Captured By Giant Despair Part 2 of 2

A few days ago we left Christian and his friend Hopeful in the dungeon of Doubting Castle.  They had been tempted to commit suicide but decided to continue to live the life that they had been given.  Let's pick up the story where we left off.

Toward evening the giant came down again to see if they had submitted to his counsel.  He found them alive, but only barely alive, for they were perishing for food and water, and suffering miserably from their wounds.  Seeing them still alive, the giant flew into a terrific rage, storming out at them:  "You have disobeyed my counsel!  Now it shall be worse with you than if you had never been born."

At his terrible words, they shook with fear, and Christian went into a swoon.  When he had come to himself again, they remembered their discussion about taking their own lives.  Christian was now inclined to favor the idea.  But Hopeful made a second plea:  "My brother, remember how valiant you were with Apollyon [Satan].  He could not defeat you, nor were you defeated by all you saw and heard in the Valley of the Shadow of Death.  What hardships, terror, and amazement you have already come through!  And, you see, I'm in the dungeon too, a far weaker person by nature and experience than you, receiving the same punishment and suffering the same agony.  This giant has wounded me and has also cut off bread and water from my mouth.  And along with you, I mourn without the light.  But let us exercise a little more patience.  Remember how brave and strong you were at Vanity Fair.  You did not shrink from chains, or iron cage, or bloody death.  Then, let us (at least to avoid the shame of conduct unbecoming to Christians) bear up with patience as best we can.  Deliverance will come by and by."

That night the giant's wife asked him about the prisoners.  She wanted to know if they had taken his counsel.  "No," he said, "they are sturdy rogues.  They choose to bear all hardships rather than do away with themselves."

She replied:  "Tomorrow, take them into the castle yard and show them the bones and skulls of those you have disposed of and make them believe that before the week ends you will tear them in pieces, as you have done with all others."

So when morning came, he took them into the castle yard and showed them the skeletons of those he had murdered.  "Those," he said, "were once pilgrims like you.  They trespassed on my property, and when I saw fit I tore them to pieces, just as I will do to you within ten days if you remain alive on my premises.  Now go down to your dungeon and think it over."  With that he beat them all the way into the dungeon.  There they lay all day Saturday in a deplorable condition.

That night the giant remarked to his wife that he could not understand how his prisoners remained alive.  He had not been able by blows or threats or counseling to bring them to their end.

Then Gloom said, "I am afraid that they live in hopes that someone will come to their rescue; or they may have tools for picking a lock, thus hoping to get out."

"That is true," he said.  "In the morning I will search them."

About midnight Saturday night, Christian and Hopeful began to pray and continued until almost break of day.  Then Christian suddenly broke out in amazement, "What a fool!  What a fool I am to lie here in this stinking dungeon when I might walk free on the highway to glory!  I have a key in my bosom called Promise which I am sure will open any door in Doubting Castle."

Hopeful:  That is certainly good news, my brother.  Get out your key and try it.

Then Christian took the key of Promise and pushed it into the lock of the dungeon door.  The bolt fell back and the door came open.  They walked out into the castle.  Then they went to the door leading to the castle yard.  The key opened that door also.  Now they came to the great iron gate leading outside.  The lock to the gate was exceedingly difficult, yet they unlocked it and pushed the gate open to make their escape.  But the gate made such a creaking sound that it woke the giant, who jumped out of bed to pursue his prisoners.  Then he was seized by one of his fits and lost the use of his limbs.  The prisoners ran to the King's highway, where they were safely beyond Despair's jurisdiction.

From:  Pilgrim's Progress In Today's English
By John Bunyan
Retold by Jamesh. Thomas

Captured By Giant Despair Part 1 of 2

I was reading a fairly popular Christian book the other day called Pilgrim's Progress.  You have probably heard of it or even read it.  But, if you haven't read it, let me give you some background information.  The book is an allegory of the Christian walk.  It tells the story of a man named Christian and his many adventures and trials as he travels to the "Celestial City."  Below is an excerpt from the story that I thought might ring true with some of you.  Enjoy!

Not far from where they [Christian and his companion Hopeful]lay there was an old castle called Doubting Castle, owned by one Giant Despair; and it was on his grounds they were sleeping.  And, as his habit was, the giant rose early and was inspecting his grounds and fences after the rain when he came upon Christian and Hopeful sleeping on his premises.  With a gruff voice he told them to wake up, and commanded them to tell where they were from and what they were doing on his grounds.  They told him that they were pilgrims and had lost their way.

Then said the giant, "You have trespassed on my property this night; therefore, you must come along with me."  They were compelled to go, because he was much stronger than they.  They had but little to say in their defense, for they knew they were at fault.  The giant drove them before him into his castle and put them in a very dark dungeon--a nasty, stinking place.  There they lay from Wednesday until Saturday night without food or water and without a ray of light or anyone to console them.  They were in a pitiful plight, far from friends and acquaintances.  Now Christian had double sorrow, because it was his ill-advised hasty decision that had brought them into all this trouble.

Giant Despair had a wife whose name was Gloom.  So when he had gone to bed, he told his wife he had taken two prisoners and locked them in the dungeon for trespassing on his property, and asked her what he ought to do with them.  After he had told her what they were, where they were from and where they were going, she advised that when he arose next morning he should beat them unmercifully.  When he got up next day he took his knotted, crabtree club and went down to the dungeon.  First, he berated them shamefully as if they had been sheep-killing dogs (they never returned an unkind word), then he fell upon them and beat them severely  They were helpless to resist or to ward off his blows.  Then he left them in the dark to pity themselves and mourn in agony.  They spent the whole day sighing and groaning.

The next night Gloom advised her husband to induce the men to do away with themselves.  So when morning came, he went down in a very ugly mood and said to the pilgrims:  "Since you will never get out of here alive (I will never give you anything to eat or drink, and the only possible way of escape from your miseries is to end your own life--either with knife, or rope, or poison), then would it not be smart to take the quick way out of your suffering?  For why should you choose to live, seeing life holds nothing for you now but extreme bitterness?"  Yet they pleaded with him to let them go.

At that he rushed upon them and would have beaten them to death, but he had one of his fits and lost the use of his arm for the moment.  So he withdrew and left them to consider what he had told them.  Then the prisoners consulted each other as to whether it was best to take his advice or not.

Christian:  Brother Hopeful, what shall we do?  The life we now have is extremely wretched.  For my part I know not whether it is best to live like this far a time, then starve to death, or be beaten to death by this brutal man, or to die now and get out of it.  Surely the grave is desired rather than this dungeon.

Hopeful:  Well, of course, our present condition is intolerable, and death would be far better to me than to spend the rest of my days in this place--whether they be many or few.  But let us consider that the Lord of the country to which we are going has said, "Thou shalt do no murder."  Not only are we forbidden to kill another person; much more are we forbidden to kill ourselves.  For he that kills another kills only bis body, but he who kills himself kills body and soul.  And you talk of ease in the grave, but have you forgotten the Hell to which all murderers go?  For you know that "no murderer hat eternal life."  And let us consider again that all the law is not in the hands of Giant Despair.  Others, I understand have escaped out of his hands.  Who knows but that God, who made the world, may cause the Giant to die, or that at some time or other the Giant may forget to lock us in, or in a short time he may have another of his fits and lose the use of his limbs?  And if that should ever happen again, I am determined to act the part of a man and do my utmost to break loose from him.  I was a coward when I did not do it before.  However, my brother, let us be patient, and endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ [2 Timothy 2:3], at least for a while.  The time may come when we will receive a happy release.  Anyway, let us not be our own murderers.

With those words, Hopeful succeeded in stabilizing the mind of his friend.  So they waited in the darkness another day in their pitiful state.

And so we leave Christian and Hopeful in the dungeon of Giant Despair.  Don't miss the end of their story coming this weekend!

A Calling From God

Some of you know that in the summers I work at a day camp at a church near me called Camp Agape.  I love working there, and every summer God uses my experiences there to grow and stretch my faith.  As the summer came to an end, I realized that I would have to go back to "real life."  Being in such close fellowship with so many other Christians and working together with them almost every day for ten weeks not only builds close relationships, but it is such an encouragement when you are constantly surrounded by other teens who are seeking to be Christlike.  As you can probably imagine, it is very hard to leave this atmosphere and go back to the "real world" where not everyone is a Christian and not everyone is trying to live a life that is pleasing to God.

As I was anticipating this transition, I began to look for ways that I could become more actively involved in ministry during the year.  I quickly came to realize that in order for me to take on any type of regular ministry commitment during the year I would have to cut my youth orchestra program out of my schedule.  I love music and I love being able to make music every Saturday with other teenagers, so I really didn't want to give it up!  As I was thinking about this, I talked it over with my sister.  In her logical, left-brained way, she explained to me that God had given me the ability to make beautiful music.  She said to me, "If God gave you the gift of music, you should use it!  He didn't give it to you without a reason."

Eventually, I came to realize that God had given me a huge mission field at my youth orchestra program!  The percentage of Christians there is very low, and being a pretty extroverted person I know a lot of people and have many opportunities to share the Gospel with people.  I am still in youth orchestra, and I have been able to have some really neat conversations about God with people!  It isn't always easy to stand up for what I believe in, but saying Romans 1:16 to myself reminds me that I do not need to be "ashamed of the Gospel because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes."  I have begun to view my orchestra program as a wonderful way for me to shine the light of Christ.  It has become my mission field.  Even though I am too young to become a full-time missionary at this point, I can still share Christ with those around me.

Where is your mission field?

You might be thinking, "Oh please, I am not the missionary type.  Being a missionary isn't my calling!  I don't have a mission field."  I hate to break it to you, but there is no such thing as a "missionary type."  Also, we are all called to preach the Gospel "to all creation."  (Mark 16:15)  Now you are probably thinking, "Okay.  Fine.  Whatever.  I am too young to be a missionary anyways."  1 Timothy 4:12 says "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity."  You aren't too young!

Did you know that you don't have to go to a faraway country to be a missionary?  You can share the Gospel with the people next door if that is where God has called you right now.  Right now, God has placed me in my youth orchestra program to share the Gospel with those around you.  He may have you in a certain place or situation so that those around you can hear the Gospel.  God can use anyone in any situation!

I challenge you to spend some time praying and asking God to show you where He would like you to "be a missionary,"  and then find your mission field and get to work!  God is calling you.  How will you answer Him?  

A New Look at Thankfulness

As I was attending my church's Thanksgiving service last night, we sang a song that really made me reflect on some of the ways that God works in our lives.  A few lines of the chorus  were a great reminder to me of the choice we have in our reactions to various circumstances in our lives.

He gives and takes away
He gives and takes away
My heart will choose to say
Lord blessed be your name

1 Chronicles 29:11 says, "Yours, Lord is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours."  So often we feel entitled to the things we have on earth.  As this verse says, everything is God's, He has given us the use of all of the things we have here on the earth.  We should be thankful for the many ways that God has blessed us!  Sometimes, God chooses to take away some of those earthly possessions that He has "loaned" to us and we react with anger at God because we felt entitled to those possessions.  If we know that God has temporarily blessed us with those possessions, why do we feel entitled to them?  Why aren't we thankful for the blessing that those things were while the were "on loan" to us?

Did you know you have a choice about how you react to things?  There is not a prescribed griping formula to follow when things don't go as planned.  You don't have to be angry!  You can still choose to praise the Lord even when not everything seems to be going well.

Romans 8:28 says, "We know that in all things, God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose."  So often we think that God only gives us good things and and that anytime something bad happens to us, He is probably punishing us.  What if we changed our thinking and were thankful for the bad things that happen to us?  A lot of times, God is trying to teach us a lesson when something bad happens.  Sometimes having something bad happen is the only way that we will pay attention and turn to Him.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you."  God will never do anything to harm you--only to teach you and to show you His love for you!

God gives and takes away.  I challenge you this Thanksgiving to take time to not only be thankful for the many ways that God has blessed you, but also for the hard times and the things that you have learned (or will learn) through them.    

23 Years...

Tomorrow is my parent's twenty-third wedding anniversary!  It isn't a super special number anniversary like 25 or 50, but it represents so much.  Well, the obvious one is that 23 years ago my parents were married.  They made a lifelong covenant before God and witnesses to love and to serve one another for the rest of their lives.  Their anniversary also marks a half-way point in both of their lives.  My parents have been married to each other for half of their lives (give or take a few months).  Not only that, but they have raised three kids and been teachers and examples to countless other people through the years they have been married and the years before they were married.

Why does their marriage mean so much to me?

First of all, if they hadn't gotten married, I wouldn't be here.  I also wouldn't have had my two siblings who have taught me so much.  (They have taught me things ranging from how to hold my violin to how to get a hair clip out of the toilet without getting your hands wet!)  I am so thankful that God chose to put me into this family!  He has blessed me in so many ways because of my parents!

Secondly, they have taught me so much about life, music, and what it means to be a follower of Christ.  By their words and their example, they have taught me practical skills such as how to load a dishwasher or how to pound a nail into a board.  But, most importantly, they have taught me what it means to be a Christian--not just in name, but in life!

In today's culture, divorce is a common part of life.  Probably all of us know someone who has been through a divorce or we may have even been involved in one ourselves.  I have been blessed to be a part of a marriage where my parent's commitment and love for each other is so evident.  If any of you have met my parents, you have probably seen this for yourself!  My parents are such an incredible of what a healthy and Godly marriage looks like and I am so blessed to have their example in my life!

I thank God for my parents and all they have done for me!  I love you Mom and Dad!

He Knows My Name

We can all use some reminders of the love that God has for us, so as I was thinking about the next blog post I should write this song came to mind.  This song is a great reminder of God's never ending love for each of us.  Nothing that we have done or ever will do will make Him love us any less.  That doesn't mean that He approves of our sin just because He loves us.  But, because He loves us, He is willing to forgive our sins.  As you read through the lyrics of this song, don't do it mindlessly!  Let it be a reminder of God's presence in your own life and reflect on the many ways that He has changed you.  

I have a Maker
He Formed My Heart
before even time began
my life was in his hands

He knows my name
he knows my every thought
he sees each tear that falls
and hears me when I call

I have a father
he calls me his own
he'll never leave me
no matter where I go

He knows my name
he knows my every thought
he sees each tear that falls
and hears me when I call

He knows my name
he knows my every thought
he sees each tear that falls
and hears me when I call

Don't ever forget how much God cares for you!  Even before you were created or knew Him, He loved you and had a plan for your life.  While you may not always be able to understand His plans for you, you can trust that He knows what is best and would never do anything to harm you.  Jeremiah 29:11 says, "For I know the plans I have for you," says the Lord.  "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you."  It is easy to lose your focus on God--especially when all of the earthly worries that we all carry seem to get so great that God gets blocked out.  When God feels far away, take some time to call on His name.  Psalm 55:16-17 says, "As for me, I call to God, and the Lord saves me.  Evening, morning and noon I cry out in distress, and He hears my voice."  He hears you when you call!  Do you need to spend some time calling on the name of your maker?

Maranatha Singers - He Knows My Name
http://www.metrolyrics.com/he-knows-my-name-lyrics-israel.html 

Spiritual Gifts

Lately I have been doing a lot of thinking/reading/talking about spiritual gifts.  I had never spent much time thinking about them until I had a question in my AWANA book that made me begin to ask some more questions about spiritual gifts and try to dig deeper into their use.  After some interesting discussions with some friends of mine and my parents along with some of my own research, I decided it was time to write a blog post about some of the conclusions that I came to.

What is a spiritual gift?
A spiritual gift is a special talent that God gives to believers.  It is something that they are good at doing.  The Bible lists several different spiritual gifts which can be classified into three different categories.  1.  Prophetic Gifts  (Anything that involves teaching, encouraging, exhorting, or rebuking others.)  2.  Priestly Gifts  (Include anything that involves showing mercy and caring for those in need or interceding before God.)  3.  Kingly Gifts  (Involve anything having to do with administration or government or order in the church.) A spiritual gift is any ability that is empowered by the Holy Spirit and used in any ministry of the church.

Who gets spiritual gifts?
When a person believes in the Lord Jesus as their savior, they are given a spiritual gift by the Holy Spirit.  Each person is given at least one gift that they are supposed to use in the ministry of the church.  Someone asked me about non-believers who exhibit some of the same spiritual gift-like abilities such as prophecy.  I believe that someone who is prophesying without the power of the Holy Spirit is doing so through the power of Satan.  I would consider these people to be false prophets.  Matthew 7:15 says, "Watch out for false prophets.  They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves."

What are we supposed to do with spiritual gifts?
Spiritual gifts are given to equip the church to carry out its ministry until Christ returns.  The gifts that God has given are designed to be used for the edification of the church members.  1 Corinthians 12:18-20 says, "But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be.  If they were all one part, where would the body be?  As it is, there are many parts, but one body."  This chapter of 1 Corinthians uses the human body as an analogy for spiritual gifts and the church.  If everyone had the same gift, we would be lacking some essential parts of a healthy church.  If everyone had the gift of teaching, everyone would teach and there would be no one to listen.  If everyone had the gift of leadership, no one would follow and there would be a lot of resulting dissension in the church.  Each of us is called to use and to develop the gift that God has given us within the church for the glory of God.

This is by no means a complete discussion of spiritual gifts and their uses, but hopefully you will have a better idea of what a spiritual gift is and how we are supposed to use them.  If you have questions about spiritual gifts (or anything else) please don't hesitate to contact me at sistersinchrist.girlz@gmail.com  If you are interested in finding out what spiritual gifts you might have, click on this link!  http://www.spiritualgiftstest.com/tests

Some excerpts taken from Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem
Thanks to my friends Cody and Olivia for discussing this topic with me.