Glory to Glory

I have been thinking about how my kids are going to grow and someday tell others their story.  When all is said and done they shall leave me, find some other house and be established in it.  My hope is that all four will establish their homes in righteousness and be devoted to serving the great God of heaven and earth until they each breathe their last, remembering daily to bear their cross (not despising the shame), seeking first the kingdom of heaven and in all things giving thanks!!!!!

I then have the oh so humbling thought that I am a big part of the stories they will share.  I shudder to think of the stories that they CAN tell! 

 I remember this quote by Chesterton, “The supreme adventure is being born. There we do walk suddenly into a splendid and startling trap... When we step into the family, by the act of being born, we do step into a world which is incalculable, into a world which has its own strange laws, into a world which could do without us, into a world we have not made. In other words, when we step into the family we step into a fairy-tale.”

  I never thought about thinking about my life in this way.  It did many things for me (and the gift is still giving for I am applying it to the next generation!) and changed the way I viewed where I was put. I think of what this  means for my kids.   My kids did not choose me.  They did not choose the story that is so tied up in all that I do.  They did not choose to have a mom who struggles with her temper and is often plagued with some new sickness or other.  They did not choose a seriously ADD mom whose mind thinks faster than most fingers can type.   Nor did they choose a home where vast genres of music are blasted at a near 100 on the volume dial.  But  God…….

This where things always begin to get good!  They are here because of God.  The God who made heaven and earth, made the dry land and the seas, the sky and deep, the cow and the ladybug, the plants and the mountains, chose to put my kids in the Farley home.  When God made the world and all that he put in it, he declared it was good.  God also put your kids in your home because it was and is good.  They did not choose, but God did and he chooses better.

Lets do a quick little recap as we travel this logic trail.  God put your kids in your home and it is all good. 

But the verse I am so eager to discuss is from 2 Corinthians 2 3:18.  I love that we go from glory to glory.   Glory to glory, what can be more inspiring than this?

This passage, this thought, this truth of glory to glory is gospel truth.  It is not a nice after thought or something to be hoped for but instead is.  I am that I am made the world to go from glory to glory.  Satan, sin, you and all your horrible parenting mistakes (or failure to see your mistakes) cannot stop all things going from glory to glory.  God cannot be stopped by you or anyone or anything.  As Jason said a couple of sermons ago, your sin is not too big for God. 

Glory to glory. 

My story, Jason’s story, and likewise our childrens story are all wrapped in this glory.  No matter your past and the home you grew up in, God uses it all to transform you.  This growth is all upward, heavenward.  We are headed to heaven.  All this glory points to the glory that is Christ! 

So what do we do with this?   Well you live before God not despising the work that He is doing in you, through you and all around you.  God is working His Spirit into you and it is transforming you even more then Moses was transformed by meeting with God face to face.  In the passage we are looked at God reminds us that the glory of the old Covenant was glory indeed but it pales when you look at the glory now given in Christ through the Spirit.  Moses was such a man!  But the glory you have is greater.  There are degrees to glory.  Your glory is greater.  Not because you are greater then Moses but because the gift of the Spirit given on Pentacost was, is and ever shall be the means that God uses to write on our hearts.  Our hearts are being written on.  Not on tablets of stone like in the old covenant but on our hearts!!

What do we do with this?  Live before God not despising your story, your struggles, your kids, your husband and do not despise their struggles.  Thank God for it all.  See the glory that He is taking you to!  Look at all the glory that surrounds you now!  Have eyes of faith and remember that the biggest gift you give to your kids, to your neighbor, your spouse and church is living fully in the knowledge of all the Lord has done for you.  And……. this is not about you.  This glory is bigger then you.  But it is for you, to you and in such a big way that it spills onto your neighbors, your city, the surrounding nations and yes your posterity, starting with the little toddler that is in constant need of your attention! 

Remembering where you have come from (glory) and where you are headed (glory) keeps us focused on the one who is full of glory and to who all the glory is given.  Our lives give glory and the more glory we give, the more we reflect the One who died to save us and the world around us.  So here is to remembering the glory of the Old age while living in glory in this present time as mom and wife and looking forward to the glory that awaits us when we are welcomed home when this life is gone and the new embraced.

Major in the Minors

The last section of the Old Testament is full of prophets that rarely get attention.   If they do, it is maybe a shout out to a really cool verse that speaks glitter and sunshine into the heart.  But what if we looked at the minor prophets and ask, "What in the world are they talking about?"  It is common to grab a verse (like a quick bite to eat) and know nothing of context.  Minor prophets are books that go along with other parts of Israel's history, and that add depth and (even more) complexity to the story.  As I am reading them, I am finding it marvelous that they have common threads that run through all of them. Judgment on Israel for idolatry that has lead to injustice and bloodshed. God's love for His people that is never shaken. These themes run through and light up the history of Israel's demise with arrows pointing to the hope of Jesus for Israel. But God does not stop there. He even promises to redeem the whole world.

I am going to attempt an online bible study through the minor prophets.  I am doing this because I want to know the prophets better and what better way then to share what I learn with you.  Mi hermanas have been wanting a bible study for some time so lets give it a go and see what happens.

Justice is Lacking

 Have you seen this , O son of of man?  Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abomination which they commit here?  For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger."

God spoke to Ezekiel and showed him the sins of His people.   He brought Ezekiel to the temple and showed him the idol worship that was going on in His house.  His people had kicked Him out and set up idol worship in the temple of the Lord.  But just like our church today they also "invited" God to be apart of the service offering up their lame offering of incense.

 It says that they did violence in the land.  This is a theme in Isaiah and Jeremiah as well.  Justice is absent from the land so violence spreads.  Orphans, widows, foreigners, are taken advantage of and violence covers the land.

There is no justice where true worship to the God of heaven and earth is gone.  God calls us to worship Him in spirit and truth.  Justice is concerned with doing what is right when wrong has been done.  Only in a culture of rich worship can we get justice right.  God loves justice and is greatly concerned with it.

I have thought about how our homes our a mini pictures of the world.  We have the opportunity to teach our children justice by how we deal with "transgressions" in the home.  But we need to remember the fundamental truth that faithful church going and worship is essential to us in our daily lives.  We are judges and we are judged.  We will be judged with the measure we judge.  We go to church and ask God to make our hearts open and big to receive His word and grace in the service.  We have open ears that love His instruction and eager hands to practice what we have learned.  Your kids are sitting in the pew listening (or not listening) to the same sermon that you are.  If the word is preached and mom and dad ignore it, you are not a just person.  Justice begins with open ears and hearts to God's ways.  His ways are to become our ways.  We take off the old and put on the new and we learn this in the pew.  Open your hearts to God's ways and be as concerned with justice as He is.  People who ignore God are idolaters.  That is the plain truth found here in Ezekiel and where idol worship is rampant, justice is lacking.

Delighting In Us

Jason and I took a parenting class long ago when I was pregnant with Abby.  The fist session was the one I remember the most.  The material used in the class came from their own personal study of going through the Bible and highlighting the passages from Genesis on that talked about God as a Father.  This may seem like a no brainer but it struck me then and has stayed with me these ten years.

I recently read through the book of Isaiah and focused in God's role as Father to His rebellious children.  One thing that really struck me is how unlike God I am when I find my kids in rebellion.  It is so easy to feel burdened or even justified in being put out or let down when a child rebels.  It is hard to look on them and delight in them in times of disobedience.  But in the end of Isaiah I took out a pen and highlighted the words that God used to describe His rebellious ones.  I was very convicted and humbled to see how loving and tender God is to His children when they are  hard hearted and stupid.

Judgment did come. But God judged them with exile so that they would return to Him and learn to stay close to Him.  God delights in His people and they are precious in His sight.  He is just as well.  We often remember the justice of God and forget that it is not to be divorced from the grace of God. God delights in giving us grace.  Grace to Israel was Assyria.  Grace to Judah was Babylon. When reading Daniel we can see how loving God was and how exile did just what God wanted it to......repentance so that His children could be near to Him once more.  God delights to bring us near and we are precious to Him.  He is a tender Father.  He is not  pushover for Assyria and Babylon did come and take the Israelites captive.  But after captivity we see that His family became even larger and took in children from other nations as well as bringing Israel back to Him. Our parenting needs to copy that of our Father in Heaven and we should delight in our precious children when they sin and rebel, bringing them to restoration, knowing that this is what God does for us again and again.

The Sins of the Father Will.....

Generational living is how God made the world.  We are connected to our fathers and their fathers and so on.  There seems to be a whole lot of problems then when you come from a home that was dominated by sin and not repentance.  There really are two kinds of homes.  One home has sin as master and the other  has humility and repentance reigning.  Sin is present in both.  Good homes are full of repentance.  When God calls a saint from darkness into His marvelous light, He calls Him to a life of repentance.  If you grew up in a home where anger and shouting where the norm, it is probably something that you find yourself struggling with.  This can be super discouraging because you know that it is wrong but seem to find yourself in the mess before you even realize it.  It is easy to remember how hard it was to be raised in an environment of strife and anger and you feel so horrible that you would do the same thing to your kids.  But God does break generational sin.  He promises.  We want instant freedom.  We want instant sanctification.  Grace is woven into our hearts by humble repentance.  When you yell or have an outburst of some kind, are you asking for forgiveness?  I hope you answer yes.  This is God breaking the power of sin in your family.  Anger is easy to copy.  That is why Proverbs tells us to stay far away from an angry man.  But if you are repenting then you are breaking the power of sin and giving your children something else to imitate......repentance!  When sin comes in, get it out.  This is how God breaks the power of sin in our lives.  If you find that you need to repent often, be encouraged that God is getting out the sin and putting in the grace you need to continue to humble yourself and call out to Him.  God's grace is sufficient to break even the toughest sins and His faithfulness is longer lasting then the effects of our sin!

Glory to Glory

There are times when it seems like I am just stuck in the same place with the same old habits of yesterday, inching along in progress and struggling against a gust that is just too much.  Last year I was in a bible study with some awesome ladies and there was one session that really helped me understand sanctification.  I often get a little idea in my head of how it is all supposed to be going.  My little platonic ideal is a little Martha-ish and often frustrates me as I compare my world to that of what I expect.  Glory is a work of the Spirit.  It takes hold and shapes and molds.  Sinning is not the same thing as falling from glory.  Glory is forward facing and does not turn around when we sin.  It is grace that picks us back up again and uses our falll to change us more into Christ.  

Notes from House For My Name

There are many stories in the bible that show us that idols have no power and make the worshiper unclean. 

Exodus stories tell about God rescuing His people. Jacob's story is an exodus story. He goes to live with his uncle Laban, is treated poorly and leaves wealthier then he was before. Abram goes to Egypt because their is no food. Pharoah takes his wife captive. Abram leaves Egypt with great wealth.

A King Who Knows not Joseph:
- Israels life becomes bitter in Egypt. Pharoah makes their labor rigorous and trys to kill their male children. At this point we see a need for a deliverer. Moses will be the deliverer. The beautiful baby boy is put in a "basket" or "ark." Moses is a new Noah. Noah comes out from the ark to enter a new creation. Moses will bring Israel out of Egypt and into a new world. 

The marriage supper of Yahweh- God's covenant with Israel on Mt Sinia is like a wedding. God makes a covenant with His people. He reminds them of his faithfulness to them and promises that He will provide for them and bless them if they obey and honor Him. Moses officiates by bringing God's laws to the people. They hear and promise to obey, they enter into covenant with The Lord. This covenant has blessings and curses. 

The laws of Exodus are based on God's rescue of his people. He delivers his people from slavery and wants His people to go and do likewise. They are not to forget that they where once slaves. He also gives them Sabbath rest. The whole time they where in Egypt, they where not able to rest. God wants them to rest every week and to give that rest to others. 

The tabernacle is the fulfillment of the Tower of Babel. The tabernacle is a "gate to God." At the end of exodus we see that Israel is a huge nation and that God's promise to Abraham is fulfilled. 

At the begining of the book Israel is enslaved to a wicked king who forces them to build him a house. At the end, The Lord takes His throne in the house that Israel has built for Him.

The House of The Lord: The Tabernacle is a house. It is God's house. The Tabernacle is broken into three zones. Each zone (room) has its own furniture and function. 

Courtyard: The courtyard has the bronze alter and the bronze laver. All animal sacrifices are burned on the alter and the blood of most sacrifices is poured on it. The lavar is filled with water and set between the alter and the tent. Priests wash hands and feet in this water every time they enter the Holy Place. This is where the people of God worship. They are only allowed in the courtyard but are not allowed to touch the alter.

Holy Place- The Holy Place has 3 pieces of furniture-
A table, a lampstand, and the alter of incense.
Table- the table made of wood and overlaid with gold. 12 loaves of bread (the bread of presence), are on the table and replaced every Sabbath.
Lampstand- made of pure gold and looks like and almond tree.
Alter of incense- this pure gold and is on the west side in front of the veil that separates the holy place from the Most Holy Place. 
The priests minister here. They have daily duties in the Holy Place. One is keeping the incense burning.

Holy of Holies- contains one piece of furniture, a wood box overlaid with gold inside and out. the cover of the ark is solid gold with Cherubim stretching over the top. This room is God's throne room. The High Priest can enter here only once a year on the Day of Atonement.

The tabernacle is a sanctuary which means holy place. Places become Holy when God visits them in His glory. The Tabernacle is also like Mt Sinai. Mt Sinai is broken into three zones like the tabernacle. The people of Israel may approach the base but cannot touch the Mountain. The elders are allowed to go up halfway. And only Moses is allowed to go to the top of the mountain. 

Bread of God:
Once Israel builds the Lords house, Israel begins serving HIm in His house. Worship means "service in the Lords house." Israel worships God mainly through animals, by killing them and burning them on the alter. This kind of worship is often called "sacrifice." In the Bible "sacrifice" is an offering that is followed by a meal. 

Drawing near to God is dangerous. But God tells Israel in Leviticus that there is a safe way to come to his house. 
There are 5 basic steps to animal sacrifices. There are 4 animal sacrifices.

5 basic steps:
1) Substitution- The worshiper lays his hands on the animals head. Laying hands on something is a way of setting it apart for a particular job or office. The animal is acting as his substitute. 
2)Animal is killed- the worshipers slaughters the animal in place of himself.
3) Blood is sprinkled- the blood is visible proof that death has atoned for sin. It is because of this that the worshiper can come into the presence of God. This reminds us of Passover. 
4)Animal is burned- The animal is burned on the bronze alter in the courtyard and is a sweet smelling aroma to God. God "eats" this meal.
5)Fellowship meal- the offering ends in a meal. The Priest and the worshiper sit down and eat the meal. This is a sign of friendship with the worshiper and God and renews the covenant. 

4 animal sacrifices:
1) Ascension offering (whole burnt offering)- only Yahweh eats this meal. This offering highlights the burning of the animal. 
2) Peace offering- the meal is highlighted in this animal sacrifice. This is the only sacrifice that the worshiper eats. When they bible mentions sacrifice this is usually they one mentioned. Yahweh, the worshiper, the Priest and the priesthood partake of this sacrifice.
3)"Sin," or "purification offering"- this offering highlights the sprinkinling of blood and involves different sprinkling rituals depending on the one bringing the offering.
4)Reparation offering- this offering is unique. Becoming holy is dangerous because it has responsibilities. When an individual becomes holy on accident by touching something holy, this sacrifice "de-sanctifies" and returns the person to a common status. 

Bible Study

Stories from Matthew 8: Jesus cleanses a Leper, Jesus heals a Centurion’s servant, Peter’s mother-in-law healed, Many healed in the evening, Wind and wave obey him, two demon possessed men healed. 

Leper healed- Leperosy was a disease that made you “unclean.”  If you were unclean, you could not be in the city.  If someone unclean or something unclean touched a clean person, that person became unclean.  Jesus touched this leper to heal him.  Did it make him unclean?  Why not?

Centurion’s servant healed- a centurion was a Roman officer.  Romans ruled the Promised Land in Jesus' time.  This centurion is not a Jew but he believes in Jesus.  Many of the Jews do not like the Romans and want them to leave.  This Centurion has a servant that is sick and asks Jesus to heal him.  Jesus says that he will come and heal him.  What does the centurion say in response to this?  What does Jesus say in response to him?

Jesus Calms a storm-  The important thing to remember in this story is that it comes at the end of a very big day.  What happens earlier in the day?  Jesus takes a multitude up on a mountain and preaches the Sermon on the Mount.  When he comes down, he heals a leper.  Right after that he heals the Centurions servant.  After this he goes to Peter’s house and heals his mother-in-law of a fever.  After this he heals many sick people and heals the possessed that are brought to him.  It is at this point in the story that he and his disciples enter the boat.  Jesus goes down to take a very much needed nap!  It is amazing how much Jesus accomplishes in one day.  He is a man and tires just like we do.  He is exhausted and finds rest once he is on the boat.  The disciples have been with Jesus all day.  They listened to his sermon earlier in the day and they watched him heal so many.  But as soon as the storm comes, the forget all that Jesus has said and done.  To their defense, it is clear that this is no ordinary storm.  Some of his disciples are fishermen and are very savvy in a boat.  So this is the kind of  storm that can bring a boat down.  They rush down to Jesus and wake him up, “Lord, save us! We are perishing!”

²⁶ But He said to them, “Why are you fearful, O you of little faith?” Then He arose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. ²⁷ So the men marveled, saying, “Who can this be, that even the winds and the sea obey Him?” 

In the story of the centurion, what did Jesus commend?  His faith.  What are the disciples lacking in the story of the storm?

“Who can this be”, the disciples say after the watch Jesus rebuke the waves and storm.  What else did Jesus rebuke this very busy day?

We have seen how important faith is in the stories we have looked at today.  What is faith?

It is easy to forget our Savior when things are hard and overwhelming (and when things are easy!).  But in this chapter we want to be like the leper who knows Jesus can heal him.  We want to be like the Roman Centurion who had faith and knew that Jesus could heal his sick servant.  We do not want to forget Jesus but believe in him all of the time!  Learning these stories will help make our faith strong.  We want these stories deep in our hearts so that we can remember them. 

Lets Pray.

Bible Study

Session 3
Stories of Jesus:
We are going to spend time with Jesus. We will be studying the book of Matthew. Matthew is a one of four gospels. The gospels tell the story of Jesus life. 

The baptism and temptations of Jesus. Matthew 3:13-17, Matthew 4:1-11

What did John say to Jesus?



What happened when John baptized Jesus?



First temptation: "If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread." But Jesus answered saying:



Second temptation: The devil took him to the top of the temple and said, "if you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for God says in His word, "He will command his angels concerning you, and they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone." But Jesus answered saying:



Third temptation: Again the Devil took him to a high mountain and said, "All the kingdoms are yours if you fall down and worship me. But Jesus answered saying: 



Lets apply this to our lives.

When we are tempted, what should we do? What did Jesus do?


Jesus knew the Bible. We need to know it even more!! What is your favorite book or story? Why?


Are you tempted when you are hungry?



What is an idol? What are some idols that we struggle with worshipping?

Bible Study

Our computer died.  Sad.  I have been out of cyber land for awhile now.  But today I re-enter and am happy to be typing again.  God is good (of course you know this).  We have had two big blessings come to us this week.  One of them is the computer that I am using to type these words.  Someone in our church heard we did not have a computer and gave us a really nice lab top that they had but where not using.  This compute is way nicer then our old one.  I am blessed and thankful for God’s provision.  The other blessing was just as unexpected.  I was going over the good ole finances and praying after I did the budget.  I want to be a women a faith.  I want to be faithful with what I am given and I want to have the righteous faith of Abraham and believe God in all circumstances. Right after I wrapped up the finances and laid them aside, I felt a lot of peace.  I now had the courage to open a medical bill that had been a burden.   I opened it and to my great astonishment found that more then ¾ of the bill had been taken care of!  I was shocked, happy shocked of course.  Who or how this came to be, I still do not know.  But I am thankful, grateful, and reminded of God’s caring hand in all of our matters, whether they be small or great. 

In the midst of daily living I have been involved in several studies.  Two I am co-leading and one I am the head honcho.  I love the young ladies in our community (2 of them are mine!).  I started a bible study after school for these young ladies.  We have met twice and I am so blessed by our time together.  We just finished studying the fruits of the spirit.  Next we will enter the Lenten season with meditations on the life, death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior.  I am putting my notes up here.  Enjoy:

Session 2
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Galatians 5:22-24.

The fruit of the spirit is a work of God. You cannot do these things on your own. People who love Jesus produce fruit. People who do not know Jesus produce fruit. There is good fruit and there is bad fruit. People who live for Jesus produce the fruit of the spirit. People who do not know and love Jesus produce the works of the flesh. Works of the flesh come natural to us. We are told to put off the works of the flesh and put on the fruit of the spirit. This is done in faith and is something that we must learn. The fruit of the spirit is a work of grace and at the same time is something that we do. This fruit is a work of the Spirit within us. God does a mighty work in our hearts, changing it and making it like His. One of the things to remember is to pray to see the fruit of the Spirit in your heart and life. How do we pray? Jesus taught us to pray. He starts with, "Our Father, in heaven." We should copy Him and start this way too. God hears our prayers because of Jesus. Jesus gives power to our prayers. We end "in the name of Jesus." An example of a prayer goes like this - Father in heaven, please be with me and change my heart. Make me to know and love you more and more. I want to see the fruit of the spirit in my life. Help me in Jesus name. Let us now look at the fruit if the Spirit. 

The fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control, against such there is no law.  And those that belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. 

Love: 1 Corinthians 13: 4 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.   John 15:13, 14  ¹³ Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. How does God know we are his friends?

Joy: 1 Chronicles 16, Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. 1 Happiness is an emotion that is easily shaken. Joy comes from knowing The Lord. Joy comes from knowing what God has done for you. This means that joy is not something you conjure up. It does not come from you or others. This why we can have joy when things are hard. This is why we can have joy when others are unkind to us. Joy is remembering what God has done!!! Start thinking on this as much as you can.
Name some of the things God has done for you –

Peace: Matthew 5:9, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”  Romans 5:1, “Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we^[a] have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” Romans 14:9, ^“Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace.”  We were born at war with God. Jesus made peace for us. Jesus died and rose again so that we could have peace with God.
How can we be peacemakers at home?

Patience: 1 Thessalonians 5:14,15,  “Now we exhort you, brethren, warn those who are unruly, comfort the fainthearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all. ¹⁵ See that no one renders evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good both for yourselves and for all.”  Adam and Eve where not patience.  They wanted to be like God right now, so they took the fruit they were told not. They should have waited!!  God was going to give them the fruit when they were ready.  Another interpretation is long suffering. Bearing with others sins for a long time. This means that when someone sins against you, you react like God and do not retaliate but let it go and cover it with love. God is very patience with us. We learn slowly and mess up all the time. But this is not a problem for God. He helps us and has patience with us as we learn. He picks us up when we stumble. This how we are to treat one another. God is patient with you so you should be patient with one another.
Name some ways God shows patience with His people in His Word. How can you show patience to your mom?  To your brother, sister or friend?

Kindness: Ephesians 4:32, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” Kindness is going out of your way to bless others. Jesus went out of His way to make us his friends. Remember that we were at war with God but Jesus' work on the cross made us friends. Jesus became man just so he could die for you!' Be Jesus to someone in your family.
Name some things that you can do to show kindness-

Goodness: Daniel 3:4  “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do:⁵ As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. ⁶ Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.”    “There are some Jews whom you have set over the affairs of the province of Babylon—Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego—who pay no attention to you, Your Majesty. They neither serve your gods nor worship the image of gold you have set up.”  ¹⁶ Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. ¹⁷ If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to delive us from it, and he will deliver us^[c] from Your Majesty’s hand. ¹⁸ But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.”  Loving and doing what is right. Goodness is upright and pleasing behavior before the Lord like Daniel and his friends.
What are some ways you can guard your heart from doing wrong?

Faithfulness: ² Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.” Genesis 22:1, Hebrews 11:17,  ^“By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had embraced the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son.”  Faithfulness is trusting and obeying God.  Faith believes God will do all He says He will.  Faithfulness stays on the right path when it is easy and when it is hard. Faithfulness believes God and obeys him. Faithfulness asks, what does God want me to do right now.
How did faith make Abraham strong? 

Gentleness: Matthew 8.  Gentleness is the opposite of bitterness.  It is a quite spirit.  A cup full of dirty water will spill out dirty water when shaken.  A cup that is full of sweet water when shaken will spill out sweet water.  What comes out when you are shaken?  Jesus was gentle to the women who bled for 12 years.   She sneaks up on him and touches his garment and is healed. Gentleness is tender to others . Jesus had compassion on others and spent time with them, feeding their weary souls.
What does bitterness do to your bones?

Self-control-  Proverbs has a lot to say about self control.  Proverbs 25:28 Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control.  Proverbs 16:32, Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city. Rule yourself, do not be ruled by yourself.  Talk to yourself, do not listen to yourself.  Self control makes you strong. What does lack of self control do for you?

Memory verses:

Proverbs 25:28 Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control. 

Proverbs 16:32, Better a patient person than a warrior, one with self-control than one who takes a city.

 Jesus lives and moves and has his being in the spirit.  We are to be the same way.  Jesus embodied all of the fruits of the spirit.  He calls us to follow him.  We are to follow him and when we do this, we will have the same fruit that he had.  The difference is, we will mess up and Jesus never did.  But this is ok.  When we stumble we get back up again.  You want to get up as quick as you can.  We do this by confessing our sin.  We tell God how we messed up and ask him to forgive us.  We have confidence because of Jesus that we are made clean.  A confession prayer looks like this: “Father in Heaven I got angry at my brother.  It was wrong, please forgive me and make me kind and give me self-control.  In Jesus Name, Amen.”