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But, if you don't know that. The first place to start: Get to know His Love. If you know me personally, you have often heard me say, "I cannot stop serving Him, surrendering to His design for my life, or loving Him with all my heart, my soul, my mind, and my strength. Do you feel that way? This question isn't about 'my service is better than your service.' It is not about 'I love God more than you do.' It isn't really even about how much you love God. The question is posed to invite you into the wonder of a God who is not about rules and regulations. But about relationship and rest. The question is posed to ask if you understand how much God loves you? Yes, in loving Him you will find you are serving in ways you never thought you would. Traveling down paths you never thought you would travel. Taking that new job, or signing up for that class because you are being nudged within you spirit. In loving Him you will find that you aren't drawn to certain things as you have been in the past. You will see the faces of others when you sling that zinger across the room and you will want to kick yourself for being so insensitive. You will have little 'aha' moments when you read a verse, or a scripture that hits you somewhere deep down in your soul. In loving Him you will find Him in all sorts of places you never knew He existed before. And you will find that the people whom you have known all your life, or for a long time, will sometimes veer away from telling that joke they would have shared with you a few years ago. Or apologizing for saying something crude or rude, snarky or offensive just to you and no one else in the room. And you might think, I don't want to make them feel guilty. Don't worry, you aren't. You are simply living out of Light and Light always shines on darkness. (Another topic for another blog). Authentically love them right where they are. As you are loved right where you are by God. But, if you are on the outside of that and are confused as to how someone gets that, these thoughts might help. You probably accept that God is God and you want to go to heaven, so you have accepted Christ as your savior, been baptized, maybe even gone to every Sunday sermon for years, but it is always a drudge and you just want to know what all the hubbub is about. Yes, you want to be a good person, but how do those around you keep doing this 'walk' every day and look like they really want to? Are you tired of people telling you to just trust and obey? You might not have taken time to get to know that God loves you. All of you. That icky part of you that you would like for no one to know even exists. He loves you and wants you to know He came to cover that ickiness through His redemptive act on the cross. "Too often people see Christianity in terms of rules and morality –– a system of obligations and prohibitions. This entirely misses the point of Christ-following. Christian obedience is more like what lovers give each other than what soldiers give their superiors. Lovers demonstrate their love by doing what each other wants. And so it should be with Christians and ... God." Surrender to Love by David G. Benner That icky thing that still comes up and eats at me sometimes, is covered by that sacrifice. Mine isn't just icky. Mine is total horror. To know that I have that in my life throws me to my knees often. I've had people say, He's forgiven you. Live in His forgiveness. I like that saying. I like and use that saying even to myself. But there is something good about not forgetting my sin. Yes, I am forgiven. And I honestly believe that he has thrown all of my sins away from Himself as far as the east is from the west. You see, knowing that Jesus made a decision to allow the crucifixion to take place. Knowing that He allowed me to stand before Father God, holy and clean because I accept Jesus' sacrifice for my sins is one of those truths that keeps me remembering how much He loves me. I accept His love for me. A love that would go to the depths of hell to conquer sin and death. A love so amazing, so divine. 1. I encourage you to not forget what sins you have committed to bring you to that place of redemption's Grace.
2. Do you know how much God loves you?
"Apart from love, obedience is simply an act of obligation. As a response to love, duty becomes an act of devotion. God wants our devotion, not simply our acts of duty." Surrender to Love 3. After asking, and getting all of the 'icky' off of your chest and at His feet, get to – His Words!
Join the ancients: Abraham, Moses, David, the Disciples, Paul and many more throughout the centuries that have taken their icky to God and allowed Him to love them. I invite you to join them and enter into a love obedience and surrender that protects and provides. If you have had to think outside of your box, please leave a comment below. We are on a new adventure seeking God in an internet community. The members are being blessed as they open the scripture everyday and meditate through the day and sometimes sharing with each other what is happening in their own lives. Join us if you dare. This is a place all denominations are welcome. A place to join in a unified seeking of personal growth and in love. Because He is the I AM, i am robyn rochelle cox Robyn & Biff Cox pray that He becomes your ALL. RR&BC,LLC © all writings are protected by copyright laws Please contact the author for any reference we appreciate your honesty.
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Respectful and relational knowledge and usage of the names of God removes us from being psychologically indifferent to the great I AM. Books and studies on the names of God range from difficult and theologically driven to simple definitions. From The Power of God's Names by Tony Evans, Minister of Oak Cliff Bible Church in Dallas, Texas, to Lord I Want to Know You Precepts Ministries founded by Kay Arthur. And even Pinterest posts listing and defining the Names of God. Just do a search on Pinterest, Google or Amazon and you will see a plethora of books, studies, blogs dealing with this topic. These are usually powerful and helpful, if not for the writing of the author, the simple truth that studying God's names is a powerful concept. However, I bring this before you, not to talk about the different meanings and insights of God's character through His name. Instead, I would like to take a look at how we as a culture have desensitized ourselves to God by removing His name and or defaming His name in our vocabulary and in our daily lives. In the psychology of dehumanization we see two dynamics being twisted:
Could we take this one step further and think about how we view God's name? You as an employee on a job, a family member, a neighbor. Us as a culture. As a country. As a world. How do we view God's name? How do we relate to Him? First, I wonder if our world has not come to the place where we have so desensitized ourselves to the names of God we are deaf to the still small voice that calls out in us? Do we understand God's essence is as El Elyon (the God Most High)? Second, I wonder if our world has not come to the place where we have so desensitized ourselves to the names of God we are raising our own importance by degrading His Name in curse words, degrading comments. Even simply a word of exclamation destroys the importance of the name? How would you feel if every time your husband smashed his hand with a hammer he shouted out in frustration and anger your name? By doing either of these, and not taking His Name as important, nor personal, nor powerful, nor worthy, we stand on the brink of travesty. Instead of learning His names and using His names to communicate with Him we show that we are not desiring to know Him intimately. What a shame. What sadness. He desires to be known. After all one of his names is Abba, Daddy. There is a little story I've heard about John John, President John F. Kennedy's son. When President Kennedy was in office there was a photograph taken of JohnJohn playing underneath his desk in the Oval Office. President Kennedy was meeting with important people. Think about it. These very important people had to walk through all sorts of check points to be validated before moving into the Oval Office for a meeting with the President. But JohnJohn, President Kennedy's little boy, had sped past them all. Running down the hallway, he entered with abandon into his father's lap and slipped down under the desk to play with his father's shoelaces. There was no hesitancy, no fear, no anguish. Not one person tried to stop him. They couldn't. He, little JohnJohn, belonged. He was playing at his daddy's feet. And because JohnJohn knew President Kennedy as Daddy, JohnJohn got preferential treatment. What we are missing by desensitizing ourselves from God's intimate names. Even as believers we are negligent in learning them, sharing them, calling out to El Roi, the God who Sees. Or Jehovah Jireh, The God who Provides. How many of us seeking peace cry out to Jahweh-Shalom, or healing ask our precious Great Physician, Yahweh Rapha? And when we think of Jesus do we understand that the name Jesus means the God who Saves? And Immanuel means God with us. Oh how even His names cry out to us for relationship. Take some time to get to know God. Take some time and get to know His Names. They are powerfully personal. He waits patiently for you to call Him. If we helped you in any way share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. Because He is the I AM, i am robyn rochelle cox Robyn & Biff Cox pray that He becomes your ALL. RR&BC,LLC © all writings are protected by copyright laws Please contact the author for any reference we appreciate your honesty. RR&BC,LL© All writings protected by copyright laws. Contact author or link to this page or website if you use or reference. "We have to rescue the word “obedience” from the mire. Obedience is only possible between equals. It is the relationship between father and son, not between master and servant. “I and My Father are one.” “Though He were a Son, yet learned He obedience by the things which He suffered.” The Son’s obedience was as Redeemer, because He was Son, not in order to be Son." Oswald Chambers Attentive in the little things. Faithful in the little things. Obedient to the little things. Taking our lives step by step leads us into the ability to be attentive, faithful, and obedient in the larger things. To be His obedient children step by step. Jesus was attentive to His father at 13 when He was found in the synagogue. He was faithful to leave his family and begin ministry by stepping into water with his cousin John to be Baptized. He was obedient unto death at the cross. I want to be that kind of Jesus follower. I've done a lot of little things in my life. I've done a few kinda' big things. I've done one really big thing. But had I not done the little things, and then the kinda' big things, I would never have been able to attempt the big thing. Some people could - I myself needed years of preparation. And now, I am back to taking small faith steps. Well, at least they seem like small faith steps to me. But to a friend they are not small. Recently conversing with a friend, she said she loved hearing how I was trusting God. Later another friend said the same thing. And then in the same day another friend said the same thing, adding I don't know if I could trust God with the plan that easily. Today, I was reminded of these recent conversations about our new endeavor. Many of you know that my husband and I recently began a venture of hosting a private membership community. A community to encourage the Body of Christ to Unite in love across denominational lines. In this community we meet daily and read, reflect, and comment on a particular passage. The purpose of this community is to draw nearer to God and to testify in our community. How? By letting our presence be known with our name in the comments, or sharing a way we have been touched by God through that day's passage. We pray that God will unite us as His Body and build us up to testify about Him in the world. Now, I've asked for prayer from many people during this endeavor. Determining what verses to place on each day is not an easy task. I have been led to set the verses down for the days. Right now, I am getting alone with God to determine what passages to chose many, many, many days in the future. I won't even remember what tomorrow's verse is when it comes up on the roll in our membership daily login page. So, it is just as much of a journey for me as for the rest of the community members. Today's passage is a repeat of a passage about five days ago. One of our members shared a really amazing thought about the scripture that she did not share a few days ago. The thoughts she shared were so powerful to me, I cried. This member even remembered the verse from a few days before. She commented that she remembered it, but had not shared this thought then. But God. You see God knew that she would not comment the way she commented the second time. And He knew that at this moment, I needed to be inspired by her comment, her aha, her take away, her viewpoint. I am so thankful that I am following where He leads even when I don't understand why He is doing things in the way He is doing them. But I will be attentive, I will be faithful and I will obey. With God's help and for His Glory - I will do these things. Thankful that God is leading our Reading, Reflecting and Bible Community forward to His Glory. Fear God well today. Because when you Fear God well, you have nothing else to fear. He is perfect Love and Love casts out fear and replaces it with Perfect Love. What's left when we have total love for Him? t-r-u-s-t If this helped you leave a comment or come on over and join us in the membership community. We are following God in a wonderful endeavor. Because He IS the I AM, i am, robyn rochelle cox with b. cox RR&BC,LLC©2016 All writing is protected under copyright laws. Please contact the author to link to this page or use any portion for any reason at: rrandbc@readthebiblewithrobyncox.com RR&BC,LL© All writings protected by copyright laws. Contact author or link to this page or website if you use or reference. We live in a disturbing world. Finding love, finding peace, and finding rest is more a seeking decision made in the midst of turmoil than it is a surprise discovery on a fun-filled adventure. And yet we desire love, peace and even rest from the turmoil that is in our world. Where do we find these? How do we find these? And after we find them, how do we get them to stick around? How do we build on them? How do we stand firm? Can we? Can we truly be peaceful in the midst of such turmoil? Do you ever have to check your heart? I know I do. Checking my heart is my responsibility. But checking it against what? What is a good plumb line? Mark 12:30 "And you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31. The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." NASB These words are of course the ultimate plumb line. WRITE THEM ON YOUR HEART! These are the two most important COMMANDMENTS. And yet, in my days I find that I could use a little more guidance. Not that the following are commandments. Instead they are more like tips of discipline that make my life a little easier. It's kind of like deciding how to respond to things that come up in my day before they come up in my day. I already have an answer and don't have to labor over what to do in these situations. They have served me well over these 30+ years and I thought I would share them with you. They are a good instruction and help me stand firm. These tips are drawn from. Psalm 15 below: Who may worship in your sanctuary, LORD? Who may enter your presence on your holy hill? Those who lead blameless lives and do what is right, speaking the truth from sincere hearts. Those who refuse to gossip or harm their neighbors or speak evil of their friends. Those who despise flagrant sinners, and honor the faithful followers of the LORD, and keep their promises even when it hurts. Those who lend money without charging interest, and who cannot be bribed to lie about the innocent. Such people will stand firm forever. Psalm 15 NLT So at 60, I feel more confident in sharing these principles or tips I have gleaned from Psalm 15. I wrote them down in my mid-thirties on a Sticky Notes and put them on my mirror. I read them every morning for years as I was a teacher, a single mom, and a bible leader. I hope they help you. 1. DO WHAT IS RIGHT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT! This is always my fall back thought. What is the right thing to do? I know that the more I begin my day in His word, the more often this comes to my mind when I am given a decision during the day. If we do what we honestly believe is the right thing to do, we will always make better decisions. And we stand before God knowing we really believed it was the right thing to do. And I mean really - not something that feels right, but IS right and we all know the difference. (a blog topic for another day!) 2. SPEAK TRUTH in LOVE! Check my mouth. Am I speaking truth? And even more importantly, am I speaking it in a tone and with a deep desire to love whomever I am speaking to? 3. STOP the GOSSIP! Don't start it, and don't spread it. I have found my greatest awareness over this is fasting from words. That means stopping my talking. Literally, going silent. Either in a silent retreat, or asking family members to allow me to be silent for a few hours, or a day, or even a few days. It makes me more aware of WORDS. 4. DESPISE SIN, HONOR FAITH Walking hand in hand with the three prior points puts me into a mindset that I remove myself from those who sin and I encourage those faithful followers. Because if I come down on those flagrant sinners - I am neither showing love, nor stopping gossip. So, on my knees is the best place for me to handle those flagrant sinners. And leave them with the LORD - He can handle them. 5.KEEP MY PROMISES Hard to do in this world of nanoseconds. But I desire to. I fail, but I apologize and I take responsibility for my mess up. I am human. But, I strive for this. 6. DON'T EVER EXPECT TO BE REPAID. If I lend money, I have done it after prayer. I believe in helping those that need help when I can. And I do. But there have been times when I have been stopped from giving someone money they have asked for. Not often, but sometimes. In my prayer, I have not sensed that moving forward and giving is what I should do. But, when I do give. I give it with no expectation of it ever being returned. I am blessed when someone holds to their commitment of paying me back in return. But to prevent me from becoming frustrated or resentful if they never do, I just consider it gone. 7. STAND UP FOR THE INNOCENT. I haven't found this to be difficult. Some people with a different lifestyle, or in a different environment might find this difficult. Years ago I had to help children in situations that were not favorable for their families. And I stood up and asked them to get help and helped them get help. I have also been in missions and have had to deal with this. But in my world today, not so much. It was not easy, I don't say it is. But I know it is the right thing to do. And that leads us right back to the very first instruction: DO WHAT IS RIGHT WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT. Such people will stand firm forever. Now, to me, that has been a good life. I'm not done yet. I'm still kicking - and LOVING LIFE. But these have proven the test of time. I pray that I will always ask God to cleanse me heart and check to see if these principles are still in my fiber. I beg Him to keep me faithful. May God bless your day, Because HE IS the I AM, i am robyn rochelle cox RR&BC,LLC©2016 All writing is protected by copyright laws. Contact us at rrandbc@readthebiblewithrobyncox.com for permission to reference, or link. RR&BC,LL© All writings protected by copyright laws. Contact author or link to this page or website if you use or reference. |
Robyn Rochelle Cox
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