one another in the church. Love is the main ingredient in this relationship. Remember the two greatest commandments God gave the NT church was to Love God and to Love others. Matthew 22:37.
In verse 3-4 of chapter two we are told that "we have come to know God if we obey His commandments. The man that says he knows God but does not keep His commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him." In this section of scripture John is talking about assurance of salvation not security. Assurance of your salvation comes when you keep God's commandments. He is not talking about the Law here (10 commandments of OT) He is talking about his own family commandments that you find in the NT. The NT is full of commandments, things like carry each others burdens, rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, don't quench the Spirit,be patient,kind compassionate. ect. John is saying in order to have fellowship with God and enjoy it by having assurance in our hearts that we are his children we must keep His commandments. We do not do as we please but as Jesus commands. We know God by experience. If you walk in disobedience you do not know Him your life is a lie. Jesus said in John 8:29 that he always did what pleases the Father, Jesus always did but we don't but that should be our desire. John 3:36 says that he who believes has eternal life, but when we walk in obedience we have the assurance of that life. John 14:15 says if you love me keep my commandments. Because of our love for God we should want to go beyond the call of duty. Some people want to live as much as possible like the unsaved and still be a Christian. Often times folks ask me can I do this and still be a Christian? The question they should be asking is what can I do to please God?
What is your attitude toward sin? Do you take it lightly? I assure you God doesn't. He paid a high price so that your sins may be forgiven. When you sin do you cry out to God and ask for forgiveness? When you do God will restore your fellowship with Him and bring assurance to your heart. If we are going to walk in the Light we must walk as Jesus did. Live according to his teaching. Jesus never messed up but we do. When we mess up...admit it and quit it. We must walk in Love. This was not something new...the church had heard this many times before (John 13:34-35, John 15:10-12) and so have you. They had forgotten? Have you?
.
Take an inventory of yourself by asking yourself the following question.....Do you hate your brother? It is impossible for you to walk in the Light if you hate your brother. There is a natural darkness that we are all born into (Eph. 4:8, John 3:19)...that is what John means when he says we are walking in darkness if we hate our brother. We are not responsible for being born in darkness but we are responsible if we reject the Light that comes from the Word of God. When you walk in the Light the darkness flees. This is a test that John gives us to see if we are in darkness. John 8:12 "I am the light of the world whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life". Have you trusted Christ as your Savior and made Him Lord so that you don't hate your brother? (Brother here means your brothers and sisters in Christ. John is talking about your church family.)
READ 1 John 2:12-17
Here John changes the subject and talks about 3 different degrees of believers.
Fathers are the saints who have known Jesus for many years and have matured in their faith. Phil. 3:10 would describe these folk.
Young Men are not as mature as the fathers because of lack of experience but they have learned the secret of overcoming the enemy by the Blood of Christ and the Word of God.(Eph. 6:17 tell us that we have to put on the armor of God in order to defeat the devil. Part of that armour is the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. ) These young believers have learned how to live for God by resisting the devil.
Dear Children are those that are immature in their faith. They know they are God's child but that is all they know and some feel its all they want to know. Have you ever met someone like that? I have. They want to be saved so they don't go to hell, but they still want to do what they want to do. They are not walking in the Light nor are they walking in Love. They may or may not attend church or bible study but even if they do..they think it is enough. The Word of God is like food. You need it daily in order to become strong and to grow in your faith.
John reminds the church in v.15-17 that they are not to love the world. He is talking about the world system here. The organized system headed by Satan which leaves God out and is in opposition to him. Read John 14:30 "satan is the prince of the world" 16:11 he is referred to as "prince of the world". Eph. 2:2 refers to before we were saved we followed the ways of the world. Gal. 6:14 says we are either for one system or the other. Again John tells us not to love the world and then he tells us of three different types of sin. The Lust of the flesh(sinful desires from within) Lust of the eyes (beautiful things) and the Pride of life(what you take pride in, what makes you feel superior to someone else) Satan tempted Eve in the garden of Eden and Jesus in the wilderness in these same three areas, and today Satan tempts us in the same way. I have heard it said that every sin we can commit falls under one of these three categories. Interesting...think about that. In verse 17 he tells us why we should not love the world...because these tings will pass away but whoever does the will of God will live forever.
READ 1 John 2:18-29
Remember in the church at that time false teachers had come in and the people were getting confused. There are false teachers in the church today that do the same. That is why it is so important that you study God's word so you know false teaching when you hear it.
When John refers to "dear children" he is referring to all of God's family. The last hour has been going on ever since Jesus left this earth. Anti-christ means either "against" or "an imitation". Whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ, God in flesh, is the antichrist. John is saying in v. 19 that these people were people that were in the church professing to be Christians, they were baptized, took communion had all the outward signs. How can you tell if a person is really not a child of God? John says here that one way is they will eventually leave the assembly of believers and go right back into the world system. (2 Pet. 2:22) Even among the 12 disciples that followed Jesus and sat under his teaching was a traitor..a hypocrite.( Someone pretending to be something they are not.) His name was Judas. He was at the first communion service when Jesus washed the disciples feet. Jesus calls him a "devil" in John 6:70. See you can fool people sometimes but you can't fool God. He knows your every thought and your every intention. The bible says "be sure your sins will find you out". In John 3:3 Jesus told Nicodemos that if you want to have eternal life...you must be "born again". Are you born again? What does that mean anyhow?
Ask yourself the following questons:
1. Have you faced up to your sins in the light of the cross of Jesus Christ?
2. Have you come to God in repentance, acknowledging your sin? (repentance means turn from)
3. Have you cast yourself to Jesus and Jesus only for salvation? (you cannot ever be good enough without Jesus)
4. Is there evidence in your life that you are born again? (that your old sinful way of living, has died and now you live a new life in Christ) Gal. 6:15
5. Do you love the word of God, do you hunger for it as food?
6. Do you love the church (God's people)?
7. Do you love the Lord Jesus?
2 Corinthians 6:15 tells us to examine ourselves. I'm not talking about whether or not you commit a sin but what you do after you sin. Do you continue? We can have fellowship with God in spite of the fact that we are weak, and we have fallin short because of the blood of Jesus, God's son keeps cleansing us from sin. (1 John 1:9) He is our advocate. He is on our side. We can have fellowship with each other when we walk in Love. We must recognize that we are called to live differently than the world. We now live for God. Obedience is the test of life. We know whether we have eternal life or not if we keep His commandments.
We are not under the Law (OT) but under Grace (NT) God's Riches At Christs Expense is my favorite defination of grace.
Law says: If a man does he shall live
Grace says: If a man lives he will do.
God does it to you before He does it through you. We obey God because we are saved not because we want to be saved. You have to have a life from God before you can live for God.
You cannot have fellowship with God and other believers if you are living in sin. Proverbs 28:13. John said in John 10:27-28 "My sheep (children) know my voice and listen. We follow Him. He gives us eternal life and no one can snatch them out of his hand". I believe in the security of the believer, but I also believe in the insecurity of the make-believer.
John proceeds to tell the church that they (the true believers) have an annointing from the Holy One (Holy Spirit) and they know the truth. He proceeds to tell them to stick with the truth. To let it remain in them. Not to be decieved by false teachers. If you want to know if someone is teaching a false doctrine. Ask them who is Jesus Christ? If they say he is anyone other than God who came in flesh, as His only begotton Son...they are teaching a false doctrine. John is saying KNOW JESUS, KNOW GOD, NO JESUS, NO GOD. He proceeds to tell them that because they have the Holy Spirit they do not need anyone to teach them. John is not saying that we should not have teachers. Everyone needs to sit under good teachers. The Bible teaches in Ephesians that God gives the gift of teaching to certain people so they can teach. He is saying that the Holy Spirit will guide us into all truth. (John 14:26) The Holy Spirit will also remind them of what Jesus said (1 Cor. 2:14) The man w/o the Spirit will not understand the things of God they are foolishness to him.. We study and the Holy Spirit teaches. We need to know if what we hear/read is truth. (John 10:27) We need to test every teacher you hear or sit under, including me. Ask God is Robin teaching the truth? I have mentioned before that I enjoy J. Vernon McGee's teaching and often share with others what he teaches. When I read his commentary, the Spirit within me confirms his teaching and gives me understanding. If I don't agree with it or understand it, I don't repeat it. I depend on the Holy Spirit to confirm what to share and what not to share.
v. 28 Says that we are to abide in Him. To abide in Him means to walk in the Light and walk in Love because God is Light and God is Love.. Live like Christ is returning today so you will not be ashamed if he should. 2 Cor. 5:10 "says we shall stand in the presence of God someday and give account of our works here on earth".
It is one thing to testify that we know Christ and are in Him, it is another to have a life that reveals that he is our righteousness. John is telling us in v. 29 that the way we recognize other believers is by their lives not their lips. Righteousness is a family trait of the Father and His Children. Gods children take after their Father.
*Righteousness is someone in a right relationship with God through Christ that results in doing what is right.
I do hope you find my this blog helpful. If you have any questions feel free to comment or contact me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com.
And as always if you are interested in a Ladies Bible Study class, please join us on Tuesday evenings at Media Church in Oxford @7PM. All ladies are welcome. Check us out at http://www.mmchurch.org/
August 2nd I will be finishing the study on 1st John 5 - God is Life
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
1st John Chapter 1 - 2:2
John writes this letter to remind the church how important it is to know the TRUTH, and to walk in the LIGHT and to LOVE one another. He does so because anti-christs are promoting false views of Jesus Christ. As we work through this book together, I hope you realize how much God loves you and wants you to fight sin, to love others and to believe in the true Jesus for salvation (forgiveness of sins/eternal life).
GOD IS LIGHT
How can we have fellowship with God?
a. By Walking in the Light
b. By Confessing Sin
c. By the advocacy of Christ
1 John 1: 1-4
John begins this letter by giving his creditials. He reminds the church that he is a reliable witness to what he is telling them. John heard with his ears, he did not rely on others speculations or opinions, he literally seen Jesus with his own eyes, today we see him through eyes of faith. "Though you have not seen him you love him and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy." (1 Peter 1:8) John is saying that now we look to Jesus in faith for salvation. After that we are to gaze upon him. Thats's what studying this book will help us to do. We need to do more than just look to him for salvation, we need to spend time gazing upon him with the eye of faith in order to be the women that God desires us to be..Oaks of Righteousness a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor. John is proclaiming to us eternal life? What is eternal life? It is the person of Jesus Christ. You either have Christ or you don't. You either trust Him or you don't. If you trust Him you have eternal life. The question you should ask yourself is do you have eternal life?
In verse 3 John again tells us what he has seen and heard. This must be very important for him to repeat this 3 x's in 3 verses. He tells us what he has seen and heard so that we can have "fellowship" with God and with the church (the body of Christ, true believers). God is holy and we are not. We are unholy because of sin in our lives. This separation between God and man must be bridged so that we can have fellowship with Him. What does John mean by "fellowship"? This word in the greek is "koinonia" means having in common or sharing with. Christian fellowship means sharing the things of Christ. To do this we must know Jesus, not just know about Jesus, but know him as our personal Savior. We talk together about His Word, faith issues and our fellowship is with both the Father and the Son. When we are experiencing fellowship with God though Christ we will have complete (abundant) JOY. Fellowship with God is taking communion, praying, giving is an act of fellowship with God. Are you experiencing joy in your life? If not why? Are you in fellowship with God? If not why? Do you have one foot in the world and the other in the church? If so maybe this is why you are not experiencing life the way God intended it.
Verses 5- 10
God is Light and it is important that we walk in the Light. This is a problem because God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all. What does God is Light mean?
1. When you turn on the light darkness flees. When John says God is Light he is referring to His glory, the radiance, the beauty and the wonders of God.
2. Another characteristic of light is that it is self-revealing. Light reveals flaws and impurities. Light reveals dirt. Our sins are before God because He is Light. "secret sin down here is an open scandal in heaven."
3. Light also speaks of the purity of God. God is pure..he moves w/o making a shadow.
4. Light is a great cleanser...the sun is a natural whitener.
5. Light also guides men....it points out the path and gives courage to go on.
Darkness is the opposite of Light....it is hostile to the light. The light and holiness of God are in direct conflict with the evil darkness of the world and in rebellion against God. God has made it clear that He finds no good in man. Romans 7:8, Romans 3:10 "there is no one righteous no not one" So what do we do in order to have fellowship with God? There are 3 ways in which man has attempted to do this:
1. Reduce God to mans level - alot of people claim to have fellowship with God but in reality they do not at all. Why? Because they are not walking in the Light. They lie and do not live by the truth. When you have fellowship with God you walk in the Light and if there is sin in your life you are not walking with him. You cannot bring God down to your level. Verse 7 says "if" we walk in the Light that is according to God's word, notice that the cleansing of the blood depends upon us walking in the Light. Have we come into the presence of God and allowed the Word of God to shine upon our sinful hearts? It is possible to walk in darkness and think you are alright. John says in verse 8 that if we say we have fellowship with God but are walking in sin we are lying. (Johns words not mine) People today want to make excuses for sin in their lives try to explain it away, (nobody's perfect, ev'one is doing it, its human nature) but if you are living in sin, God will not have fellowship with you. Now if you are a child of God and are living in sin and now see it in the light of God's word what do you do? When the Light reveals dirt you wash it off. John says "And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" This is family truth...if you are a child of God and have sin in your life and don't confess and repent of it, God is going to treat you like a disobedient child. He will punish you.(Hebrews 12) You cannot bring God down to your level. It doesn't work but many folks try to do it. This brings us to the 2nd way we attempt to have fellowship with God that does not work.
2. Bring man up to God's level - verse 8 says "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Some Christians think they are perfect. That they never sin. They think they have already attained and are sinless. Christians should sin less and less as they grow in their relationship with Christ but will never be sinless so if you think you are you are deceiving yourself. You cannot ever in this world be good enough on our own merit to have fellowship with God. Since you cannot bring God down to your level and you can never reach his level, what are you going to do? John tells us in verse 9
3. Confess Sins - "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness". This is the right method of bringing together sinful man and a holy God..confession of sins. Confession means agreeing with God what he already knows. When you confess your sins you turn from them. You agree with God what you have done is sin and God hates sin and so should you ..v 10 says if we say we havn't sinned we are a liar..lets not lie, lets just go to God and talk about it...he has made a wonderful way for us to get back in fellowship with Him.
1 John 2:1
We have Fellowship with God by the Advocacy of Christ.
John does not say we cannot sin, but he is writing to us that we may not sin. " But if anyone does sin we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense...Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."
I want to end this lesson by saying that if you Believe that Jesus Christ is the sinless Son of God who came in flesh, born of a virgin, lived and died, shed his blood, for the sins of the world. He not only died but he rose again, ascended into heaven and is at the right hand of the Father interceeding on our behalf and if you have Received this gift of salvation by Admitting you are a sinner and need a Savior and have confessed and Repented of your sins and were Baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost as recorded in Acts 2:38-41 than you are a child of God and have the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. Praise the Lord!!!
You are now in God's family and your relationship with God is all important. We need to have fellowship with Him. We need to grow in our faith...stop taking sin in our lives lightly, but when we do sin we repent and we are forgiven because of Jesus Christ the righteous one ...he is our advocate...He stands in the gap between God and mankind. Jesus shed his blood for not only my sins but your sins too.
In Chapter one of 1st John we discussed God Is Light and what it means to walk in the Light. I hope you have found this helpful. In the next blog we will discuss God is Love and what it means to walk in Love.
Again I want to mention that alot of what I am sharing I discovered from a Bible Commentary written by J. Vernon McGee who went to be with the Lord in 1988...but his teaching continues....To God be the Glory!
As always if you have any questions feel free to comment or contact me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com
Joyfully Serving Jesus
Robin
GOD IS LIGHT
How can we have fellowship with God?
a. By Walking in the Light
b. By Confessing Sin
c. By the advocacy of Christ
1 John 1: 1-4
John begins this letter by giving his creditials. He reminds the church that he is a reliable witness to what he is telling them. John heard with his ears, he did not rely on others speculations or opinions, he literally seen Jesus with his own eyes, today we see him through eyes of faith. "Though you have not seen him you love him and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy." (1 Peter 1:8) John is saying that now we look to Jesus in faith for salvation. After that we are to gaze upon him. Thats's what studying this book will help us to do. We need to do more than just look to him for salvation, we need to spend time gazing upon him with the eye of faith in order to be the women that God desires us to be..Oaks of Righteousness a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor. John is proclaiming to us eternal life? What is eternal life? It is the person of Jesus Christ. You either have Christ or you don't. You either trust Him or you don't. If you trust Him you have eternal life. The question you should ask yourself is do you have eternal life?
In verse 3 John again tells us what he has seen and heard. This must be very important for him to repeat this 3 x's in 3 verses. He tells us what he has seen and heard so that we can have "fellowship" with God and with the church (the body of Christ, true believers). God is holy and we are not. We are unholy because of sin in our lives. This separation between God and man must be bridged so that we can have fellowship with Him. What does John mean by "fellowship"? This word in the greek is "koinonia" means having in common or sharing with. Christian fellowship means sharing the things of Christ. To do this we must know Jesus, not just know about Jesus, but know him as our personal Savior. We talk together about His Word, faith issues and our fellowship is with both the Father and the Son. When we are experiencing fellowship with God though Christ we will have complete (abundant) JOY. Fellowship with God is taking communion, praying, giving is an act of fellowship with God. Are you experiencing joy in your life? If not why? Are you in fellowship with God? If not why? Do you have one foot in the world and the other in the church? If so maybe this is why you are not experiencing life the way God intended it.
Verses 5- 10
God is Light and it is important that we walk in the Light. This is a problem because God is Light and in Him there is no darkness at all. What does God is Light mean?
1. When you turn on the light darkness flees. When John says God is Light he is referring to His glory, the radiance, the beauty and the wonders of God.
2. Another characteristic of light is that it is self-revealing. Light reveals flaws and impurities. Light reveals dirt. Our sins are before God because He is Light. "secret sin down here is an open scandal in heaven."
3. Light also speaks of the purity of God. God is pure..he moves w/o making a shadow.
4. Light is a great cleanser...the sun is a natural whitener.
5. Light also guides men....it points out the path and gives courage to go on.
Darkness is the opposite of Light....it is hostile to the light. The light and holiness of God are in direct conflict with the evil darkness of the world and in rebellion against God. God has made it clear that He finds no good in man. Romans 7:8, Romans 3:10 "there is no one righteous no not one" So what do we do in order to have fellowship with God? There are 3 ways in which man has attempted to do this:
1. Reduce God to mans level - alot of people claim to have fellowship with God but in reality they do not at all. Why? Because they are not walking in the Light. They lie and do not live by the truth. When you have fellowship with God you walk in the Light and if there is sin in your life you are not walking with him. You cannot bring God down to your level. Verse 7 says "if" we walk in the Light that is according to God's word, notice that the cleansing of the blood depends upon us walking in the Light. Have we come into the presence of God and allowed the Word of God to shine upon our sinful hearts? It is possible to walk in darkness and think you are alright. John says in verse 8 that if we say we have fellowship with God but are walking in sin we are lying. (Johns words not mine) People today want to make excuses for sin in their lives try to explain it away, (nobody's perfect, ev'one is doing it, its human nature) but if you are living in sin, God will not have fellowship with you. Now if you are a child of God and are living in sin and now see it in the light of God's word what do you do? When the Light reveals dirt you wash it off. John says "And the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin" This is family truth...if you are a child of God and have sin in your life and don't confess and repent of it, God is going to treat you like a disobedient child. He will punish you.(Hebrews 12) You cannot bring God down to your level. It doesn't work but many folks try to do it. This brings us to the 2nd way we attempt to have fellowship with God that does not work.
2. Bring man up to God's level - verse 8 says "If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. Some Christians think they are perfect. That they never sin. They think they have already attained and are sinless. Christians should sin less and less as they grow in their relationship with Christ but will never be sinless so if you think you are you are deceiving yourself. You cannot ever in this world be good enough on our own merit to have fellowship with God. Since you cannot bring God down to your level and you can never reach his level, what are you going to do? John tells us in verse 9
3. Confess Sins - "If we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness". This is the right method of bringing together sinful man and a holy God..confession of sins. Confession means agreeing with God what he already knows. When you confess your sins you turn from them. You agree with God what you have done is sin and God hates sin and so should you ..v 10 says if we say we havn't sinned we are a liar..lets not lie, lets just go to God and talk about it...he has made a wonderful way for us to get back in fellowship with Him.
1 John 2:1
We have Fellowship with God by the Advocacy of Christ.
John does not say we cannot sin, but he is writing to us that we may not sin. " But if anyone does sin we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense...Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world."
I want to end this lesson by saying that if you Believe that Jesus Christ is the sinless Son of God who came in flesh, born of a virgin, lived and died, shed his blood, for the sins of the world. He not only died but he rose again, ascended into heaven and is at the right hand of the Father interceeding on our behalf and if you have Received this gift of salvation by Admitting you are a sinner and need a Savior and have confessed and Repented of your sins and were Baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost as recorded in Acts 2:38-41 than you are a child of God and have the gift of the Holy Spirit dwelling within you. Praise the Lord!!!
You are now in God's family and your relationship with God is all important. We need to have fellowship with Him. We need to grow in our faith...stop taking sin in our lives lightly, but when we do sin we repent and we are forgiven because of Jesus Christ the righteous one ...he is our advocate...He stands in the gap between God and mankind. Jesus shed his blood for not only my sins but your sins too.
In Chapter one of 1st John we discussed God Is Light and what it means to walk in the Light. I hope you have found this helpful. In the next blog we will discuss God is Love and what it means to walk in Love.
Again I want to mention that alot of what I am sharing I discovered from a Bible Commentary written by J. Vernon McGee who went to be with the Lord in 1988...but his teaching continues....To God be the Glory!
As always if you have any questions feel free to comment or contact me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com
Joyfully Serving Jesus
Robin
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
1st John Introduction
An Apostolic Letter written by John, one of the twelve disciples. He is credited for writing the Gospel of John, 1st, 2nd, 3rd John and the book of Revelation. John is the only apostle that lived a long life and died a natural death, all of the other apostles were martyrs of the faith. John was also one of the three disciples that were in Jesus's inner circle of friends along with Peter and James. So you could say that John knew what he was talking about. He had first-hand experience.
To understand this letter one must understand some of the things that were going on in the "church" at this time that John was addressing in this letter. There are four important factors which prevailed in the "church" and throughout the Roman world.
1. People were comfortable with Christianity. Many believers were children and grandchildren of the 1st generation Christians. The excitement of the first days had faded. In the first days the believers had a love and a passion for Christ but this was not now the case. Jesus had warned of this in Matt. 24:12 "because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold...but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Many years later when John wrote in a letter to the church in Ephesus he wrote in Revelation 2:4 "I hold this against you...you have forsaken your first love..remember the height from which you have fallen and repent" You could say that these people had forsaken their first love. They needed to repent (turn from their sin) and follow God. We will discover in this letter that Loving God means Obeying God.
2. The high standards of the early Christians in the church made the Christians different from those around them and the next generation of believers did not want to be different. Believers were called "saints" (set apart for the sole use of God) in the early church. The Christians of this time were "copycat" Christians programed by the computer of compromise. They were cast from a different mold than the followers to whom Jesus said in John 15:19 "If you belong to the world it would love you as its own, as it is, you do not belong to the world but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you". In John 17:14 "I have given them your word and the world has hated them for they are not of this world anymore than I am of this world". There was a breakdown of morals and a desregard for the word of God.
3. Persecution was not the enemy of Christianity as it was in the early years. The danger to the church was not persecution from the outside but seduction from the inside. Again no surprise. Jesus had warned of this in Matt. 24:24 "for false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect if that were possible...see I have told you ahead of time". Paul warns of this in Acts 20:29-30 "I know that after I leave savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them...so be on guard."
Christianity was not in danger of being destroyed but of being changed,. The attempt was being made to "improve it" Give it intellect and respectability and let it speak in the terms of popular ideas.
4. The "salvage wolves" Paul was referring to, had come to the church through a group of people who taught Gnosticism (a mixture of Judaism, Christianity and Greek mystery religions) They claimed to have special knowledge in addition to the knowledge of the apostles and early disciples of Christ. Some of what they taught was: All matter and material was evil, only the spirit is good, therefore they despised the body. All of them denied Jesus as the Christ. They denied that Jesus was born of a virgin. God would not come through a body because the body was evil. (John 1:14 says the WORD (Jesus) became flesh and made His dwelling among us. ) They taught that Jesus did not have a body, he just looked like he did. When he walked he left no footprints. They taught that Jesus was completely human until his baptism then he was divine but it left him at the cross. (1st John 4:2-3 tells us how to recognize false prophets by saying "every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God".) They also taught that Salvation is the escape from the body, achieved not by faith in Christ but by "super knowledge" which of course they had.
As I read over these problems in the church at that time, I realized not much has changed. These problems are still in the church today. Many "Christians" are comfortable with Christianity and take their faith for granted. They are not willing to "stretch" theirselves and get out of their comfort zone and generally speaking cannot be differentiated from other "good" people. They are "copycat" Christians who go to church and imitate everyone else. False teaching runs rampant in many "Christian" churches today. Many teach that there are many ways to God. That the way you live isn't important and the Bible is not the truth among other things. Having said that.... they are many good, bible believing churches in America. God always has a "faithful" remnant of true believers. Your job is to find one and grow in your relationship to God through Christ. I do not know where I would be today if it wasn't for my church family.
In addtion to addressing the errors of this false religion, John gives 5 reasons why he wrote the book of 1st John. So that we can have fellowship with God and the church (1John 1:3). So that we can experience joy (1John 1:4). So that we do not (practice) sin (1John 2:1). So that we can "know" that we have eternal life (1John 5:13). So that we believe in the name of the Son of God, Jesus (1John 5:13)
What does it mean to have "fellowship" with God? Do you "know" that you have eternal life? Who is this Jesus anyway? (Continue with me through this study and you will find out)
These letters are often referred to as "family" epistles. The church is a body of believers in a postion where we are blessed with all spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Jesus Christ. (Eph. 1:3). We are given that position when we hear the message of Jesus Christ and believe. Believing brings us into the family of God, which results in repenting of our sins, and being baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38) We have a relationship with God and with each other which can be broken (2 Cor. 2:7-8, 1 Cor. 5:11, Matt. 18:15-18, 2 Thess. 3:14) but restored when we confess our sins. (1 John 1:9) "When we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
I like to say we Admit it and Quit it! Confession is agreeing with God that what we did was wrong, and choosing to do right. God knows our heart and our intentions and he forgives our sins. We may be able to fool each other but we cannot fool God.
In 1st John there are three definitions of God:
a. God is Light - 1 John 1:5
b. God is Love - 1 John 4:8
c. God is Life - 1 John 5:12
The word Love appears at least 33x's and the word Sin appears at least 27 x's. Both words very important in the Christian Life. Because of God's great love for us..while we were still sinners God loved the world so much that he sent His only begotton Son, Jesus, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life. (Romans 5:8, John 3:16) The book of 1st John begins and ends with the theme of eternal life.
In this study we will be reminded of the basics of Christianity. We will be reminded of what God intended the Christian life to look like. In 2 Corinthians 13:5 we are told to "examine" ourselves to see if we are in the faith. We will have many opportunities to do this as we study together. I believe in the "security" of the believer but I also believe in the "insecurity" of the make-believer. Which one are you?
I encourage anyone that has any questions or comments to feel free to connect with me on this blog or privately at robinmartin3@hotmail.com I look forward to learning together.
Joyfully Serving Jesus
Robin Martin
*alot of what I will be sharing, I have learned from a documentary written by J. Vernon McGee. It is my understanding that he is in the presence of our Savior but his teaching goes on. To God be the Glory!!
To understand this letter one must understand some of the things that were going on in the "church" at this time that John was addressing in this letter. There are four important factors which prevailed in the "church" and throughout the Roman world.
1. People were comfortable with Christianity. Many believers were children and grandchildren of the 1st generation Christians. The excitement of the first days had faded. In the first days the believers had a love and a passion for Christ but this was not now the case. Jesus had warned of this in Matt. 24:12 "because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold...but he who stands firm to the end will be saved."
Many years later when John wrote in a letter to the church in Ephesus he wrote in Revelation 2:4 "I hold this against you...you have forsaken your first love..remember the height from which you have fallen and repent" You could say that these people had forsaken their first love. They needed to repent (turn from their sin) and follow God. We will discover in this letter that Loving God means Obeying God.
2. The high standards of the early Christians in the church made the Christians different from those around them and the next generation of believers did not want to be different. Believers were called "saints" (set apart for the sole use of God) in the early church. The Christians of this time were "copycat" Christians programed by the computer of compromise. They were cast from a different mold than the followers to whom Jesus said in John 15:19 "If you belong to the world it would love you as its own, as it is, you do not belong to the world but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you". In John 17:14 "I have given them your word and the world has hated them for they are not of this world anymore than I am of this world". There was a breakdown of morals and a desregard for the word of God.
3. Persecution was not the enemy of Christianity as it was in the early years. The danger to the church was not persecution from the outside but seduction from the inside. Again no surprise. Jesus had warned of this in Matt. 24:24 "for false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and miracles to deceive even the elect if that were possible...see I have told you ahead of time". Paul warns of this in Acts 20:29-30 "I know that after I leave savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them...so be on guard."
Christianity was not in danger of being destroyed but of being changed,. The attempt was being made to "improve it" Give it intellect and respectability and let it speak in the terms of popular ideas.
4. The "salvage wolves" Paul was referring to, had come to the church through a group of people who taught Gnosticism (a mixture of Judaism, Christianity and Greek mystery religions) They claimed to have special knowledge in addition to the knowledge of the apostles and early disciples of Christ. Some of what they taught was: All matter and material was evil, only the spirit is good, therefore they despised the body. All of them denied Jesus as the Christ. They denied that Jesus was born of a virgin. God would not come through a body because the body was evil. (John 1:14 says the WORD (Jesus) became flesh and made His dwelling among us. ) They taught that Jesus did not have a body, he just looked like he did. When he walked he left no footprints. They taught that Jesus was completely human until his baptism then he was divine but it left him at the cross. (1st John 4:2-3 tells us how to recognize false prophets by saying "every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God".) They also taught that Salvation is the escape from the body, achieved not by faith in Christ but by "super knowledge" which of course they had.
As I read over these problems in the church at that time, I realized not much has changed. These problems are still in the church today. Many "Christians" are comfortable with Christianity and take their faith for granted. They are not willing to "stretch" theirselves and get out of their comfort zone and generally speaking cannot be differentiated from other "good" people. They are "copycat" Christians who go to church and imitate everyone else. False teaching runs rampant in many "Christian" churches today. Many teach that there are many ways to God. That the way you live isn't important and the Bible is not the truth among other things. Having said that.... they are many good, bible believing churches in America. God always has a "faithful" remnant of true believers. Your job is to find one and grow in your relationship to God through Christ. I do not know where I would be today if it wasn't for my church family.
In addtion to addressing the errors of this false religion, John gives 5 reasons why he wrote the book of 1st John. So that we can have fellowship with God and the church (1John 1:3). So that we can experience joy (1John 1:4). So that we do not (practice) sin (1John 2:1). So that we can "know" that we have eternal life (1John 5:13). So that we believe in the name of the Son of God, Jesus (1John 5:13)
What does it mean to have "fellowship" with God? Do you "know" that you have eternal life? Who is this Jesus anyway? (Continue with me through this study and you will find out)
These letters are often referred to as "family" epistles. The church is a body of believers in a postion where we are blessed with all spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms in Jesus Christ. (Eph. 1:3). We are given that position when we hear the message of Jesus Christ and believe. Believing brings us into the family of God, which results in repenting of our sins, and being baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. (Acts 2:38) We have a relationship with God and with each other which can be broken (2 Cor. 2:7-8, 1 Cor. 5:11, Matt. 18:15-18, 2 Thess. 3:14) but restored when we confess our sins. (1 John 1:9) "When we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
I like to say we Admit it and Quit it! Confession is agreeing with God that what we did was wrong, and choosing to do right. God knows our heart and our intentions and he forgives our sins. We may be able to fool each other but we cannot fool God.
In 1st John there are three definitions of God:
a. God is Light - 1 John 1:5
b. God is Love - 1 John 4:8
c. God is Life - 1 John 5:12
The word Love appears at least 33x's and the word Sin appears at least 27 x's. Both words very important in the Christian Life. Because of God's great love for us..while we were still sinners God loved the world so much that he sent His only begotton Son, Jesus, that whosoever believes in Him would not perish but have eternal life. (Romans 5:8, John 3:16) The book of 1st John begins and ends with the theme of eternal life.
In this study we will be reminded of the basics of Christianity. We will be reminded of what God intended the Christian life to look like. In 2 Corinthians 13:5 we are told to "examine" ourselves to see if we are in the faith. We will have many opportunities to do this as we study together. I believe in the "security" of the believer but I also believe in the "insecurity" of the make-believer. Which one are you?
I encourage anyone that has any questions or comments to feel free to connect with me on this blog or privately at robinmartin3@hotmail.com I look forward to learning together.
Joyfully Serving Jesus
Robin Martin
*alot of what I will be sharing, I have learned from a documentary written by J. Vernon McGee. It is my understanding that he is in the presence of our Savior but his teaching goes on. To God be the Glory!!
Friday, June 17, 2011
Oaks of Righteousness Ladies Ministry
Meets: Tuesday Evenings Weekly
Place: Media Mennonite Church http://www.mmchurch.org/ for directions
Time: 7:00 fellowship 7:30-9:00 Class
Who: Any lady who is interested in learning about God, His Word and the Christian Faith.
Come relax and learn with like-minded women. We have a come as you are attitude and dress is casual. The ladies that attend this class all have different stories and are at different places in
their lives and in their faith. Some are seekers with no connection with a church family. It is the goal of this ministry that the Lost will get found and the found go deeper and that we become "Oaks of Righteousness, a planting of the Lord, for the display of HIS splendor" Isaiah 61:1-3
What is an Oak of Righteousness? An Oak of Righteousness is a woman who is in a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Living her life to the full. Empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a life of Peace, Joy and Love which will enable her to laugh at the days to come, for her confidence is in the Lord. She is a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.
How did this Ministry get started?
In March 2010 one nite I was having a problem sleeping...I was tossing and turning and the enemy was filling my mind with negative thoughts...so I prayed. As I was praying, eyes shut, God gave me a vision. It was as if I was transported to a beautiful sunny, meadow with nothing but beautiful tree in the middle of it. I was admiring the beauty of the scene from a distance and wanted to get closer. I was a little startled thinking "What is this"? To see this tree better what would you do? I slowly opened my eyes and the vision faded. This "freaked me out"....I had no idea what it was about... The Spirit within me confirmed that the tree I saw was an Oak tree...but it didn't make any sense to me. I have never seen a scene like it. I still look for it from time to time here on earth. About a week later I received my last lesson from Tripp Bible Institute as I was studying to get a degree in Chaplaincy. The last scripture that I had to write and study was Isaiah 61:1-3. As I was copying this scripture for my lesson, the Spirit came upon me and I was moved to tears. (this was not a normal thing) I felt as if God was saying, Robin take this to heart... this is for you. "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me. because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God. to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair"...as tears were flowing down my face...I came to the last line.."They will be called oaks of righteousness.,a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor." The Spirit confirmed in me that the vision of the beautiful Oak tree was a symbol of the ministry He has called me too.
At that time I had been leading a Tuesday nite ladies bible study, another small group at Media, but I felt God was calling me to do something different. So I met with my Pastor and told him what I wanted to do. He gave me his blessing.
I did not want to be just another "small group" at Media. I felt God was calling me to open it up even further.
Our group is now meeting upstairs in the sancuary where there is plenty of room for growth instead of sitting around a table in the basement, we now sit in rows facing forward as if in a church service. I stand when I teach/preach/speak (take your pick) and there is more listening. We have a worship leader and a prayer person to take requests and pray for the needs. I meet many women who are broken hearted, in bondage to sin, who are in despair because life has not turned out the way they thought it would. I am there to love them and tell them there is a better way. Some of the ladies that come to class were connected with a church years ago but have backslidden and now appear to be coming back to the Lord. I believe that we are in the last days and God is calling His Children home. Many women, like me I am finding, have lived in the world and are finding that the things this world offers does not satisfy. God has asked me to share the good news, and let them know how much He loves them and the plan that He has for their lives. Lives are being changed and souls are being saved...and I thank God for this ministry. It is His...I am His vessel....I'm trying to live my life everyday according to His Word...practicing His presence and responding to His call in my life. Many times I fall short and I'm so thankful that God has made a provision for that. 1 John 1:9 "If you confess your sins He is faithful and just and will forgive you your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness". I admit it and I quit it. To God be the glory!!!
You may contact me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you.
Place: Media Mennonite Church http://www.mmchurch.org/ for directions
Time: 7:00 fellowship 7:30-9:00 Class
Who: Any lady who is interested in learning about God, His Word and the Christian Faith.
Come relax and learn with like-minded women. We have a come as you are attitude and dress is casual. The ladies that attend this class all have different stories and are at different places in
their lives and in their faith. Some are seekers with no connection with a church family. It is the goal of this ministry that the Lost will get found and the found go deeper and that we become "Oaks of Righteousness, a planting of the Lord, for the display of HIS splendor" Isaiah 61:1-3
What is an Oak of Righteousness? An Oak of Righteousness is a woman who is in a right relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Living her life to the full. Empowered by the Holy Spirit to live a life of Peace, Joy and Love which will enable her to laugh at the days to come, for her confidence is in the Lord. She is a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor.
How did this Ministry get started?
In March 2010 one nite I was having a problem sleeping...I was tossing and turning and the enemy was filling my mind with negative thoughts...so I prayed. As I was praying, eyes shut, God gave me a vision. It was as if I was transported to a beautiful sunny, meadow with nothing but beautiful tree in the middle of it. I was admiring the beauty of the scene from a distance and wanted to get closer. I was a little startled thinking "What is this"? To see this tree better what would you do? I slowly opened my eyes and the vision faded. This "freaked me out"....I had no idea what it was about... The Spirit within me confirmed that the tree I saw was an Oak tree...but it didn't make any sense to me. I have never seen a scene like it. I still look for it from time to time here on earth. About a week later I received my last lesson from Tripp Bible Institute as I was studying to get a degree in Chaplaincy. The last scripture that I had to write and study was Isaiah 61:1-3. As I was copying this scripture for my lesson, the Spirit came upon me and I was moved to tears. (this was not a normal thing) I felt as if God was saying, Robin take this to heart... this is for you. "The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me. because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God. to comfort all who mourn and provide for those who grieve in Zion, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair"...as tears were flowing down my face...I came to the last line.."They will be called oaks of righteousness.,a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor." The Spirit confirmed in me that the vision of the beautiful Oak tree was a symbol of the ministry He has called me too.
At that time I had been leading a Tuesday nite ladies bible study, another small group at Media, but I felt God was calling me to do something different. So I met with my Pastor and told him what I wanted to do. He gave me his blessing.
I did not want to be just another "small group" at Media. I felt God was calling me to open it up even further.
Our group is now meeting upstairs in the sancuary where there is plenty of room for growth instead of sitting around a table in the basement, we now sit in rows facing forward as if in a church service. I stand when I teach/preach/speak (take your pick) and there is more listening. We have a worship leader and a prayer person to take requests and pray for the needs. I meet many women who are broken hearted, in bondage to sin, who are in despair because life has not turned out the way they thought it would. I am there to love them and tell them there is a better way. Some of the ladies that come to class were connected with a church years ago but have backslidden and now appear to be coming back to the Lord. I believe that we are in the last days and God is calling His Children home. Many women, like me I am finding, have lived in the world and are finding that the things this world offers does not satisfy. God has asked me to share the good news, and let them know how much He loves them and the plan that He has for their lives. Lives are being changed and souls are being saved...and I thank God for this ministry. It is His...I am His vessel....I'm trying to live my life everyday according to His Word...practicing His presence and responding to His call in my life. Many times I fall short and I'm so thankful that God has made a provision for that. 1 John 1:9 "If you confess your sins He is faithful and just and will forgive you your sins and cleanse you from all unrighteousness". I admit it and I quit it. To God be the glory!!!
You may contact me at robinmartin3@hotmail.com if you have any questions. I look forward to hearing from you.
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