And what if He thus purposes to make known and show the wealth of His glory in dealing with the vessels of His mercy which He has prepared beforehand for glory
This one verse, Romans 9:23 left me pondering the words "dealing with the vessels of His mercy" & "prepared beforehand"....
So WE, being the "vessels of His mercy" had to be "dealt with" - what is a vessel? It is a carrier. So if we, the carriers of His mercy, had to be "prepared beforehand"...when might that have been? When were we "prepared"?
In thinking about it, knowing that mercy is simply defined as "not getting what we deserve" but looking deeper, what it really is is God's compassion, His tenderness in dealing with us...this verse would suggest His compassion would be shown THROUGH us. Okay, we know He lives in us..the believers...so this makes sense...but when were we "prepared" to "carry" His "mercy"?
I think we are prepared in the "valley", that we are prepared during what appears to be the lowest point of our lives...when we cry out to Him FINALLY and we submit. The lessons we learn during THAT process prepare us to carry His mercy as far as He intends for us to carry it. It might just be to our families, our neighborhoods or (through a message board ) maybe to countless people from different places....so my opinion is that He prepares us when we are in the very lowest place we've ever been in. He shows us His mercy and we then take that same "compassion" and we are HERE sharing it with others ALREADY.
Can you fathom it??? He either has prepared or is preparing us SO HE CAN WORK THROUGH US!
For the last week I have had one word keep popping up in my head.
Fortified.
I couldn't figure out why that word kept bugging me.
I looked it up for an official definition as opposed to my just thinking along the lines of vitamins.
Interesting.
It means "strengthened against attack".
At 7:55 that same evening I came back to post this:
Quote:
My daughter and I decided this afternoon that we were going to walk on the beach at Yorktown. Being raised here, we take that place for granted and although my kids have gone there on field trips, I can't say I have walked the battle fields with them other than to sit on the cannons when they were little. We went onto the battlefield today and walked around. We found an old cemetary and walked around reading the tombstones that dated back to the 1800s.
At one point, I was in what I called a trench. I was down below and she was up a few feet higher than me. I looked over at the sign they had posted and a word caught my eye. The sign said "field fortification" and then went on to describe how the troops basically dug in and built mounds of dirt around themselves to be protected from enemy troops. That's when I looked around. I was standing basically in a huge oval area and all around me was a wall of dirt with grass on it. No one on top, unless they were right there looking down, could have seen me. If I were in a war, the walls all around me would have protected me against attack. When I looked around this evening and saw the wall built around me, I was pretty much just dumbstruck.
No one in this world or even straight out of hell could convince me now that I haven't been being readied to make THIS very stand.
That word being in my mind and then me standing there like I did tonight was no coincidence.
And no less than 3 times lately, I have been reminded of that day - in roundabout ways such as through old threads and in weird ways like the word just popping BACK into my head and bringing those events to my rememberance and that moment that I knew that I knew, that I KNEW what I was supposed to do. I am hardheaded. The world discourages me, it tempts me and it distracts me. But I am ALWAYS brought back that one day when I knew. And so I stand. Wobbly at times. Sometimes on my knees. Sometimes being carried. But standing nevertheless. In His strength.
What is the scripture..."...not by power, not by might but by My Spirit says the Lord..."??
I have always looked at that as simply meaning strong enough to withstand an attack.
It is more than that.
Believers are strengthened AGAINST attack. Which seems to imply to me that the attack will not be able to hurt us.
Now your onto something. I had to re-read it several times as I was seeing it as having the same meaning.
When you TRULY BELIEVE and your FAITH IS STRONG, when and or if attacked you are either not hurt or you do not even feel the attack as you've strengthened your soul enough to shield yourself.
Change the Policy. Allow PM's Free all of us.
Also some new and improved emoticons would be nice!
What I wanted to do was to caution you about your s12's 'preaching' to your W. Granted, I don't have all the details, so understand that these comments may be moot if circumstances are otherwise.
You need to make absolutely sure that your S understands that he needs to respect his mother, even if she is acting inappropriately. The danger here is not only the fostering of a 'holier than thou' spirit, but also the sin of disrespect of a parent.
It is only by God's grace that we are not in the position of our spouses. Take Amy for instance. She was there herself.
Your S is only twelve and while it is a wonderful thing that this situation has him studying the scriptures(look for blessings where you can find them), he should be studying those that pertain to him loving and respecting his mother and his personal behaviour(1 Cor 13 comes to mind), not for what he can find out about his mother's actions. This was the sin of the Pharasees, and Jesus had harsh words for them(brood of vipers, anyone?). I will not discount the comment that you felt this weighed on her heart, but the end should not justify the means. Your son has no right to be lecturing his mother, even if it is scriptural(IMHO). It will only go bad.
If someone wants to minister to her, they will have to LISTEN to her, walk with her, love her, and be there with her when God does break through to offer support and hope. This is not your S's role. His role is to show obedience and love. Help him to understand that your W is God's project, not his.
My opinion is you should be protecting your W from this type of attack from your S, and teaching your S at the same time what it means to respect someone God has placed over you even though you don't approve of their actions.
I Peter 2
13Submit yourselves for the Lord's sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God's will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men. 16Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God. 17Show proper respect to everyone: Love the brotherhood of believers, fear God, honor the king. 18Slaves, submit yourselves to your masters with all respect, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh. 19For it is commendable if a man bears up under the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God. 20But how is it to your credit if you receive a beating for doing wrong and endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God. 21To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in his steps. 22"He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in his mouth." 23When they hurled their insults at him, he did not retaliate; when he suffered, he made no threats. Instead, he entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 24He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed. 25For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
Ephesians 6: 1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. 2"Honor your father and mother"--which is the first commandment with a promise--3"that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on the earth." 4Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
I don't throw this out off-the-cuff. I have a D14 in a similar situation. This is an incredible opportunity for you to instruct your S in the beauty of unconditional love, and show him how amazing God's love is for us:
Romans 5: 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
