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xxPsalm139xx
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Name: Michelle
Interests: Bible study, knowing God, learning, growing, loving, evangelism, making disciples, reading, research, writing, studying
Expertise: None. Falling on my face, perhaps. LOL!
Occupation: Child of God!!
Message: message me
Website: visit my website
Member Since:
8/29/2005
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| Vote for Scott's Song!!! ^.^Scott entered the American Idol Songwriting contest and MIGHT BE ONE OF
THE TOP TWENTY!! The winning song gets sung by the top two finalists,
then by the winner, and is released as a single.
Register to vote at http://songwriter.americanidol.com/
The voting starts April 10th...I'll let you know if his song is on there.
Note:
IF his song makes the Top Twenty (out of THOUSANDS!!) -- the singer is
me and it's AWFUL! I had to learn the song and record it within an
hour, AND I had a wicked head cold.  My singing isn't the greatest
on the recording, but it gets the point of the song across. They're
looking for a SONG that captures the essence of winning American Idol.
So don't let the "singer" distract from the SONG. LOL!!
GO REGISTER!!!!!!
I'll let you know if his song's on the list, and what the title is.
Thanks, everyone!! 
Love,
~Michelle | | |
| This is different...
Disclaimer: Sorry I keep saying this, but just in case anyone gets the wrong impression that I'm someone to listen to (LOL!)...these are just my thoughts as God is tearing down all the things that I've learned...distorted teachings that led me away from having a relationship with Him based 100% on what He has done, not on what I have done or do or will do in the future. He's starting me all over, with Christ as the cornerstone, and just teaching me how I got that distorted along the way. I'm on step one. I was telling a friend today, "I'd kinda like to just camp out on this step for a while." To be driven to weepiness over His love for me...well, this is changing me.
**************************************************** Posted on my MySpace, Thursday, March 27, 2008
...so
today I was talking on a ministry forum about how to handle discipline
problems with teens, and I thought back to our Wednesday nights, when
things might get a bit chatty but we didn’t have "discipline" problems.
No one was fighting or threatening leaders or challenging authority or
flipping out or being rebellious against Scott or me or Jon or Judy,
ever. And I realized it was coz everyone knew how much we loved them. I
don’t think any teen would doubt for a second our deep love for them,
no matter who they were, what color their skin, what their issues were.
We just loved every teen we met, real love. We’d go to the cross
ourselves for any one of you, in a heartbeat.
And today I realized something.
Before
the last few weeks -- when we’ve been doing this study on legalism -- I
obeyed God because (a) I thought it made Him love me more, (b) I didn’t
want to be disciplined, (c) I felt like I owed it to Him, and (d) I
wanted to be rewarded for it. Like, I knew I was saved (born again) coz
I trusted in Christ, but the living out of that was because I hoped for
something in return, or hoped to avoid something.
That kind of
obedience is finicky. It’s based on how I’m feeling at the moment. It’s
based on what I feel like doing more or less.
But
now, because I realize anew that God loves me so freaking much that
Jesus gave His life for me BEFORE I even CARED -- I mean, He loved me
exactly as I am, no holds barred, no conditions, no "cleanliness"
required, warts and all, dark heart and all, sins and all, unbelief and
all -- and even THEN, Jesus was willing to give His life in exchange
for mine --
well, that recognition of GRACE just changes everything.
Grace.
God showed me grace. He shows me grace. I don’t deserve it. I can’t
deserve it. I won’t ever deserve it. No matter what I do or don’t do.
Yet He keeps it coming, just coz He loves me. I could throw rocks and
shake my fist in the air at God, and He’d adore me and want the best
for me. I could do all kinds of things that would raise your eyebrows,
but God would still adore me and want the best for me.
I’m not used to love like that. I’m certainly not used to grace like that.
And
it makes me feel like this: I don’t want anything in exchange anymore.
I don’t want anything from Him. I’d really rather Him not even notice
what I’m doing out of love for Him. I wish I could be a Ninja Do-Gooder
for God, and He’d be all like, "Who did this nice thing?" and He
wouldn’t even know it was me.
I just want to love Him back. 
This is different. | | |
| Life-Changing, Heart-Bursting Thoughts...My usual disclaimer: these are the simple writings of a Christ-follower who is being transformed by the Word of God, through His Holy Spirit, simply because a few young women I hang out with on Monday nights wanted to talk about legalism. They've all been wounded by it, and I've seen grown men nearly lose their faith because of it, so it seemed like a good thing to talk about. Well, God had been waiting for just this time, I guess. Coz He's revolutionizing my understanding of how awesome He really is. I'm sure I have a million miles to go.
Anyway, these are my thoughts as I think them out. That's all. But definitely feel free to help me along!!
******************************************************* Posted on my MySpace, Wednesday, March 26, 2008
There’s nothing I can do to make God love me more.
There’s nothing I can do to make God love me less.All that’s required is that I be "in Christ."
Coz God is pleased with Jesus.And Jesus gave His life for me.And I trusted in His death and in His resurrection (our hope!).And now I’m "in Christ."And now God is pleased with me.Because of what Jesus did.Not because of what I did or do or will do in the future.But just because I’m "in Christ."Just because of Jesus.Not because of me.Why would Jesus do such a thing?What would cause Him to go to such great lengths for me?It had to be love.And that makes me crazy-grateful.To think I didn’t have to do a thing to garner His love, to earn it, to win it.He just -- gave it.First -- [Jesus said] "Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13)Then -- "Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." (Romans 8:1)Now -- "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me." (Galatians 2:20) -- that makes completely different sense to me now than it did before.Faith in Christ = new life.Not Works for God = new life. (Not even when I'm in Christ -- my works don't bring or give me new life.)This makes me grateful beyond words.This is different.This is love.He loved me first.And that makes all the difference.Ha. 
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| Are You Free?
I'm going to write this every time I post, so no one takes anything I say and goes, "Oh, that sounds right! This must be true!": Please, please, please do not take anything I say as gospel truth.
These are simply the writings of a Christian who has been growing out of legalism and into grace. I'm being transformed by God's Word and by the Holy Spirit as my Monday night Bible study (all young women plus a couple of us old farts) go through the book of Galatians in a desire to study legalism. My husband has been all but destroyed by what he calls "cult programming" of legalism that goes back to his childhood. He's at a place spiritually where he's literally starting all over -- with Jesus as his cornerstone, and not one other stone placed on the foundation yet. My daughter developed severe anxiety after being accused of horrible things (including being anti-Jesus) by a family she was very close to, because she had characters in her writing that they deemed evil (a conflicted zombie, for example). A young teen friend of mine thinks she's not saved because she has doubts. Another teen friend lives under a spirit of condemnation because she sins. I could go on and on and on with the train wrecks I see in my friends both young and old.
Through all this, I've done my best to encourage everyone, but it seemed my encouragement didn't help them -- it actually hurt them in some ways. It's been said that I "have it all together," and people have said that they wish they had my joy. But it seems that when people are suffering from the devastating effects of legalism, the last thing they need is a cheerleader in their face, smiling and going, "It'll be okay! God will heal you! I'm praying for you!" *rolls eyes* I just didn't get it. So God's using this Monday night study to - uh - teach me a few things. Like how deeeeep the roots of legalism go in me, even as I was sure I could expound on legalism like an old expert. Oh, the things I've said -- the things I've taught. I wish I could erase it all. And I know my husband does, too. Oh. My. Word. So, consider the source when you read my drivel. This is just a sinner saved by GOD'S grace (I had nothing to do with it -- can ya believe it?), sharing her journey as she learns that God really, really does love her -- and there's not a thing she can do to earn it or prove herself worthy of it or lose one whit of it. Coz of Jesus. It's all Jesus.
************************************ Posted on MySpace March 15th, 2008 (I post these to supplement the study)
Are You Free?
Do
you feel like you’re on a ladder of standards with God, and you’re
always trying to climb that ladder (fulfill more standards) to "do
better" for God? Do you feel like you should "do better" to please God
with your performance for Him? Do you feel like you have to "do things"
or "stop doing things" to win God’s love or to win "more of" God’s
love? Do you feel like your life is based on a system of doing things
to win God’s favor, or of losing His favor when you’re not "up to
snuff" with Him?
At the Monday night Bible study, we’ve started
looking at the devastating effects of "legalism" on the spiritual life
of a Christian. At the same time, we’re studying the book of Galatians
in the Bible. Why Galatians? Because of the way the apostle Paul
attacked legalism in that letter to the churches in Galatia (located in
modern central Turkey).
So...what is "legalism" when we’re talking about spiritual matters, specifically the Christian life? Here’s a good working definition I found online at dictionary.com:
a. the doctrine that salvation is gained through good works.
b. the judging of conduct in terms of adherence to precise laws.
God
has a better way, a way that has nothing to do with what we do, and
everything to do with what He did (and notice who gets the credit?) --
[Jesus
said] "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son,
that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. "For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him. "He
who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been
judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only
begotten Son of God." (John 3:16-18)
Why is legalism so deadly to one’s relationship with God and with our "neighbor"? Because it distorts and devastates the relationship that God has given us through Jesus Christ. If I have trusted in Christ’s sacrifice of His life for my sins against God -- if I have been given new life by His gift of His life for mine -- then to place myself into a relationship with God that’s based upon my performance rather than His promises hurts my relationship with Him.
Have
you ever loved someone so much that you couldn’t do enough for them?
That’s the kind of love that happens when we really get that Jesus did
it all, and that there’s never been a doggone thing we could do to
deserve it. Nothing. Yet it’s ours.
Paul
was furious when he learned that Christians were putting themselves and
others under the burden of keeping any part of the "Law."(If you want
to know what those decrees and ordinances were, read Genesis, Exodus,
Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy in the Bible. You’ll find more than
600 standards that must be kept if you refuse Jesus Christ, the Messiah
prophesied throughout the entire Old Testament.)
When Paul discovered that there were Christians spreading the lie that any part of
the Law must be kept by Christians in order to be justified before God,
he fired off a letter to the churches in Galatia imploring them to
remember that Jesus Christ had set them free from that burden, and to
not place themselves back under its weight. To do so would fly in the
face of what Jesus had done -- paid the penalty of our sin through His
death -- and would be the same as saying that He had died in vain, for
nothing.
Paul said that he feared for them.
Jesus condemned
legalism in the Pharisees, that group of Jewish religious authorities
who kept the Law as perfectly as humanly possible and who condemned others
for not doing the same. Jesus said that He had come to fulfill the Law, and by His death to set us free
from its burden. Yet legalism can be found throughout Christianity even
today. It seems as though we have a natural bent toward feeling like we
must earn our way with God, after He has done everything to set us free
from not only sin and its penalty (death), but from bondage to that
sin, and from our need to prove ourselves worthy somehow of God’s love
and mercy.
*************************
Wow. I read that even now, and think, "Jesus died to set me free from the awful burden of trying to measure up. Yet I've spent the last 7 years believing that my job was to measure up, that I was doing a good job of measuring up, and that I should teach others to do the same 'so they'd be in fellowship with God,' so He'd 'bless them' for doing all the right things like reading their Bibles every day, praying correctly and a lot, and going to church every Sunday. And what did that do? Did it please God? Make Him love me more? Make Him happy that He saved me coz of the glory I was bringing Him by being such a 'good Christian'?" No. It didn't do any of those things. Coz really, the credit was going to me for measuring up. I 've been a self-righteous prig, thinking that others didn't have the fruit of the Spirit coz they just weren't 'doing the right things' enough. I have been so wrong. So wrong."
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| "Fixing My Eyes on Jesus"?
I know that those who stumble across this blog will wonder what the purpose is of these posts, when I was headed in a few different directions before. I think God just kept shutting me up in the Spirit until He could teach me a few things, coz oh, man... I still have so far to go -- so please bear with me as I share my thoughts. This is a journey.
************************ Posted on MySpace March 12th
I Hope I’m Getting It!!
Monday nights, we’ve been studying legalism (and its devastating effects). What’s "legalism" mean? Read this (<<--click here) from Grace Notes Library.
In the last 48 hours, the same message, from several different sources. God’s trying to tell me something:
1)
"I don’t want to talk to anyone. I don’t want to have spiritual
discussions with anyone. All I want to do right now is focus on the
beauty of Christ. That’s all. Just the beauty of Christ." Through tears, a friend cries about how legalism has all but destroyed him.
2) "When I focus on being holy, when I focus on my sanctification, I take my eyes off of Jesus -- and put them on myself! And then I start putting them on everyone else! This is where legalism has snuck in on me! I have to keep my eyes fixed on Christ!" An email a friend sent me, imploring me to read Oswald Chambers’s devotionals for March 12th and March 13th.
3)
"He’s taken his eyes off of Christ, and put them on man. That’s what’s
happened. He’s taken his eyes off Christ. Man will always fail us, but
Jesus never will. What’s that scripture? Something about ’fix your eyes
on Jesus’...." A friend telling me what’s happened to someone who’s been hurt very deeply by legalism and is withdrawing.
4)
"So here everyone’s following John [the Baptist], and along comes
Jesus, and they’re saying, ’Follow Jesus!’ But John’s followers are
saying, ’But we like JOHN! We like John’s message!’ and then John’s
going, ’No -- follow Jesus!’ But they don’t want to follow Jesus --
they want to follow John. Lots of people won’t follow Jesus until
John’s gone." Part
of a message I heard on the radio today. I turned it off right
away,because it hit me how many Christians follow "heroes" of the
faith, like Calvin, or Spurgeon, or even favorite pastors -- they fix
their eyes on man rather than Jesus. It also suddenly occurred to me
that soon after John told everyone to follow Jesus, John was beheaded
(see Mark 6:17-29). He was removed -- perhaps God allowed that so John’s followers would fix their eyes on Jesus??
5)
"Oh my gosh -- that’s why she was so furious with me all those years
ago, and even called me a false teacher! That’s why she accused me of
legalism -- and she was right! It was that part of my question, ’As
Christians, do you have standards for the video games you play?’ -- the
part where I said, ’As Christians,’ as though there should be some set
of one-size-fits-all standards!" Me
having an "aha!" moment this morning about a serious internet argument
I had with someone in Texas years ago. I was standing at the kitchen
sink and all of a sudden, this woman’s name inadvertently popped into
my head -- then that thought immediately followed it, and I suddenly
understood everything that had happened. She kept telling me back then
that Christians should keep their eyes on Jesus -- and I just didn’t
understand what that meant. Back then, I thought I was keeping my eyes
on Jesus by the things I did and didn’t do.
6)
"Peter took his eyes off Jesus, and put them on the storm. That’s why
he sank. See, when he was focused on Jesus, he could do the impossible
[in this case, walk on water]. But as soon as he took his eyes off
Jesus and focused on the storm, he was in trouble." Something
Scott said to me this morning after I told him all the messages I was
getting on fixing my eyes on Jesus. I about fell out of my chair. I’ve
heard this Peter thing so many times -- but this morning, it really hit
me. It finally made sense. It wasn’t about what Peter was doing in
walking on water (which used to make me think, "Go, Peter, Go!")-- it’s
what God was doing as long as Peter focused on Christ, as long as
that’s where his faith was focused. It wasn’t on himself and what he
was doing.
*********************************
Something amazing I read tonight that reminded me again to fix my eyes on Jesus:
"There
is a power in God’s gospel beyond all description. Once, I, like
Mazeppa, bound on the wild horse of my lust, bound hand and foot,
incapable of resistance, was galloping on with hell’s wolves behind me,
howling for my body and my soul, as their just and lawful prey. There
came a mighty hand which stopped that wild horse, cut my bands, set me
down, and brought me into liberty… There was a time when I lived in the
strong old castle of my sins, and rested in my works. There came a
trumpeter to the door, and bade me open it. I with anger chided him
from the porch, and said he never should enter. There came a pleasant
person, with loving countenance; his hands were marked with scars,
where nails were driven, and his feet had nail-prints too; he lifted up
his cross, using it as a hammer. At the first blow the gate of my
prejudice shook. At the second it trembled more. At the third down it
fell, and in he came, and he said, ’Arise, and stand upon thy feet, for
I have loved thee with an everlasting love.’ A thing of power! Ah, the
gospel is a thing of power. I have felt it here, in this heart. I have
the witness of the Spirit within, and know it is a thing of might,
because it has conquered me. It has bowed me down." (C.H. Spurgeon, Christ Crucified, sermon 7 and 8) | | |
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