Dark Sayings

Jason is going through the gospel of Mark and it has so many treasures.  We started going through the parables two weeks ago.  One of the themes of the parables that has always interested me in a big way with little reward, is Jesus making sure that his stories confuse the audience.  The disciples, when they initially hear any parable, take it just as the rest of the crowd; they have no idea what Jesus is talking about!  But what the disciples have is Jesus to explain the meaning when the doors are closed and the crowds have dispersed.  Why? Why? Why?  That is the main question that tugs my heart and mind as I read the parables.  Jesus' intentions are the baffling thing.  The Word spoken, brings confusion and darkness.  It is not His intention to bring peace.  At least not yet.....

Mark is meant to be gone through again and again.  It is layered and with each going through, you gain tools that give you the ability to see what God is doing.  The ending makes the beginning make sense.  Wisdom is gained by coming again and again to the Words of God, loving and desiring those words, and applying them as you go.  This process never ends.  With each new acquisition, you find new ways to apply God's word.

The parables continue to unfold as you read the book of Acts and head into the epistles.  Peter, John, Paul, all see way more clearly post-pentecost.  History is like the book of Mark-there are layers and layers that expound and testify to the wisdom of the parables.

The big application for in the parables is to seek wisdom diligently, remember her always and let her be the guide as we walk.  Be the good soil.  Remember that when your story takes a turn into a dark alley, that God has new life on the other side.  Walk in faith, recalling Jesus' own journey, Israels journey, your journey.  Be emboldened to stay strong in times of persecution because your story is wrapped up in Jesus' story and will end the same as His.  His promise is sure.  No man or spirit can robe you of your inheritance.

Not yet.....we go from glory to glory.  Jesus came to save the whole world.  He will save the whole world.  He is saving the whole world.  The not yet of the parables, the darkness and confusing tone of the parables is being undone as far as the curse is found.

One of the amazing things to me in all of this, is how Jesus never set out to make everything super clear all at once.  He is the way to understanding not the instant download to wisdom.  To say it is all a process is super cliche but it is as close to the truth as you get when you look at how God works.  We go from glory to glory.  It is a process.  Wisdom is acquired.  Once you have found her, you never cease finding her.

The parables not only show us important principles, the point to the very character of God and His ways.  God unfolds the deeps to us.  He does this through time.  His infinite ways are disclosed to us in waves of goodness that span our earthly lives and continue on into the next life.

So as we make sure that we are the right type of soil and remember that all seeds must be crushed and buried in death to grow, we remember that parables in themselves, their shape and form, their confusing nature and depth, point to our good God who is wisdom.  He is never ending.  He is over all things.  His word can be searched again and again and there is always treasure to be found.  The parables are meant to be searched.  They are meant to turn us into the wisdom seekers that God has made us to be!  So get out the word and start the search, or continue searching.  And as you walk away from it, remember to keep it close and to bind it on your heart and mind!

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.”

Advent

THE STORY OF ADVENT

2012

Once upon a time the Most High made the world. This world was a house. God made man and put him in a garden in this new world. Man stayed in the garden but he was to move out and be master of the whole house.

God gave house rules to the man. He gave man a name, Adam. Adam was to walk with God in the garden and follow His rules. Adam was to tend and defend all that was in the garden. God new that man was alone and that it was not good so he put Adam in a deep sleep. He took Adam's rib and made women with it. She was a helpmeet for the work God had given Him. Her name was Eve and she was the mother of all things.

There was a great dragon in the world. He was wicked and hated the Most High. He had started a war with God and God cast him out of heaven. He wanted to rule this new world. He sought to destroy Adam, who was the King of this new world. He wanted man to be at war with God too. This dragon was subtle and deceitful above all.

There were trees in the garden for food for Adam and Eve. They could eat of all the trees but one, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This was one of the house rules and if they ate of this tree, they would surely die.

The dragon came to the women in the cool of the day and tempted her. She listened to the dragon. Adam did not kill him like he should of. He did not defend the garden or his wife. The dragon led Eve to the tree that was forbidden. He told her that she would be like God if she ate the fruit. Eve believed him and she ate. She gave it to Adam and he ate it.

God came to them and found them hiding. They where ashamed because they where naked. They had broken God's house rules. God judged them for the wrong they had done. Life would be bitter because they had followed the dragon and disobeyed his rules. The war between God and the dragon now involved the man and the new world. Man had plunged they whole world into darkness. He was far from God and his life would be full of fighting.

Adam and Eve had to leave the garden. They had to enter the wider world. But they where not ready. Their training in the garden was not yet complete. But they transgressed God's rules and had to go. God promised them that he would make right what they had done. He would send a second Adam to the world and he would come save them from their darkness. He would end the great war and crush the great dragon. Man would again walk close to God because of this new Adam.

Adam and Eve became fruitful and had children. They filled the world up with people. But these children followed the serpent as well. The thoughts of man where continually wicked. God found only one man who loved Him and followed his rules, his name was Noah. So God had Noah build a boat and fill it with animals because God was going to destroy the world and make a new one. Noah was to be a new Adam. Noah, his family and all of the animals that he spent his life collecting and caring for, entered the ark. God filled the world up with water.

After Noah we find that man continued to disobey God's house rules. But God never forgot his promise to fix what was broken. God was working his promise to end this war by crushing the dragon. God found a people for himself and he put his name on them. They where to be his special people who would follow him and keep his rules. Abram was the father of these people. He became a new Adam.

Abraham had a son and his son had sons. Jacob was the younger son of Isaac and he had twelve sons that became a mighty people. They became the Hebrews. The Hebrew people ended up slaves in Egypt. After 400 hundred years of slavery God delivered his people out of the hand of the Egyptians. He promised that he would give his special people a land flowing with milk and honey. He promised that they would inhabit cities that they did not build and eat grapes that they did not plant.

The Hebrews become the nation of Israel. But they were a stiff necked and rebellious people. God gave them new house rules and gave them a new house, the Tabernacle, where they could meet with him daily. They were to follow these rules so that they could be closer to God and receive his blessings. But if the rules where broken, God would judge them. These rules pointed ahead to the new Adam that was yet to come and be the true King that would rule the world.

After the Tabernacle is built and the law is given, God's special people forget him. He never forgets however and he kicks them out of the new house. They go into exile again and again for their disobedience. When they humble themselves call on the name of the Lord, God saves them from their troubles and restores them to peace with him. But this pattern is one that continues for thousands of years. They forget God's rules and follow the dragon's rules instead. They delight in listening to the Deceiver rather then following hard after God. The cleave to fake god's and forsake the law of the Lord.

God never forgot his promise in the garden.  In all of the Old Testament stories we see God preparing the way for the new Adam. He will come in glory and He will be the brightness and fullness of the Lord Most High. He will be lowly, coming on a donkey to reclaim this house for the Lord. He will come to listen and obey the rules of the Lord. He will come to defend and care for the world that Adam plunged into war. He will come and save the lost and restore fellowship with the world and God. He will crush the head of the Dragon of old. He will be given a new world like Noah but he will rule it in wisdom and this kingdom will have no end. It will be the beginning of a new way. It will be a new house, a new world and he will rule it well. All peoples, nations and tongues will follow this new way. The world will be full of the knowledge of the Lord. And at the end of time, heaven and earth will joined together when the knowledge of the Lord fills this house. The joined houses will remain forever and ever and will live in sweet fellowship, joining the chorus the angels sing, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

2000 years ago we find Israel under Roman rule. The Romans do not know the Lord and they do not follow him. They are harsh to the children of Israel. Israel is waiting for the promised King, the new Adam. They have cried out to God in their exile and are waiting to be delivered.

The Song of Mary

46 And Mary said:

“My soul magnifies the Lord,
47 And my spirit has rejoiced in God my Savior.
48 For He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant;
For behold, henceforth all generations will call me blessed.
49 For He who is mighty has done great things for me,
And holy is His name.
50 And His mercy is on those who fear Him
From generation to generation.
51 He has shown strength with His arm;
He has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.
52 He has put down the mighty from theirthrones,
And exalted the lowly.
53 He has filled the hungry with good things,
And the rich He has sent away empty.
54 He has helped His servant Israel,
In remembrance of His mercy,
55 As He spoke to our fathers,
To Abraham and to his seed forever.”

I wrote this for the kids.  I am turning the above story into Advent books that we will use for our morning advent reading.  I am leaving room for the kids to draw because if you are a Farley you need to illustrate the story!  Unless you are mama Farley who cannot even match Malachi in skill level. I am super excited to use this for Advent.  One of the most striking things about advent for me is the way it begins, not with Mary but in the garden of Eden.  Advent is the story we find on all pages of Scripture.  I wrote a super brief summary of Old Testament History so that my children will understand the whole story of Advent.  I want them to see how Jesus was anticipated, promised and looked for for thousands of years.  Jesus is a big deal.  He is the big deal.  I want my children to see Jesus on every page of Scripture.  I end my little book with the Magnifcat.  My goal is to have them memorize this over the advent season.  It is not super long and they memorize much longer at school.  But the reality of doing all of this before school.....we will see!  But the point is that Jesus came. God came as a man to crush and conquer and fulfill all of God's commands.  He came as a babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, and he came as the true King.  He was longed for, hoped for, promised, and we meet him as a son to Mary and Joseph born among the animals.  All of the miracles of His story should hit us like a train every year.  It is a wonder that we ever lack faith when we meditate on this awesome story.  God is doing far more then we could imagine or deserve.  It is all grace because of Christ.  And it all started in Bethlehem.  

Moses' Great Sermon

I have been out of Deuteronomy for a while now.  It is time to recall some of the amazing lessons learned (and being learned) in this a huge book.  Deuteronomy happens to be one of my favorites.  It might be strange to have a favorite book in the Bible but I do so love Deuteronomy and 1st and 2nd Samuel   I probably have other favorites that I have forgotten about but these are my favs at the moment.  

The setting for this book is super fantastic.  Israel has wondered in the wilderness for forty years.  There wanderings have been full of rebellion, epic battles, the law, the blue prints for the Tabernacle, the making of the Tabernacle and oh so much more. Moses is not allowed to enter the promised land.  He is to perish in the wilderness with the rest of the rebellious generation.  He gathers all of the people together (women and little ones are mentioned as being there for this very long sermon).  They are about to receive the promise that was given to Abraham.  God is going to give His people a land flowing with milk and honey.  He is going to give them a land that has fields full of produce, vines heavy with grapes that they did not plant.  They will inhabit cities that they did not build.  God is giving them what they do not deserve.  It is all grace.  It His gift to His children.  This theme is continued from the garden and continues on into the new garden, the new world that Jesus establishes by his death and resurrection.  It is all grace.  Even in the giving of the law and the temple rituals, we should grace.  God loves to bless us beyond what we deserve.  This is what grace is.  This is such a beautiful theme found in God's word and it is amazing how often we miss it!  Back to Moses and his story.  He is declaring this very truth to God's people.  He is reminding them of the grace they have received.  Reminding them of the grace that they are to receive.  But....he is also reminding them of what happens when they disobey and forget their God.  As they forget God, God does not forget them.  He remembers the vow that they have taken to follow after God and to obey all of His commands.  When they are unfaithful to their word, God stays faithful to His.  He sends them enemies to remind them of what they have forgotten.  He reminds them that false gods are just that....false liars, works of their own feeble imaginations.  This sermon is can be broken into two basic categories: if you remember Me and obey all of my commands, you will be blessed.  If you forget me and follow other god's, all of the curses and plagues of Egypt will swallow you up.  The blessings are great when we follow God and cleave to Him.  The curses are heavy and buckle anyone they fall on.  But the curses also have grace wrapped up in them.  The purpose of the curses is to administer Gods justice.  But they are also for the purpose of bringing the people back to the Lord.  And if you look at the whole book of the bible we see this again and again.  God's people disobey.  They go into exile.  They become slaves and have bitter lives.  This reminds them of when God's favor was on them.  They call out in repentance and ask God to deliver them once again.  God is the only deliverer that brings us peace and blessings.  If we think differently, we are already compromised in out minds and can be sure that an idol is being worshiped.  Find the idol, cut it off and turn to the Lord.  God is your fullness, your deliver from all things, your surety and praise.  Cleave to Him.  This is the message of Moses' sermon.

Therefore keep all the commandments....that you may be strong.  Deut. 11:8

Hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God to keep all of His commandments...to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord.  Deut. 13:18

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear Him and keep His commandments and obey his voice and ye shall serve him and cleave unto Him.  Deut  13:4

Thou shat fear the Lord thy God, him shalt thour serve and to him shalt thou cleave and swear by His name.  he is thy praise and he is thy God.  Deut.  10:22

Quotes That Rock my Boat

These quotes are from an article called,  Our Dangerous Obsession With Health by Wesley J Smith found on First Things Blog.  

"Fundamentally, it is not mere life, nor even a healthy life, but rather a good and worthy life for which we must aim . . . Indeed, though there is no such thing as being too healthy, there is such a thing as being too concerned about health. To be preoccupied with the body is to neglect the soul, for which we should indeed care “first and most.”

In other words, if we individually and collectively practice virtue—even when it means accepting suffering—we will make Nietzsche a false prophet by promoting health and pursuing happiness in the overarching context of protecting the equal moral worth of all human life. 

Getting Good at Being Sick

One of the things that I have noticed about being sick is how consuming it can be.  When your body is a raging mess it is easy to get obsessed with how you feel.  It is easy to go inside and hang out with mess.   It is also so true that we are not gnostic and able to separate the body from the soul.  When the body suffers, the soul is effected.  But I would say that this is where we engage a fight rather then let our souls slip into the goo that our body is oozing.  What i mean by this, is that in the storm of upset health we engage in active combat to keep our souls facing outward and heavenward. It is super easy to turn our gaze and our ears on the thing that is shouting the loudest and jumping up and down for attention.  In this context i am speaking of health issues.  When bad health sets in it is super easy to turn inward and hang out with the mess.  But even in this we are called to seek first the kingdom.  Even in these times we are promised that our needs will be taken care of.  The practical side to this is, bad health slows you down.  This is where it is super tempting to join the Gnostic.   Lets just ignore that I feel super horrid.  Lets pretend that mind over matter is more spiritual then being where I am..... being sick to the glory of God.  Being good at being sick is a good work.  Learning to trust in the Lord in all things, is the point.  When we are sick, we glorify God.  We do not pretend it away and we do not let it consume us.  We are called to fight as Christians   Some of us fight with ailments.  We learn to get really good with our handicap.  We learn that we are in a body and that we are  not fighting on our own.  And we learn that the real enemy is in our hearts, in the world and is the cunning serpent of old.  We fight the real enemies.  And yes, bad health is a real enemy.  It is apart of the dying man that Jesus had victory over.  We remember that Christ has had the victory.  He tasted this victory after death.  Our pattern is no different.  Bad health is a type of death.  If it is a christian death then you should see Resurrection life springing from your dying body.  Your family should be blessed by it.  Trials are promised.  They are guaranteed.  Health trials are from the Lord and for our good.  

The Book of Numbers

I am in the book of Numbers.  Loving every bit of it (ok, the numbering of the people in all of the tribes was a bit rough).  Korah and the earth swallowing him up.  The bit about the spirit of jealousy coming over a husband.  The 12 days of sacrifices that took place, one day for each tribe to sacrafice, sanctify the alter.  The spying of the Land.  Internal struggles as princes lead their tribes to doubt God.  God sending a disease that wiped out thousands.  Aaron and Miriam having their own little rebellion that leads to Miriams uncleanness and exile.  And do not forget the unnamed man that collected sticks on the Sabbath.....he had a very rocky ending! Miriam dies.  Aaron dies.  Phineas stops the plague with his manly javelin skills.  The number of rebellions found in this book is unbelievable.   In it all we have a beautiful reminder of what God is doing.  God is taking a people, a people that are His and He is drawing near to them.  That is what He is up to.  That is what all it is about.  He wants to be near to His people.  The book of numbers is full of stories about rebellion.  God's people keep pushing Him away.  Look at what He has done for them.  And yet they still want to go back to slavery.  They have forgotten what their God has done.  They remember the pleasures of slavery in Egypt but refuse to see the pleasures that their God has given them.  He wants them to be near.  He wants them close. This generation is stiffnecked.  They perish in the wilderness because of their unbelief.  This book is full of warnings.

 We are God's children.  He has gone to great trouble to be near to us.  We should be Joshua and Caleb in this story.  We are to believe that God can and will bring us through the wilderness.  We are to thirst after His ways and not the ways of the world around us.  We do this by remembering and being thankful. God's story is not just to be known by us. It is to be loved. We know his ways, walk in ways, delight in His ways and continue on in His ways. We love the law and meditate on it day and night.  We teach His stories, our stories faithfully to our children.  We walk before them, showing them how to be true sons and daughters of the Most High God.

The stories found in numbers are full of lessons.  Are we Korah?  Are we the bickering princes that cause others to stumble and lose their way?  Are we Miriam who murmurs against God's chosen?  Are we the grumblers in the wilderness who despise the food of the Lord?  Are we forgetful of what God has done for us?  Or can we say that we are sisters of Joshua and Caleb.  Faithful to Moses as he walked before God and led a stiff necked people. We follow Joshua into the promised land with confidence of victory because we know what the Lord has done and what He has promised to do.  We should be people of courage.  Do we look at the giants in our own story and shrink back?  Or can we say with Caleb and Joshua, "lets go to war now for the Lord will deliver our enemies into our hands!"  We pray for this kind of courage in the story we are in.  We all have our giants.  But we also have God as our Father and deliverer.  So we walk in the strength of Lord, knowing that He has led us into the wilderness so that He can bring us into the glorious promised land.

Our culture is bankrupt. We should not be tempted by what they have. They offer the same thing that Egypt offered Israel......slavery.  We need to renew our desires and seek after righteousness. We need to teach our children to love what God loves. We do this by loving His ways and keeping our own hearts from idolatry and vain things.  "Think not on worthless things," says Psalm 119.  Guard your hearts and your minds and keep the book of Numbers close when you are tempted by the ways of this world.  The stories found in this book should knock some good ole sense into our straying hearts.  The basic lesson is this:  idolatry and grumbling lead to death in the wilderness. Following, believing, and remembering our God leads to a land flowing with milk and honey.  Super easy to decide which one is best.  Super easy to slide into rebellion when we are not being diligent to keep the idols out. Idol minds lead to idolatry in the heart.  Stay vigilant!  Fight the good fight and learn to follow Joshua and Caleb into the promises that God has for you. 

Life On Steriods

Life is good.  The weather is an amazing 63 degrees.  My kids are at soccer with dad.  I talked to two of my sisters today.  Man do I miss you ladies.  I think you all need to come down here with your kids and we can just have a fun time in the sun together!

I went to the doctor today.  I did not want to go.  Jason wanted me to go.  I went.  I told Jason on the way that we should never, never do the steroid thing again.  I finally feel that it is all of out my system from my last round with that nasty stuff.  It makes you feel horrid.  It tempts me to act horrid.  And boy is it bad on the face.  I mean really, I puffed up like a cheese puff.  Not a good look for me.  So I decided on the way to the doctor today that I probably just needed a round of good ole antibiotics to kick what has been getting me down.  I went into the doc (who is a friend as well) and put on my happy face.  I gave him my symptoms with a calm and cheerful disposition.  I mean really, if you where there to hear me you might start cracking up.  "What seems to be the problem?"  I like to start my answers off with a note of,  "oh not much I just have not seen you in a while," kind of way.  I did say that I deserve a frequent visitor card.  For my sisters, they know that this is a big deal for me.  I do not like going to the doctor.  I avoid it at all costs in fact.  I often hear from my doctor that I wait too long to come in.  So I know that I am not a crazed hypochondriac....I have many temptations but this is not one of them.  Back to the conversation.  I did tell him that I woke the other night choking and coughing and having a hard time recovering.  I have been super short of breath, coughing up some beautiful green stuff, having chest pain, and (imagine this) having a hard time sleeping.  All of this and more was said in a super chipper tone.  He listened to my lungs for a while.  My doctor is awesome.  He is a christian and a man that I respect.  He is not over dramatic but calm and clear.  He told me very calmly that I need to go back on steroids   I do not sound good and I need to go on the good stuff for 15 days.  We are hoping that this 15 days does not turn into 3 months like the last time.  He said that my air flow is restricted which is troubling because I am on a high dose of an inflammatory inhaler already and this should not be happening.  This is what is going on inside of me: I can breathe in just fine, it is the out breath that is the problem.  I can not get all of the air out.  This is why my chest hurts so bad.  I have air in there that is puffing my lungs up like a balloon ready to burst....not a pleasant feeling I assure you.  I am short of breathe for this reason as well, and waking in the dead of night with horrible asthma attacks.  He also gave me an antibiotic because I have some type of infection.  It may be a sinus infection or it may be bronchitis but he said that it does not matter which one it is, breathing is the real problem.  This is when you know that do not have the "normal" run of the mill kind of health issues.  If you have had a sinus infection or bronchitis, you know that they are enough to put you out for a while.  But this was a minor detail in todays visit.  Super encouraging......I think not.  But I did get some super good news today.  I am in the middle of a root canal.  I do not like going to the dentist.  The good news is, i get to delay my root canal for a while because he cannot work on my while I am steroids!  I loved canceling that appointment today.  Here I was, sitting on the doctors bed and ready to accept this trial is not over.  I did keep calm.  I trust him.  I will take the nasty stuff because I know that I have to.  I will suck it up and feel like junk for the next while because I have to.  And in it all I really am thankful.  Is it hard, yes.  Manly because it is the cause of something bigger going on that we have yet to figure out.  We thought that in the spring we figured it out.  I had a major lung flare up because of my allergies.  But I am on allergy medication, and my allergies are under control at the moment.  So we rule that out.  Going on steroids is not done lightly by any doctor.  But I am thankful for them.  And I am thankful that I have a doctor who I trust.  I love that I told Jason I would never go on them again.  But here I am dosed up and feeling horrible already.  My head is killing me, I am shaky and I feel sick to my stomach.  I usually do not write when I hurt so bad.  But I wanted to so that my family and friends will know that I would love your prayers.  Prayers to figure out what in the world is going on with my lungs.  Prayers that I will be good at feeling nasty.  Prayers that I will stay close to my God as He hands me this trouble.  Prayers that I would bless my lovely family while I am sick.  Prayers that I would not have insomnia this time around.  My mom died of lung disease.  And watching her die was painful.  Lung disease is a brutal beast.  I want to kill it and have victory over it.  I want to beat it for my mom.  I still remember walking into the ICU when I was 18 and seeing my mom ravaged and beaten on life-support.  I thought I would be strong when I walked in.  I thought that I could handle seeing her.  I walked in, looked at her, gasped and left quickly in tears.  I want to beat this thing.  I want to hold my great-grandchildren.  Pray that we figure it out.  My mom was undignosed until the day she ended up on life support.  She lived only 4 more years after that.  She finally found a good doctor when she got super sick.  But it was too late.  He told us that.  I want a different story.  I have a doctor is pro-active and trying to figure out the "why" behind it all.  So my story is already different.  I am so blessed to have such supportive family, doctors and friends.  I just kept thinking that it would all just go away.  Ignore, ignore, ignore.  But I am motivated to figure this out so that I can better care for my family.  God gives us all of our days.  He knows them all.  Everyday I get to live for Jesus is a gift.  Health is a gift.  Having it taken away is the main means that God has used to change me.  I do pray that I come through this looking more like Jesus.  I do pray that I will reflect His glory more in this trial.  I have a smile on my face.  It does not stay on for long because it hurts my head to smile but my heart is thankful.  And I am honored to be worthy to walk through this trial.  May Jesus be seen clearly in the Farley home as we go through this together.

Thanks for all of your prayers.  I will probably not be around for awhile.

Blessings,
Erin

Discipleship

People do things for a reason.  Shocking I know.  We all are motivated to get up in the morning.  We take care of our families.  We are women who understand the need for mom to be around.  We understand that we are doing our children and husband a great service by staying out of the "work force" and tending to the real work of family life in the home.  We could continue to talk about the host of other things that we do better then the world.  We sure do know that educating our children is important and that we would never put our kids in the devils academy.  I mean can you believe that some people do that?!!!  We are a thinking people.  We make decision based on biblical principles.  Do not sacrifice your children to Molech (or we could say public schools!).  It is really easy to justify and defend why we do what we do.  But I have noticed a temptation here.  Once we make the big decisions, we feel that we are done.   Illustrate this please.  Ok, we know that we need to raise our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord.  This translates into seeking to educate our children thoughtfully and under God's care.  We pick a good christian school or homeschool to be faithful to this command.  Good and well done.  So we  start our homeschool year.  Or we put them in a good school.  This is not where we end however.  We go from glory to glory all of the time.  We don't figure something out and then have done with it.  For homeschooling families, you constantly have to fight to have Christ at the center of your time, your curriculum and in every lesson that you teach them in and out of the working school day.  Parents of day schoolers have the same battle.  We put our children in school not so that we get some time off  but we put them in school and walk alongside them.  We know the teachers.  Know what the teachers think of our children and work on the character issue that arise.  We constantly make sure that we know what they are learning.  We make sure that we know their friends.  We should know what games their playing at recess.  Who they have issues with and what issues our own children have.  Discipleship is the name of the game.  It does not end when we decide to follow Christ, it is something that we do everyday, every minute. And this is the pattern.  Not to make super godly decision and then idolize them.  Or make super godly decisions and then think we have done our bit.  We are walking, running, fighting, at all times of this Christian walk.  David finds all of the men of battle sitting down and not fighting the nation of Philisti.  David walks in and takes on the giant.  It was good and right for Saul to go to battle with the Philistians.  But when he got to the battle, he sat down and did nothing.  David is the hero, the example in this story.  And David is victorious over his enemies again and again.  We are not just called to make "good" decisions, we are called to get up everyday and walk hard after Christ in all that we do.  If we stay home with the kids, we get better and better at it.  If we send our kids to school, we get better and better at this.  If we homeschool, we get better and better at it.  Christians are disciples.  Disciples follow hard after Christ.  We did decide to follow Christ but we must continue on in our walk following Him in all ways.  Keep making godly choices.  Renew again and again your love and zeal for this Christian life.  Change and change and then change some more, more into the likeness of Jesus.  Our choices may change.  Our choices may stay the same. But in both we should be changing, our hearts should continually be drawing closer to Christ.   We do all things for the glory of God and our hearts being refined is a big part of this.  The disciples dropped all they had and followed Jesus.  But that first day was the beginning for them.  They where not done when they started following Jesus.  We are to be like the disciples.  We begin as they did and drop all we have and follow Jesus. We stay strong in the thick of our troubles and stay by Jesus.  And when our end comes, we continue to walk through the valley of death with Jesus at our side.  They grew stronger everyday they walked with Jesus.  The church was built on their blood.  Did they have any clue about their end in those first days they spent with Jesus? No!!  But God changes us as we stay close to Him.  He makes us ready for all things.  He changes us and puts His glory in and on us.  We are only a light when we stay close to the Sun.  We follow hard after Jesus at all stages of our walks, in all manner of choices that arise.  We do all for the glory of God giving thanks to Him for all things.  And we remember daily that we are going somewhere and that we are meant for glory.

Stay close to God in all of your decisions, new and old.  Make the old new again by continually bringing your ways before God and asking Him to make you more and more like Jesus.