Reflections From A Conference....

-From Kim

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? Do not even the publicans the same. And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? Do not even the publicans so? Be ye perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.” Matthew 5:44- 48

We drove home from Tennessee for 13 hours Saturday night. We had just attended a 3 ½ day conference for homeschooling families through the Institute in Basic Life Principles. I was driving while Pete and the girls watched a movie in the back seat. I was happy to drive to have so much time to think. I had been in teaching sessions for 30 hours and felt amazed that God has given me so much. He has given me so much precious food to nurture my life with Him and my family life with Him. I am so blessed, so full of Him through preaching from His Word. I am so grateful to have had the encouragement to pursue God and His service together as a family. It seems that the cultural messages of our world are always telling us that togetherness is possessiveness, that independence is better than dependence. I am so grateful that we were able to go on a family retreat in this day when so many churches are sending kids on retreats, men on retreats and women on their own retreats. I am not criticizing these, I have benefited from women’s retreats in the past. Today, I am just plain grateful that we got to go on a family retreat, looking at our sins together and delighting in the Lord together. The theme of the retreat was “The Power of One Accord” and this meant the unity of each family member pursuing God together and serving Him together. I was grateful to sit in the pews with my family, feeling physically close and seeing them each taking notes and responding to the preached Word of God.

There were times when I felt spent, like Thursday night with swollen feet that felt they could not even walk to the hotel room. At that time I thought, “What am I doing” Am I crazy? I can’t take anymore.” Rest followed and brought clarity of mind and the knowledge that this was an unusual time of seeking God that I would draw from for a very long time. It was a wonderful vacation. Now I want to share with my family, give as was given to me, share with my friends and neighbors that know Jesus but need encouragement and share with people that need Christ.

My pastor said a few weeks ago, “WE HAVE TO BE SERIOUS ABOUT CHRIST and HIS WORD.” Yes, I agree. We must be SERIOUS, RADICAL. Jesus and what He has said to us through the Bible must be the most important thing about each day for us. To introduce Him and His Words into the ordinary tasks of everyday life, where He is present but not acknowledged is counter-cultural, unusual and sometimes offensive. Sometimes even in Christian circles. I am asking Him to help me be more serious and acknowledge Him more.

The first session that I participated in introduced the theme of one accord. This was to join together in a passionate pursuit of loving God and seeking His mind. “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who being in the form of God made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” Philippians 2: 5-7. How do we love God? By learning His mind or belief system through studying the Bible. We seek to love as He loves. We are to salute all people, salute means “to enfold in the arms of your heart.” Salute one another. Enfold everyone you meet into the arms of your heart.

I needed to hear this. In my pursuit of Godly living, I have criticized others and evaluated them in my mind. I have felt convicted about this many times before and I have some specific instances in which God has disciplined me for this. Because I am learning how tender and merciful and gracious God is, the Heavenly Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit, I have not been at rest with my critical thoughts. I also know that critical thinking of others only springs from insecurity, not from union with Christ. Even if I have not expressed it in words I have given the message through my behavior and avoidance. It has been hardest in protecting my kids, but I have been guilty of protecting myself as well. I have rejected people and I know how terrible rejection feels. The speaker, Mr. Gothard, said that he had also done this and repented of it. He said that he had sent messages to people without words that were rejecting. I so appreciated his saying this because it really moved me and made me look at myself. When people are candid, it gives others courage to be candid. We need to pursue relationship with Christ and union with Him. Godly living is loving as Christ loved. Personal boundaries and standards for living will follow, but Godliness is loving. Lifestyle choices will flow from a union with Christ; when we look at someone else we need to think only of their need for Christ, not their need for standards. The speaker went on to say that people have had hurts, rejections and they are looking for someone to love them, not judge them. Jesus was comfortable with sinners. Enfold people into your heart. Be generous; have something that you can give to someone who needs Christ. People want to get to know someone who enfolds them into their heart. This was the message given to all of us. Thankfully, it is not a dramatically unique message. And we don’t need novel and “fresh” ways of hearing God’s words, just serious and very strong.

We need to pray that God will give us the Grace to love everyone we meet. It is only Christ’s righteousness draped on me that will let this mind be in me. I am so excited about this! I cannot do this by myself! I cannot even just do it with God’s help. Only Him in Me can love people. My mistakes do not condemn me; I have a lot I would like to forget. I have a picture of myself taken with a large group of people and I have a terrible scowl on my face in the picture. It was very unpleasant for me to look at, this reminder of a part of myself that can be critical and not loving of others. I was so ashamed when I saw this picture in other people’s homes. I felt guilty.

But, now I see that picture in a different way. That woman, me, was eternally saved that day, but she needed union with Christ. She needed to realize that she was so unworthy and unable to be unconditionally loving, to enfold people in the arms of her heart. What a wonderful, wonderful thing to know that I indeed NEED Jesus Christ so much! I might just take that picture out and hang it on the refrigerator. There is no condemnation for those who love Jesus, just more and more Grace and Love. In the past few years I have been understanding my depravity more. I don’t make excuses for it and I desire to seek holiness through Christ. But my depravity, my sin makes me so dependent on Christ, so needy of Him. He has taken care of it through His death and He continues to convict me of my sin and He continues to change me. Is this what Horatio Spofford meant when he wrote these words?

“My sin – O the bliss of this glorious thought –
My sin, not in part, but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more:
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul
It is well………..It is well with my soul,
It is well…………It is well with my soul”

I certainly don’t mean to glory in my sin; we are so vulnerable to extremes in our humanness. But to see my sin as bad and the point of my need to be forgiven and changed and to see this as the most important thing in my life.

Of course, how we love others in this Godly way is to pray to Him, meditate on the Scriptures daily and dedicate ourselves to God and His purposes.