Luke 2:8-14
8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.
11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
12 And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of heavenly host praising God, and saying,
14 Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.
Hello, my dear Parsiphony!
I find myself meditating on Christ this year as I think about everything which happened this last year, and hoping that He is looking down, praying for the healing in His wings, for freedom from sin, and hope for the sinner. I want Him, and it hurts to wait. There are times I wonder if He is coming at all. Where else is there to go?
I find myself waiting on Christ. Have you ever felt that way?
Love,
~Dinah Greyhorn
"Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the LORD hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted."
~Isaiah 49:13
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Life Goes On
Dear Parsiphony,
I want to emphasize something to brokenhearted and sinful people today. After tragedy, after sin, after shame, life goes on. It has been nine months since a young man I cared for stopped talking to me (because of things I did), and life really does go on.
I am trying to learn to use this knowledge wisely. I really think that in our physiology God built in an ability to recover and adapt over time to new knowledge and understanding. Case in point, a person who has high blood pressure for a prolonged period develops a "new normal" at that higher blood pressure. I think this applies to mental anguish as well. Our permanent solace lies in patience, and waiting on Him.
I used to think so many things were important, but now more than ever value a simple life. It is possible to accomplish a great deal of mischief pretending to understand more than we do.
I don't have an answer for everything in the world, but I do know this; loving everyone with our actions and words is the best we can do as human beings. Discerning between good and evil should not hinder us from forgiving people like our Savior forgave us. I want justice to reign on this earth, but in the areas where we have no authority, we have no authority. At the end of the world Christ will set the record straight, and in the meantime our responsibility is to walk as Jesus walked.
He walked with peace on earth and good will towards men, with a sword of ideas and arrows of truth. I fear for our nation, which more and more disregards God. Don't look to be right with God if you use your freedom for death. Whether he chastens one as a child or with fire until one is consumed in His wrath, he will still chasten. Fear an angry God.
This has gotten very hypothetical. God bless you, my dear Parsiphony. Sincerely,
~Dinah Greyhorn
I want to emphasize something to brokenhearted and sinful people today. After tragedy, after sin, after shame, life goes on. It has been nine months since a young man I cared for stopped talking to me (because of things I did), and life really does go on.
I am trying to learn to use this knowledge wisely. I really think that in our physiology God built in an ability to recover and adapt over time to new knowledge and understanding. Case in point, a person who has high blood pressure for a prolonged period develops a "new normal" at that higher blood pressure. I think this applies to mental anguish as well. Our permanent solace lies in patience, and waiting on Him.
I used to think so many things were important, but now more than ever value a simple life. It is possible to accomplish a great deal of mischief pretending to understand more than we do.
I don't have an answer for everything in the world, but I do know this; loving everyone with our actions and words is the best we can do as human beings. Discerning between good and evil should not hinder us from forgiving people like our Savior forgave us. I want justice to reign on this earth, but in the areas where we have no authority, we have no authority. At the end of the world Christ will set the record straight, and in the meantime our responsibility is to walk as Jesus walked.
He walked with peace on earth and good will towards men, with a sword of ideas and arrows of truth. I fear for our nation, which more and more disregards God. Don't look to be right with God if you use your freedom for death. Whether he chastens one as a child or with fire until one is consumed in His wrath, he will still chasten. Fear an angry God.
This has gotten very hypothetical. God bless you, my dear Parsiphony. Sincerely,
~Dinah Greyhorn
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Stick to Your Purpose, Continued
Dear Parsiphony,
Thank you for rebuking me in your letter the other day. I am given to excessive depression at times. You are right; God will redeem my situation. I musn't forget God's love in being too extreme in my position. Even in the case of Job, He brought him again to abundance, giving Job twice what he had before. He shall determine the extent of my "damage," and how long I am cast down. But even now I know things which I could have never hoped to understand before, so the fruit of my situation has already began to be good after I repented. I hope the young man is doing better as well, though he is responsible for the extent of his recovery and I cannot contribute.
I cannot claim to be as righteous as Job, but God knows I repented. He used this situation to show me many sins in my life, which by His grace I hope to overcome.
God shall redeem my situation one way or another. If I have His salvation, that is good enough for me.
God bless you, my dear and faithful friend,
~Dinah Greyhorn
Thank you for rebuking me in your letter the other day. I am given to excessive depression at times. You are right; God will redeem my situation. I musn't forget God's love in being too extreme in my position. Even in the case of Job, He brought him again to abundance, giving Job twice what he had before. He shall determine the extent of my "damage," and how long I am cast down. But even now I know things which I could have never hoped to understand before, so the fruit of my situation has already began to be good after I repented. I hope the young man is doing better as well, though he is responsible for the extent of his recovery and I cannot contribute.
I cannot claim to be as righteous as Job, but God knows I repented. He used this situation to show me many sins in my life, which by His grace I hope to overcome.
God shall redeem my situation one way or another. If I have His salvation, that is good enough for me.
God bless you, my dear and faithful friend,
~Dinah Greyhorn
Friday, August 3, 2012
Stick to Your Purpose
Dear Parsiphony,
I have been thinking about what to share concerning my situation that might in some measure redeem it. I do believe it has permanently damaged me, and shall be my infirmity for many years to come. But it is my belief that all things work together for the good of those who love God, as scripture says in Romans 8:28. Perhaps teaching others prudence in this regard will cheer me slightly. And in this way I can still do kindness to the young man whose heart I am responsible for breaking, by preventing other people from making the same mistake, from breaking more hearts.
My mind has been occupied recently with the question of what my exact mistake was in the aforementioned situation: a question of definitions.
The facts of the situation are thus:
We met, and got along quite well.
I found him quite attractive, with every physical and mental characteristic I could wish for in a member of the opposite sex. If I were able to locate the piece of paper I made when I was younger to be read at the age of eighteen detailing my standards, I am sure he and my standards would have agreed quite well. That is, they would have agreed minus one important detail; he was not a Christian. Indirectly, I let him know that under my principles, dictated by II Corinthians 6:14, a Christian cannot in any way unequally yoke herself to a non-Christian, a statement which includes yoking in the context of a relationship. As I was soon to find out, Christianity, though at the very top of my list, was not my actual chief standard.
Throughout our friendship, he sought to respect my guideline of only accepting a Christian man in a relationship.
Showing less respect to my own ideals than he, and in contradiction to my ideals, I allowed myself to admire him, as many of his traits were quite admirable. I was driven quite out of my mind with my admiration.
Beyond simply admiring him in my mind, I allowed him to understand my particular esteem through my actions, which made him begin to think that it might be acceptable for him to allow himself to esteem me as well.
A few months down the road, in some unseemely thoughtlessness and singleness of purpose, I straightly inquired of him whether he esteemed me after making my regard known. He honestly replied in the affirmative.
My conscience was not forgiving. After a few days, I apologized for how I treated him ever since I first met him, saying that I was wrong to give my heart to him. I am not sure I knew just how accurate that assessment was at the time, and am sure I did not know what or why I was doing.
Somehow in the following days I managed to maintain this stance, though it was loathsome to me.
I have been apologizing ever since, though he does not reply. At first he tried to remain civil, even to be friends; he even told me he forgave me after the initial apology. But a person's patience can only be tested for so long before that person breaks. My company was obviously painful to him, and my feigned indifference even more so with its small inconsistencies. I wanted badly to love and be loved by him before, during, and long after my first apology, and my looks and actions reflected this state of mind even if my lips never again formed the words in his company. Throughout the whole, I must have shamelessly cared more for my own satisfaction than for his, as love dictated that I back off, even stop being near him, because that would be better for him in the long run. But I gave in to wants instead of realities, and selfishness instead of selflessness. Even now it makes me so ashamed. There are no words, and there is nothing to repair the breach--nothing except God's forgiveness which, if someone has taken the habit of considering other things as more important and more real for a few months, is only comforting as a fact after it is sought after again.
So what was my specific mistake in all this? Elisha would know I am sure; he referred to it as "halting between two opinions" (I Kings 18:21).
There is nothing anyone can say to convince me that I was without some blame in this situation, but in hindsight, and for your better edification since my mind has tirelessly examined the subject, there are two options by which, at least in the eyes of the non-Christian world, I could have been without blame.
The first would have been to disregard II Corinthians 6:14, to throw off the theology of the unequal yoke. Though compromised theologically by my church's standards, I could have convinced myself that I had only changed that one point, that I could keep all the other theology while "changing my opinion" on that particular issue. My young man might have become a Christian, we might have been happy together, who knows. An added benefit is that I could have taken this position at any time before my apology, and I would have had him. However, as I would have discovered, though I probably would have been happy for a while before I discovered it, a person cannot just throw away a part of her theology she has accepted since her youth without also injuring the authority in which she considers the rest of her theology. That decision might have had the power to compromise a great deal more of my theology.
The second would have been to protect my heart from the beginning, to consider this young man as a friend, to actively prevent myself from falling in love with him; in two phrases, to stick to my purpose, and to keep my principles from injuring anyone besides myself. A person is blameless for keeping their principles even in the eyes of the rest of the world as long as their principles do not hurt anyone else. And as my experience would tell you, it is Hell on earth to compromise one's principles without a clear reason, and perhaps Hell beyond earth as well. It is now my opinion that it is better to stomp on one's own heart than to even prick another's, unless the reason is just and justifiable, and selfishness is unjustifiable.
I cannot advise anyone to take the former "blameless" option, as it is against my principles, and against good sense in general. But I strongly recommend the latter as far superior to the former. It is life, both for the individual partaking in it and the young man for which it is intended.
My all-too-personal warning is to avoid halting between opinions. That, in the context of the two opinions in question, was my mistake: its definition. Do not halt between opinions. It has been at times more painful than the death of a dear friend.
It is not a situation entirely without redemption, however. My relationship with God is mending.
I am hoping, dear Parsiphony, my sweet and patient friend, that you might be able to unravel these thoughts in a way that is beneficial to yourself. God bless you,
~Dinah Greyhorn
I have been thinking about what to share concerning my situation that might in some measure redeem it. I do believe it has permanently damaged me, and shall be my infirmity for many years to come. But it is my belief that all things work together for the good of those who love God, as scripture says in Romans 8:28. Perhaps teaching others prudence in this regard will cheer me slightly. And in this way I can still do kindness to the young man whose heart I am responsible for breaking, by preventing other people from making the same mistake, from breaking more hearts.
My mind has been occupied recently with the question of what my exact mistake was in the aforementioned situation: a question of definitions.
The facts of the situation are thus:
We met, and got along quite well.
I found him quite attractive, with every physical and mental characteristic I could wish for in a member of the opposite sex. If I were able to locate the piece of paper I made when I was younger to be read at the age of eighteen detailing my standards, I am sure he and my standards would have agreed quite well. That is, they would have agreed minus one important detail; he was not a Christian. Indirectly, I let him know that under my principles, dictated by II Corinthians 6:14, a Christian cannot in any way unequally yoke herself to a non-Christian, a statement which includes yoking in the context of a relationship. As I was soon to find out, Christianity, though at the very top of my list, was not my actual chief standard.
Throughout our friendship, he sought to respect my guideline of only accepting a Christian man in a relationship.
Showing less respect to my own ideals than he, and in contradiction to my ideals, I allowed myself to admire him, as many of his traits were quite admirable. I was driven quite out of my mind with my admiration.
Beyond simply admiring him in my mind, I allowed him to understand my particular esteem through my actions, which made him begin to think that it might be acceptable for him to allow himself to esteem me as well.
A few months down the road, in some unseemely thoughtlessness and singleness of purpose, I straightly inquired of him whether he esteemed me after making my regard known. He honestly replied in the affirmative.
My conscience was not forgiving. After a few days, I apologized for how I treated him ever since I first met him, saying that I was wrong to give my heart to him. I am not sure I knew just how accurate that assessment was at the time, and am sure I did not know what or why I was doing.
Somehow in the following days I managed to maintain this stance, though it was loathsome to me.
I have been apologizing ever since, though he does not reply. At first he tried to remain civil, even to be friends; he even told me he forgave me after the initial apology. But a person's patience can only be tested for so long before that person breaks. My company was obviously painful to him, and my feigned indifference even more so with its small inconsistencies. I wanted badly to love and be loved by him before, during, and long after my first apology, and my looks and actions reflected this state of mind even if my lips never again formed the words in his company. Throughout the whole, I must have shamelessly cared more for my own satisfaction than for his, as love dictated that I back off, even stop being near him, because that would be better for him in the long run. But I gave in to wants instead of realities, and selfishness instead of selflessness. Even now it makes me so ashamed. There are no words, and there is nothing to repair the breach--nothing except God's forgiveness which, if someone has taken the habit of considering other things as more important and more real for a few months, is only comforting as a fact after it is sought after again.
So what was my specific mistake in all this? Elisha would know I am sure; he referred to it as "halting between two opinions" (I Kings 18:21).
There is nothing anyone can say to convince me that I was without some blame in this situation, but in hindsight, and for your better edification since my mind has tirelessly examined the subject, there are two options by which, at least in the eyes of the non-Christian world, I could have been without blame.
The first would have been to disregard II Corinthians 6:14, to throw off the theology of the unequal yoke. Though compromised theologically by my church's standards, I could have convinced myself that I had only changed that one point, that I could keep all the other theology while "changing my opinion" on that particular issue. My young man might have become a Christian, we might have been happy together, who knows. An added benefit is that I could have taken this position at any time before my apology, and I would have had him. However, as I would have discovered, though I probably would have been happy for a while before I discovered it, a person cannot just throw away a part of her theology she has accepted since her youth without also injuring the authority in which she considers the rest of her theology. That decision might have had the power to compromise a great deal more of my theology.
The second would have been to protect my heart from the beginning, to consider this young man as a friend, to actively prevent myself from falling in love with him; in two phrases, to stick to my purpose, and to keep my principles from injuring anyone besides myself. A person is blameless for keeping their principles even in the eyes of the rest of the world as long as their principles do not hurt anyone else. And as my experience would tell you, it is Hell on earth to compromise one's principles without a clear reason, and perhaps Hell beyond earth as well. It is now my opinion that it is better to stomp on one's own heart than to even prick another's, unless the reason is just and justifiable, and selfishness is unjustifiable.
I cannot advise anyone to take the former "blameless" option, as it is against my principles, and against good sense in general. But I strongly recommend the latter as far superior to the former. It is life, both for the individual partaking in it and the young man for which it is intended.
My all-too-personal warning is to avoid halting between opinions. That, in the context of the two opinions in question, was my mistake: its definition. Do not halt between opinions. It has been at times more painful than the death of a dear friend.
It is not a situation entirely without redemption, however. My relationship with God is mending.
I am hoping, dear Parsiphony, my sweet and patient friend, that you might be able to unravel these thoughts in a way that is beneficial to yourself. God bless you,
~Dinah Greyhorn
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Get a Job
Dear Parsiphony,
I've recently been thinking quite a bit about marriage. Many of my friends are getting married, you see, and two of my siblings as well. I've also been thinking about relationships in general, and asking some questions that it seems very few people actually ask.
For instance, when is it right to consider another person romantically?
It seems the most common answer is very "feelings" based. I was listening to some songs by I think Cascada, and she said something in one of them like "I love you just because the feeling is there, this is my religion." That made me think a little.
I also recently heard the popular song "Skater Boy," where the point of the song is that we are supposed to stick to someone like glue if we like them whether or not they have a means of self-improvement, or whether or not they are willing to go the extra mile and even do things they do not enjoy to provide for their family. Basically, this boy is a very good skater, and a girl who likes him decides to back off because that is the only thing going for him. He gets rich and famous on MTV because of his massive skating skills, and the person singing the song tells us she is his later girlfriend and the first was stupid for not sticking by him, because of course his talent couldn't be denied.
Well, forgive me for saying so, but very few people who are good enough at skating to land a job as a professional skater end up famous on MTV with enough money to support a family. Skating, though nice, literally only produces entertainment and, for the skater, exercise.
My point in all of this is that it is very unkind, if one is a boy, to try and ensnare the affections of a girl without any means, future or present, of supporting her or the family she would in an ideal universe provide him if they got married. It is also very unkind, if one is a girl, to marry someone willfully in the above circumstances (i.e., who could with exertion provide for her and the family in a meaningful way) when she wants to have children and children need food. If a man wants to get married and his current skill-set will not procure a job which provides enough money, it is time to go back to school and form a bigger skill-set.
How much of our if-I-feel-it-it-is-right culture comes down to simple laziness and the rejection of reality? Let's start joyfully embracing what is necessary (i.e., honest, hard work and a purposeful, steady life) instead of denying reality and being bitter when things don't turn out like we imagined.
That goes for the women as well. We should prepare ourselves for married life by honing the humble but extremely necessary skills for managing a household. If we cannot bring ourselves to cook, clean, teach, and care, change diapers, etc, then we shouldn't consider becoming romantically attached. It would be extremely unkind to expect the men to do all the labor, as women are thoroughly capable of taking up responsibility just like men are. It would be extremely unkind to be anything but sacrificial in time and labor towards the children, because those little tykes need a lot of love and a lot of guidance as they grow. An attitude of sacrifice is necessary for both men and women in the married state, and both need love and patience as their spheres of labor overlap depending upon temporal and possibly financial vulnerabilities.
When I first started thinking about this, I thought saying what I thought would be too unkind. I mean, look at all the people I just seemingly doomed to remaining unmarried! But then it occurred to me, I'm not dooming anyone; I'm telling them to shape up, as they jolly well should if they don't want to be lazy.
Looking forward to seeing your thoughts on this matter, my dear Parsiphony, and God bless,
~Dinah Greyhorn
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
To Chase the Previous Letter
Dear Parsiphony,
I have written and sent this letter quickly to arrive with the first I sent because there is one thing I would amend within the first.
In my previous letter, I mentioned the Christian woman who entered into a union with a non-Christian with her eyes open, but sincerely repented afterwards. It is certain she will have trials; possibly that is what drove her to repent. But God is often more merciful than we give Him credit for, and perhaps through the mercy of God she may have more to hope for than a combative relationship with her husband.
Surely if there was ever a generation which abandoned God with its eyes open, it was the generation in Judges 10:6-16. They had a national history of a faithful generation receiving the blessings God had promised for an obedient nation in the generation of Joshua (Joshua 23:14), and of at least a generation at this point who had incurred God’s wrath by turning away, and then experienced His deliverance when they began again to seek Him with all their heart. That is the context of Judges 10:6-16, which I have reproduced for you below.
6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him.
7 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.
8 And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that [were] on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which [is] in Gilead.
9 Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.
10 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.
11 And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, [Did] not [I deliver you] from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? [<-- talking about easily memorable times He had delivered Israel in the past]
12 The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. [<-- MORE past deliverances!]
13 Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.
14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
15 And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.
16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
It is easy, when God brings one of His children low, for that child to despair of ever reaching the same trust and intimacy with God she used to have again. When God brought me to repentance about my young man, I was too upset to do anything except read my Bible, even though it was finals week. I read for hours and hours. My reading included these verses:
Revelation 3:1-2
1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
“Strengthen the things which remain.” Oh how those words stung! Was I always going to be like I was, a doubter, far from God, away from His presence? Would I always be strengthening what remained, never gaining again what was lost, never building beyond that point? God had delivered me from many enemies before (metaphorically), but I had taken this young man as a new idol. Would He tell me what he told the Israelites in verse 13 (“wherefore I will deliver you no more”)?
For months those words tormented me. But what did God do after the children of Israel repented and “put away” the strange gods to which they had married themselves? God raised up Jephthah, who retrieved once again for Israel twenty cities from the Ammonites (Judges 11:33)! Retrieved again! Funny that I didn’t notice this when I went past it. What really struck this home to me was I Samuel 7, verses 3-4, 7-8, and 13-14.
3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
4 Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.
7 And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel gathered together to Mizpeh, the Lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.
Between here and the last two verses I cited, God discomfited the Philistines and the Israelites pursued after them in battle.
13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coasts of Israel: and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
14 And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
The people’s hearts were not right with God, but they repented, and ceased not to cry unto the Lord. And not only did the Philistines no longer come into the coasts of Israel for all the days of Samuel, but the cities which before were taken were restored to Israel again!
God truly is merciful. He doesn’t owe us anything, but if we turn to Him, He is a merciful God. We can say with the Israelites “We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee.” But because of the great mercy of God, we can also intreat, “deliver us only, we pray thee, this day,” and perhaps the day after as well, from our other enemies.
Much love, and God bless,
~Dinah Greyhorn
I have written and sent this letter quickly to arrive with the first I sent because there is one thing I would amend within the first.
In my previous letter, I mentioned the Christian woman who entered into a union with a non-Christian with her eyes open, but sincerely repented afterwards. It is certain she will have trials; possibly that is what drove her to repent. But God is often more merciful than we give Him credit for, and perhaps through the mercy of God she may have more to hope for than a combative relationship with her husband.
Surely if there was ever a generation which abandoned God with its eyes open, it was the generation in Judges 10:6-16. They had a national history of a faithful generation receiving the blessings God had promised for an obedient nation in the generation of Joshua (Joshua 23:14), and of at least a generation at this point who had incurred God’s wrath by turning away, and then experienced His deliverance when they began again to seek Him with all their heart. That is the context of Judges 10:6-16, which I have reproduced for you below.
6 And the children of Israel did evil again in the sight of the LORD, and served Baalim, and Ashtaroth, and the gods of Syria, and the gods of Zidon, and the gods of Moab, and the gods of the children of Ammon, and the gods of the Philistines, and forsook the LORD, and served not him.
7 And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel, and he sold them into the hands of the Philistines, and into the hands of the children of Ammon.
8 And that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel: eighteen years, all the children of Israel that [were] on the other side Jordan in the land of the Amorites, which [is] in Gilead.
9 Moreover the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah, and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim; so that Israel was sore distressed.
10 And the children of Israel cried unto the LORD, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Baalim.
11 And the LORD said unto the children of Israel, [Did] not [I deliver you] from the Egyptians, and from the Amorites, from the children of Ammon, and from the Philistines? [<-- talking about easily memorable times He had delivered Israel in the past]
12 The Zidonians also, and the Amalekites, and the Maonites, did oppress you; and ye cried to me, and I delivered you out of their hand. [<-- MORE past deliverances!]
13 Yet ye have forsaken me, and served other gods: wherefore I will deliver you no more.
14 Go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen; let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation.
15 And the children of Israel said unto the LORD, We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee; deliver us only, we pray thee, this day.
16 And they put away the strange gods from among them, and served the LORD: and his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel.
It is easy, when God brings one of His children low, for that child to despair of ever reaching the same trust and intimacy with God she used to have again. When God brought me to repentance about my young man, I was too upset to do anything except read my Bible, even though it was finals week. I read for hours and hours. My reading included these verses:
Revelation 3:1-2
1 And unto the angel of the church in Sardis write; These things saith he that hath the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars; I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead.
2 Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die: for I have not found thy works perfect before God.
“Strengthen the things which remain.” Oh how those words stung! Was I always going to be like I was, a doubter, far from God, away from His presence? Would I always be strengthening what remained, never gaining again what was lost, never building beyond that point? God had delivered me from many enemies before (metaphorically), but I had taken this young man as a new idol. Would He tell me what he told the Israelites in verse 13 (“wherefore I will deliver you no more”)?
For months those words tormented me. But what did God do after the children of Israel repented and “put away” the strange gods to which they had married themselves? God raised up Jephthah, who retrieved once again for Israel twenty cities from the Ammonites (Judges 11:33)! Retrieved again! Funny that I didn’t notice this when I went past it. What really struck this home to me was I Samuel 7, verses 3-4, 7-8, and 13-14.
3 And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods and Ashtaroth from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only; and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines.
4 Then the children of Israel did put away Baalim and Ashtaroth, and served the Lord only.
7 And when the Philistines heard that the children of Israel gathered together to Mizpeh, the Lords of the Philistines went up against Israel. And when the children of Israel heard it, they were afraid of the Philistines.
8 And the children of Israel said to Samuel, Cease not to cry unto the Lord our God for us, that he will save us out of the hand of the Philistines.
Between here and the last two verses I cited, God discomfited the Philistines and the Israelites pursued after them in battle.
13 So the Philistines were subdued, and they came no more into the coasts of Israel: and the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel.
14 And the cities which the Philistines had taken from Israel were restored to Israel, from Ekron even unto Gath; and the coasts thereof did Israel deliver out of the hands of the Philistines. And there was peace between Israel and the Amorites.
The people’s hearts were not right with God, but they repented, and ceased not to cry unto the Lord. And not only did the Philistines no longer come into the coasts of Israel for all the days of Samuel, but the cities which before were taken were restored to Israel again!
God truly is merciful. He doesn’t owe us anything, but if we turn to Him, He is a merciful God. We can say with the Israelites “We have sinned: do thou unto us whatsoever seemeth good unto thee.” But because of the great mercy of God, we can also intreat, “deliver us only, we pray thee, this day,” and perhaps the day after as well, from our other enemies.
Much love, and God bless,
~Dinah Greyhorn
Friday, April 13, 2012
Keep Thine Heart Faithful
Dear Parsiphony,
I commend and encourage you to continue on your path of obedience. I know your heavy heart. But we have to stick with what is certain and most assuredly good, mainly Christ and His love, which conquers all things. Recently I was encouraged by Luke 6:20-36. Whatever we suffer for Christ's sake is well worth the bounty of having Him.
Beyond that, it is love for our young non-Christian men that keeps us from them. God works through the means He has established, mainly by expositing Himself through the obedience of those who are His. If, when we disobey, Christ chooses to be merciful straightway, He will make sure we have no peace until we become obedient to Him again, and thus having not held our tongues we hurt both ourselves and our young men. By the mercy of God, this was my fate.
Then there is the next option, where He chooses in His sovereignty to withhold His correction, and to allow the Christian to, in folly, marry the non-Christian. Perhaps their marriage is even happy by the world's standards, because the Christian has learned to "trust in God's love" without living in obedience. But it is evident that if a Christian wants God to bless a thing (i.e., to see her husband safe in Christ), then that Christian must use the means God has established. What the unconverted learns when a Christian woman marries him against the word of God is that she is obedient in all things except those things next her heart, of which especially she should have given to God, and not to have left the other ungiven (Luke 11:42). By the mercy of God, this was my terror.
There is also the question of how to raise the children in such a home, where such a union was entered into with open eyes. God grants special grace when one who was married before becomes a Christian while their husband remains without, but what can be said for the Christian who, unrepentant, enters in? Perhaps if her eyes were blind to the unequal yoke she would have some consolation, but what justification is there for seeing eyes? Surely it will mean compromise and damnation for someone, unless sincere repentance soon follows. Perhaps they will live a happy life together, but will be separated for eternity in the next life because of her apathy. Or perhaps in the manifold mercies of God her husband will be saved. But then she shall have to live in the bitter reality that God saved her husband from the fires of hell despite her instead of through her, despite the woman who thought the happiness of her flesh more important than seeing the soul of the man who she professed in an assembly of witnesses to love safely in the bosom of Christ. Perhaps God has already led her to repentance, but the man she loves is still unsaved, and her godly character provokes a most painful and combatant relationship between them, two who should have been one flesh, and who should have raised godly seed together. In the selfishness of youth, she has forgotten her children, and her grandchildren. By the grace of God, these too were terrors to me.
My dear Parsiphony, on these grounds I do commend once again your obedience, and I would add that if Christ and God is real, then disobedience is not worth the risks involved for your young man, and even for yourself. Even utter misery on this earth is a happy price to pay for Christ forever, and some unsatisfied hopes for the present are worth eternal satisfaction in Christ. There every tear shall be wiped away (Revelation 21:4), and Christ shall not leave us miserable even on this earth, because He is with us even now, even in our hearts, a constant comforter and a constant friend. The Devil will try to tell you that you cannot live without your young man, but if he were to die, you would have to. Not only would you discover you were able, but you would continue to live simply because time progresses. Beyond that, remember that you are perhaps preserving him from eternal death by separating yourself from him.
For all intents and purposes, the Christian life is really the most reasonable life there is to live, both in terms of wisdom in this life and in the next. Though I am thoroughly convinced we wait for life after death, even if Christ were not there we would not have lost much by living this way, because happiness is uncertain and fragile, and seeking it constantly as our goal does not necessarily make us more likely to obtain or to keep it. Even if we lived our entire lives serving others in love alone, we would have lived a more fulfilling life than many. By all standards, a Christian life in obedience is most excellent, both for edification in this world, and fulfillment in the next.
In all things, remember that Christ is with thee, and I love thee, sister,
~Dinah Greyhorn
I commend and encourage you to continue on your path of obedience. I know your heavy heart. But we have to stick with what is certain and most assuredly good, mainly Christ and His love, which conquers all things. Recently I was encouraged by Luke 6:20-36. Whatever we suffer for Christ's sake is well worth the bounty of having Him.
Beyond that, it is love for our young non-Christian men that keeps us from them. God works through the means He has established, mainly by expositing Himself through the obedience of those who are His. If, when we disobey, Christ chooses to be merciful straightway, He will make sure we have no peace until we become obedient to Him again, and thus having not held our tongues we hurt both ourselves and our young men. By the mercy of God, this was my fate.
Then there is the next option, where He chooses in His sovereignty to withhold His correction, and to allow the Christian to, in folly, marry the non-Christian. Perhaps their marriage is even happy by the world's standards, because the Christian has learned to "trust in God's love" without living in obedience. But it is evident that if a Christian wants God to bless a thing (i.e., to see her husband safe in Christ), then that Christian must use the means God has established. What the unconverted learns when a Christian woman marries him against the word of God is that she is obedient in all things except those things next her heart, of which especially she should have given to God, and not to have left the other ungiven (Luke 11:42). By the mercy of God, this was my terror.
There is also the question of how to raise the children in such a home, where such a union was entered into with open eyes. God grants special grace when one who was married before becomes a Christian while their husband remains without, but what can be said for the Christian who, unrepentant, enters in? Perhaps if her eyes were blind to the unequal yoke she would have some consolation, but what justification is there for seeing eyes? Surely it will mean compromise and damnation for someone, unless sincere repentance soon follows. Perhaps they will live a happy life together, but will be separated for eternity in the next life because of her apathy. Or perhaps in the manifold mercies of God her husband will be saved. But then she shall have to live in the bitter reality that God saved her husband from the fires of hell despite her instead of through her, despite the woman who thought the happiness of her flesh more important than seeing the soul of the man who she professed in an assembly of witnesses to love safely in the bosom of Christ. Perhaps God has already led her to repentance, but the man she loves is still unsaved, and her godly character provokes a most painful and combatant relationship between them, two who should have been one flesh, and who should have raised godly seed together. In the selfishness of youth, she has forgotten her children, and her grandchildren. By the grace of God, these too were terrors to me.
My dear Parsiphony, on these grounds I do commend once again your obedience, and I would add that if Christ and God is real, then disobedience is not worth the risks involved for your young man, and even for yourself. Even utter misery on this earth is a happy price to pay for Christ forever, and some unsatisfied hopes for the present are worth eternal satisfaction in Christ. There every tear shall be wiped away (Revelation 21:4), and Christ shall not leave us miserable even on this earth, because He is with us even now, even in our hearts, a constant comforter and a constant friend. The Devil will try to tell you that you cannot live without your young man, but if he were to die, you would have to. Not only would you discover you were able, but you would continue to live simply because time progresses. Beyond that, remember that you are perhaps preserving him from eternal death by separating yourself from him.
For all intents and purposes, the Christian life is really the most reasonable life there is to live, both in terms of wisdom in this life and in the next. Though I am thoroughly convinced we wait for life after death, even if Christ were not there we would not have lost much by living this way, because happiness is uncertain and fragile, and seeking it constantly as our goal does not necessarily make us more likely to obtain or to keep it. Even if we lived our entire lives serving others in love alone, we would have lived a more fulfilling life than many. By all standards, a Christian life in obedience is most excellent, both for edification in this world, and fulfillment in the next.
In all things, remember that Christ is with thee, and I love thee, sister,
~Dinah Greyhorn
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)