1 – “Draw me after you; let us run. The king has brought me into his chambers. We will exult and rejoice in you; we will extol your love more than wine; rightly do they love you.” (Song of Solomon 1:4, ESV)

RAF: As a woman in love longs to be “drawn after” the one she loves – to be led, but led out of love, so the Church. When her heart is truly after Christ, delights to be drawn away and led by Him. It is always a sign that the Church (or individual Christians) are no longer love oriented, when we rebel and seek not to be led, but to lead.

Note too, that our tendency with Christ, as with women since the Fall, is to try and seize the lead over time.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” (Proverbs 28:1, ESV)

RAF: Unresolved guilt gives the heart no rest. And a guilty heart often produces fearfulness and timidity.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – “The wise of heart is called discerning, and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.” (Proverbs 16:21, ESV)

RAF: Sweetness of speech is not flattery, lying or failing to deal in complete truthfulness. It is rather the attitude in which our communication is carried out. Would we persuade, or simply hammer our view home? Would we win or keep a friend, or are we simply after stating the case? Jesus never shrunk back from delivering the whole truth – but He was no man’s enemy, even though they were His. Father, teach me this holy skill. How I would rather thunder out my way, than persuade by a heart set on blessing the other. How I want to be right, more than righteous. Deliver me. See: Verses 23 & 24.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – “Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth.” (Proverbs 4:5, ESV)

RAF: What becomes increasingly plain in this book is that insight and wisdom have to do with understanding how things are, and how they work – from God’s point of view. It is insight into the divine economy. It is like having sight in a world of blind men. It isn’t that we see things that aren’t there, but see them as they really are. Values are assigned by eternal standards, not temporal. Eternal justice must always be held in tension. God’s sovereignty as well as man’s responsibility have to be kept together. Man’s relationship to God must define his relationship to all others, and to the the universe itself. Heavenly Father, how we need this wisdom. how we plead to you for this insight.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – ” A Maskil of Asaph. Give ear, O my people, to my teaching; incline your ears to the words of my mouth! I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings from of old, things that we have heard and known, that our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done.” (Psalm 78:1-4, ESV)

RAF: What a good thing it is for each generation to make known what they’ve come to know and have learned about the goodness, power and wonder of God. For parents to tell their children of their own conversion to Christ. To tell them how God rescued them in trouble, provided for them, walked with them, comforted them, sustained them and blessed them. Parents – do not be silent. Give your children the heritage of your life in Christ. Recount it. Glory in it, joy in it, and tell them of it.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – “Fret not yourself because of evildoers; be not envious of wrongdoers! For they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.” (Psalm 37:1-2, ESV)

RAF: Any joy and peace the world can give, is temporary. Those finding their joy and peace in it, will pass away with it.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – 4 “The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of destruction assailed me; 5 the cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. 6 In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. 7 Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. 8 Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. 9 He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet.” (Psalm 18:4-9, ESV)

RAF: 4 & 5- I was in trouble. 6 – I cried out to the Lord and He heard me. 7 & 8 – He did not respond dispassionately. 9 – He intervened personally.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – “Then the king’s young men who attended him said, “Let beautiful young virgins be sought out for the king. And let the king appoint officers in all the provinces of his kingdom to gather all the beautiful young virgins to the harem in Susa the capital, under custody of Hegai, the king’s eunuch, who is in charge of the women. Let their cosmetics be given them. And let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This pleased the king, and he did so.” (Esther 2:2-4, ESV)

RAF: The Church is that virgin bride that pleases the King most. She is the one He has set His love upon. She is redeemed, blood bought, blood washed, robed in imputed righteousness, mercied and the preeminent display of His grace – His personal favor. She is His. Father, let me live in the reality of how deep your love is, how personal it is, how majestic it is, how faithful it is, how perfect it is, how divine it is, how MINE – it is. And grant that I may love you commensurately – as much as a fallen but redeemed sinner can by virtue of your Spirit.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – “ Moreover, from the time that I was appointed to be their governor in the land of Judah, from the twentieth year to the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes the king, twelve years, neither I nor my brothers ate the food allowance of the governor. The former governors who were before me laid heavy burdens on the people and took from them for their daily ration forty shekels of silver. Even their servants lorded it over the people. But I did not do so, because of the fear of God. I also persevered in the work on this wall, and we acquired no land, and all my servants were gathered there for the work. Moreover, there were at my table 150 men, Jews and officials, besides those who came to us from the nations that were around us. Now what was prepared at my expense for each day was one ox and six choice sheep and birds, and every ten days all kinds of wine in abundance. Yet for all this I did not demand the food allowance of the governor, because the service was too heavy on this people. Remember for my good, O my God, all that I have done for this people.” (Nehemiah 5:14-19, ESV)

RAF: It is incumbent upon leadership to be careful not to overburden the people. Especially not to tax them for personal gain.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – “ Now when the adversaries of Judah and Benjamin heard that the returned exiles were building a temple to the Lord, the God of Israel, they approached Zerubbabel and the heads of fathers’ houses and said to them, “Let us build with you, for we worship your God as you do, and we have been sacrificing to him ever since the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria who brought us here.” But Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the rest of the heads of fathers’ houses in Israel said to them, “You have nothing to do with us in building a house to our God; but we alone will build to the Lord, the God of Israel, as King Cyrus the king of Persia has commanded us.”” (Ezra 4:1-3, ESV)

RAF: There may be those who are sympathetic with Christianity, and who have added Christ to their other gods and ways, who are nonetheless not Christians. They are not to be evangelists. They have no part in discipleship. They cannot be part and parcel of ministry. They are not whole-hearted after God. We must make these distinctions if we are to be about the business of the Church, and not just religion. Mere religion breeds syncretism.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – “And he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, yet not with a whole heart.” (2 Chronicles 25:2, ESV)

RAF: Heavenly Father, it is in this matter of whole-heartedness that I see such failure in myself. I content myself so easily in you. To barely know you. To spend little real time with you. To be so unfamiliar with what you have taken countless lives to reveal, write, copy and preserve throughout the centuries for us. To think little of your daily graces. To live in the shadow of the Cross and virtually take it for granted at times. Oh Father – make me a whole-hearted man after you.

Read the rest of this entry »

In the infinite wisdom of God,

He has filled all of life with types and shadows of spiritual truth.

In marriage,

His word makes clear,

there is to be found a most wonderful and detailed portrait of the love and bond between our Lord Jesus Christ and His Bride – the Church.

Which picture paves the way

for a no less stunning parallel to be drawn between Mothers themselves,

and the nature of God’s true Church.

It is in this figure,

given to us by God’s own hand

that I have learned much of Christ’s Church

In the life and ministry of my own Mother.

Read the rest of this entry »

Josef Fritzl, the Austrian man who fathered seven children with his daughter while keeping her imprisoned in a windowless dungeon in his cellar, has complained about poor media coverage of the case.

JOSEF FRITZL and ROSEMARIE FRITZL are being honoured at their 50 years wedding anniversary in 2006….

JOSEF FRITZL and ROSEMARIE FRITZL are being honoured at their 50 years wedding anniversary in 2006. Josef Fritzl made an astonishing plea for understanding from his cell today saying: “I am not a monster.” The Austrian, who locked up his own daughter in a dungeon for 24 years and subjected her to repeated rapes, claimed he has been unfairly represented by the police and the media. And in a twisted bid for sympathy he argued that he should be held in high regard for not killing Elisabeth, 42, and the children he incestuously fathered on her – Kerstin, 19, Stefan 18 and five-year-old Felix.

(Mark Large/Daily Mail/SOLO Syndication/Zuma Press)

His criticism of the international media’s reporting was published in the German tabloid Bild Zeitung.

“I could have killed them all,” reads the front page headline of today’s Bild Zeitung. And Fritzl, dubbed a monster by the Austrian media, told his lawyer, Rudolf Mayer, “I’m not a monster,” according to today’s report.  Read the entire article HERE AT ABC NEWS

• RAF: Hitler wasn’t a monster, he COULD have killed even more Gypsies, Jews, impaired or otherwise undesirables. Sure, 6 million Jews – but there’s still lots left – right?

• As shocking as Fritzl’s self-justification is – it is no different than yours or mine when we excuse ANY sin on the ground that we could have sinned worse.  Just because the lid is off of Fritzl’s depravity doesn’t mean ours would be any less heinous if it could be brought to the light of day.

• Thank God for His salvation – for the death of His precious Son, which alone can make any man right with God, to stand in His presence unafraid.

• Be repulsed at Fritzl’s obscene admission.

• And then remember what you have been saved from. And weep that his soul might too be rescued in Christ Jesus.

• For you and I were not one iota better. Only less exposed.

1 – “Jabez was more honorable than his brothers; and his mother called his name Jabez, saying, “Because I bore him in pain.” Jabez called upon the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that you would bless me and enlarge my border, and that your hand might be with me, and that you would keep me from harm so that it might not bring me pain!” And God granted what he asked.” (1 Chronicles 4:9-10, ESV)

RAF: Tucked away in the midst of these chapters with their long lists of people we do not and cannot know – about whom we know no more than their being listed here – is this simple reminder: When men call upon the Lord, He hears. And He answers. He is ever willing to meet us if we will but seek Him. Father, grant that I might seek you always and never stop.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – 2 Kings 17 / Entire chapter.

RAF: 1. God must be our God. 2. God must be God, alone. 3. God must be worshiped according to what He has revealed. 4. God must be believed, and served according to what He has said. It is for want of these that Israel was decimated. Oh Father, keep us.

2 – “This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him: “She despises you, she scorns you— the virgin daughter of Zion; she wags her head behind you— the daughter of Jerusalem.” (2 Kings 19:21, ESV)

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – “A man came from Baal-shalishah, bringing the man of God bread of the firstfruits, twenty loaves of barley and fresh ears of grain in his sack. And Elisha said, “Give to the men, that they may eat.” But his servant said, “How can I set this before a hundred men?” So he repeated, “Give them to the men, that they may eat, for thus says the Lord, ‘They shall eat and have some left.’ ” So he set it before them. And they ate and had some left, according to the word of the Lord.” (2 Kings 4:42-44, ESV)

RAF: This precursor to Jesus feeding the 5000 & the 4000, is a great reminder of God’s good provision for us. And, how it is He often makes what we have sufficient, rather than our needing more. How we need to trust Him for sufficiency. Temptation is warded off when we look to Him to make sufficient what we already have.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – ” In the thirty-eighth year of Asa king of Judah, Ahab the son of Omri began to reign over Israel, and Ahab the son of Omri reigned over Israel in Samaria twenty-two years.” (1 Kings 16:29, ESV)

RAF: And still God tolerated Ahab to reign in Israel for 22 years. His patience is displayed toward Ahab, and His provocation against the Israelites in leaving them to the whims of such a wicked man. There is always more going on that just the one circumstance.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – 1 Samuel Chapter 26.

RAF: While Jesus walked the earth, though the anointed King to come, nevertheless, He did nothing to overthrow or harm those authorities the Father had set in place. He bids His disciples to submit to them, in spite of their corruption. He could have come and judged all. But He did not come the first time to judge – rather to save. He will come again. The next time it will be to judge the earth in righteousness. But how He treated the lives of those who hated Him as precious. How He did not revile them when reviled. How He remained harmless, though they sought His life to take it. How He called to them and sought to have them reconciled. But they would not.

Read the rest of this entry »

1 – “And Saul said to Samuel, “I have obeyed the voice of the Lord. I have gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me. I have brought Agag the king of Amalek, and I have devoted the Amalekites to destruction. But the people took of the spoil, sheep and oxen, the best of the things devoted to destruction, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.”” (1 Samuel 15:20-21, ESV)

RAF: Like Eve in Eden thinking it was better to add that the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil shouldn’t be touched either, so here, they thought they could do one better than just following what God commanded. Whether it be subtracting or adding to what God says, either makes us God. And He will not stand for it. Many believe it is good and right to add works in salvation, that it is noble and higher than simply believing God to be justified. But in the end, it isn’t what He commanded. We cannot make His Word better.

Read the rest of this entry »