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Hello!
I’ve rescheduled my meeting with Bessie for NEXT Tuesday.
A sweet sister in our body has a TON going on, so I’m hoping to spend some time with her grandchildren and free her up a little bit.
I also have to get the Trumpet done this week… TODAY, actually, I should send the rough draft to Pastor. I confess, I am unbelievably behind!!!
So… I’ll meet with Bessie (and HOPEFULLY Brenda) next Tuesday at 11. As usual, I am DESPERATE for your prayer! Pray that we can read LOTS of Scripture and talk about justification.
I had to giggle. In my blog stats, it says that someone googled “jehovah’s witness women who want a man” and found this blog! Two others googled “hymns of the jehovah witnesses” and www.watchtower.org and found Delight Within the Veil! Wow! My hope (and perhaps you’ll pray with me) is that these people will read some of the conversations I’ve had with my Jehovah’s Witness friends and that the truth of SCRIPTURE will plant seeds in their hearts!
If YOU are one of the Jehovah’s Witnesses who googled and found this site, it’s not an accident! :o) And I pray that the veil will be lifted and you will behold the King of Glory and all that He is! THEN… I’ll pray that God will bring you a man saturated with Scripture and a heart whose desire is Christ alone!!! :o)
©PortCityPrincess 2007
All Rights Reserved
You MUST watch this!!!
I have GOOSEBUMPS!!!
I can hardly wait!!!
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
We are jumping up and down over here!!!!
OH MY GOODNESS!!!
YEAH!!!
ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
by Elisabeth Elliot
Those who call Thanksgiving “Turkey Day,” I suppose, take some such view as this: Unless we have Someone to thank and something to thank Him for, what’s the point of using a name that calls up pictures of religious people in funny hats and Indians bringing corn and squash?
Christians, I hope, focus on something other than a roasted bird. We do have Someone to thank and a long list of things to thank Him for, but sometimes we limit our thanksgiving merely to things that look good to us. As our faith in the character of God grows deeper we see that heavenly light is shed on everything–even on suffering–so that we are enabled to thank Him for things we would never have thought of before. The apostle Paul, for example, saw even suffering itself as a happiness (Colossians 1:24, NEB).
I have been thinking of something that stifles thanksgiving. It is the spirit of greed–the greed of doing, being, and having.
When Satan came to tempt Jesus in the wilderness, his bait was intended to inspire the lust to do more than the Father meant for Him to do–to go farther, demonstrate more power, act more dramatically. So the enemy comes to us in these days of frantic doing. We are ceaselessly summoned to activities: social, political, educational, athletic, and–yes–spiritual. Our “self-image” (deplorable word!) is dependent not on the quiet and hidden “Do this for My sake,” but on the list the world hands us of what is “important.” It is a long list, and it is both foolish and impossible. If we fall for it, we neglect the short list.
Only a few things are really important, and for those we have the promise of divine help: sitting in silence with the Master in order to hear His word and obey it in the ordinary line of duty–for example, in being a good husband, wife, father, mother, son, daughter, or spiritual father or mother to those nearby who need protection and care–humble work which is never on the world’s list because it leads to nothing impressive on one’s resume. As Washington Gladden wrote in 1879, “O Master, let me walk with Thee/In lowly paths of service free….”
Temptation comes also in the form of being. The snake in the garden struck at Eve with the promise of being something which had not been given. If she would eat the fruit forbidden to her, she could “upgrade her lifestyle” and become like God. She inferred that this was her right, and that God meant to cheat her of this. The way to get her rights was to disobey Him.
No new temptation ever comes to any of us. Satan needs no new tricks. The old ones have worked well ever since the Garden of Eden, although sometimes under different guises. When there is a deep restlessness for which we find no explanation, it may be due to the greed of being–what our loving Father never meant us to be. Peace lies in the trusting acceptance of His design, His gifts, His appointment of place, position, capacity. It was thus that the Son of Man came to earth–embracing all that the Father willed Him to be, usurping nothing–no work, not even a word–that the Father had not given Him.
Then there is the greed of having. When “a mixed company of strangers” joined the Israelites, the people began to be greedy for better things (Numbers 11:4, NEB). God had given them exactly what they needed in the wilderness: manna. It was always enough, always fresh, always good (sounds good to me, anyway, “like butter-cakes”). But the people lusted for variety. These strangers put ideas into their heads. “There’s more to life than this stuff. Is this all you’ve got? You can have more. You gotta live a little!”
So the insistence to have it all took hold on God’s people and they began to wail, “all of them in their families at the opening of their tents.” There is no end to the spending, getting, having. We are insatiable consumers, dead set on competing, upgrading, showing off (“If you’ve got it, flaunt it”). We simply cannot bear to miss something others deem necessary. So the world ruins the peace and simplicity God would give us. Contentment with what He has chosen for us dissolves, along with godliness, while, instead of giving thanks, we lust and wail, teaching our children to lust and wail too. (Children of the jungle tribe I knew years ago did not complain because they had not been taught to.)
Lord, we give You thanks for all that You in Your mercy have given us to be and to do and to have. Deliver us, Lord, from all greed to be and to do and to have anything not in accord with Your holy purposes. Teach us to rest quietly in Your promise to supply, recognizing that if we don’t have it we don’t need it. Teach us to desire Your will–nothing more, nothing less, and nothing else. For Jesus’ sake. Amen.
ahhhhh…the joys of having Girls…
My mother taught me to read when I was four years old
(her first mistake).
One day, I was in the bathroom and noticed one of the
cabinet doors was ajar.I read the box in the cabinet. I then asked my
mother why she was
keeping ‘napkins’ in the bathroom. Didn’t they
belong in the kitchen?Not wanting to burden me with unnecessary facts, she
told me that
those were for “special occasions” (her second
mistake).Now fast forward a few months….It’s Thanksgiving
Day, and my folks are leaving to pick up my uncle and his wife for
dinner. Mom had assignments for all of us while they were gone.Mine was to set the table.
When they returned, my uncle came in first and immediately burst
into laughter. Next came his wife who gasped, then began
giggling. Next came my father, who roared with laughter.Then came Mom, who almost died of embarrassment when
she saw each place setting on the table with a “special occasion”
Kotex napkin at each plate, with the fork carefully arranged on top. I had
even tucked the little tail in so they didn’t hang off the edge!!My mother asked me why I used these and, of course, my
response sent the other adults into further fits of laughter.“But, Mom, you said they were for special
occasions!!!”
Pass this on to your girlfriends who need a good
laugh or anyone who has a daughter!
Well!!!
It was a COLD morning!
I had to run to Target to buy jackets for my kiddos!!! (We needed them, anyway… so now some of my winter clothes shopping is done!)
The afternoon at the park was absolutely GLORIOUS, though! We were in full sun and thawed out very nicely!
We’ve agreed that we MUST arrange lunch/playdates at THIS park in the future!
The kids had a blast! We can even gather pecans, if we want to!
Thanks so much for coming out, everyone!!!
To those that couldn’t make it, we really missed you!
I’ve posted LOTS of thumbnails. Click them for the larger image.
Save what you’d like.
If I have one posted that you would like in it’s BEST quality… email me and I’ll email it to you at full resolution.
I love you dearly and am so thankful that God has blessed us with such good friends!
And those kiddos!!! Look how God has blessed us there! Wow!!!
He is so good!!!
(Be sure to send your photos my way!)
In no order whatsoever:
©PortCityPrincess 2007
All Rights Reserved
Brenda couldn’t come today, so Bessie brought Courtney and Courtney’s 9-week-old nephew Aiden.
Bessie immediately began with Isaiah 44:6 and said that she had been wrong to say that the “repurchaser” was Jesus Christ. “It is talking about Jehovah there”… I nodded in agreement. She looked confused.
Of course, Bessie! That’s what the bible SAYS… it really isn’t confusing!
Thus says the LORD (Jehovah), the King of Israel and his Redeemer (their bible says “repurchaser”), the LORD (Jehovah) of hosts (theirs says “armies”):
‘I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god.’
We went on to read through verse 8.
WHO is the Redeemer? WHO is the Repurchaser? WHO PAID THE PRICE AND BOUGHT THE PEOPLE OUT OF SLAVERY?!?
We looked at verse 24 and then flipped over to Colossians 1- after all it was Bessie and Brenda who, a few weeks ago, agreed with me (because I kept reading when they wanted to use the first 8 words of Colossians 1:15 in the attempt to explain that Christ is NOT God- they read “He is the image of the invisible God” and stopped there!) that all things were created through Christ and for Him (my desire to prove His preeminence at that time)… ANYWAY… I ramble!
… because they agreed a few weeks ago that all was created through Christ and for Him, we hiked from Is. 44:24; 45:7, 12, 18 to Col.1:16-17 and Bessie declared that Jehovah USED Christ to create everything, therefore JEHOVAH is the creator and Christ is the tool! WHAT?!? JEHOVAH is the Redeemer/Repurchaser and Christ is the tool! WHAT?!? I couldn’t say a thing! I could only pray. What on earth?!?
“Tina, do you think that Jehovah and Jesus are one?”
I looked at her stunned. What have we been talking about these many weeks?!? What did I just read to her from Isaiah?
Am I casting pearls before swine? Should this be the end?
Pray!
I became angry and JEALOUS… I was BURNING and having a hard time being gracious as her rambling continued.
“You are calling God a liar, Bessie. Either you are sitting in my living room, calling Him a liar, or you are completely confused and illogical! We agree that there is ONE TRUE GOD! We talked about this last time! Yet you tell me that Jesus is a god! Answer me! Is He false? How do you reconcile THAT?!? Your JEHOVAH has told you that He is IT! NO ONE ELSE! NOTHING ELSE! He’s the only true one! What is the deal? You have not satisfied me because you have tampered with God’s word, you take things completely out of context and you sit here, making God a liar. Tell me! (calming down) Explain it to me… using YOUR BIBLE! Is Jesus a god and if he is… then he must be false because there is only ONE TRUE ONE, right?”
I need to figure out how to keep Bessie on a subject. When she is at a loss, she quickly changes the subject… she began talking about the Kingdom and how our purpose on earth is plain as day in Matthew 24:14: “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughtout the whole world as a tesimony to all natinos, and then the end will come.” We are to be quiet servants… and then she started talking about how the Jehovah’s Witnesses are everywhere… about how they don’t have the names of men on their signs… about Jeopardy (again) saying that their bible was the most accurate translation… I’m not sure what that had to do with anything… but then she asked about whether we paid our pastor and other “servants” in the church and then she bragged that NO ONE in the Jehovah’s Witnesses is paid… she’s a bus driver and told me, disgusted, that a boy on her bus told her he want to be a preacher because they make good money. WHAT?!? What are we talking about now? She was rambling now… How did we get from her calling God a liar to the Jehovah’s Witnesses being God’s great servants?
I interrupted.
Wait. You have not reconciled the Word of God to me. I don’t want you to tell me about the Jehovah’s Witnesses. I am not interested in what they do. I am interested in what the Word of God says. If you won’t tell me WHO Jesus is, then tell me, what must I do to be saved?
She turned it onto me, “What do YOU think you need to do?”
YAY!!! While I would LOVE to hear her answer, THANK YOU, FATHER, for having her ask me!!!
“Well, Bessie, the bible says to ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved.'”
“And that’s all you think you have to do- just believe? You don’t have to walk like Jesus? You don’t have to be like Him and be His follower?”
“Wait a minute! You asked about what we needed to do to be SAVED. The Bible says to repent and believe! If I repent and believe and I am wooed by the King of all of Creation… don’t you think I’m going to want to be LIKE Him?!? Don’t you think it’s going to be earth-shattering and life-changing?!? Walking like Him and being like Him is a natural outpouring of a heart that has been saved from the wrath of God! It will NOT save me, though! I could never HOPE to be as good as Him! Can you?”
She changed the subject AGAIN! Before I could get into Romans and Ephesians! I know… I can’t ask any questions… not even rhetorical… or she’ll change the subject as soon as I take a breath!
It kind of worked, though… she wanted to go BACK to the diety of Christ… I feel like a ping-pong ball! I’m pooped.
That’s fine! My God is the God of the Bible and it’s all His turf… what have I to fear? NOTHING! My purpose is to glorify Him. That’s all I need be concerned with!
She’s flipping to Isaiah again… REALLY?!? Oh, GOODY!!!
She declares again that the Redeemer/Repurchaser is Jehovah and that Jehovah USED Christ.
Back to that again? Okay… well… Let’s look at Isaiah 45:21 and 22 in light of Acts 16:31!!!
What now?
“If Jesus is God, why was he praying in the garden that the cup would pass from Him? Why was He always praying to the Father? Why was He tempted all of the time?”
(Gushing and trying NOT to be weepy over the unbelievable love and condescension of my Creator): We talked about our sympathetic High Priest. We talked about the willing subordination of Christ.
I can’t remember what she began talking about next… I was just blown away by her comment, “Jehovah was sad about what happened when Jesus was on the torture stake and made the whole earth get dark and shake.”
“WHOA! Wait a minute! Show me that!”
“Show you what?”
“Show me that God was sad about it all.”
“Well, I’ll have to look for it.”
“Okay. Please do, because the bible says that it PLEASED God to CRUSH His Son.”
“Where?”
“Oh Goody. Let’s turn to Isaiah 52! This is great. This is AWESOME! It’s TERRIBLE! And WONDERFUL! And HUMBLING! And HEART-RAVAGING! Look at verse 13 and we’ll read all the way through chapter 53:
52:13 Behold, my servant shall act wisely;
he shall be high and lifted up,
and shall be exalted.
14 As many were astonished at you—
his appearance was so marred, beyond human semblance,
and his form beyond that of the children of mankind—
15 so shall he sprinkle many nations;
kings shall shut their mouths because of him;
for that which has not been told them they see,
and that which they have not heard they understand.
53:1 Who has believed what he has heard from us?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
2 For he grew up before him like a young plant,
and like a root out of dry ground;
he had no form or majesty that we should look at him,
and no beauty that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by men;
a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
and as one from whom men hide their faces
he was despised, and we esteemed him not.4 Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5 But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
6 All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned—every one—to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.7 He was oppressed, and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth;
like a lamb that is led to the slaughter,
and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent,
so he opened not his mouth.
8By oppression and judgment he was taken away;
and as for his generation, who considered
that he was cut off out of the land of the living,
stricken for the transgression of my people?
9 And they made his grave with the wicked
and with a rich man in his death,
although he had done no violence,
and there was no deceit in his mouth.10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
ecause he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.
Before I could really get gushy and comment on anything, Bessie said, “Well, my bible says that it delighted God… but I’m going to do some research and find the verse I’m thinking of but we’ll talk about it next time because we have to go right now.”
WHAT?!? Unbelievable!
You know what, though, our good God let me read Isaiah 52:13- 53:12 uninterrupted! The seed is the Word! He has to woo her. It’s got nothing to do with me. Pray with me! Pray for Bessie and Brenda and Courtney (who didn’t utter a word). Pray that the seed will be watered and harvested! Bessie is coming again Tuesday morning at 11. I don’t know who will be with her. Pray with me, though! As long as I have a chance to read the LIVING WORD OF GOD and to talk about my Savior… I will. Pray that I won’t be tired. I admit it. I already mentioned it to my sweet friend, Angel: The last thing I wanted to do this morning was have Bessie here. I’m nursing an injury. I’m tired. I went to the obgyn yesterday and that is NEVER fun, even though mine is the BEST. I just was not up for it! It’s a GORGEOUS day that could be spent with my fun babies outside! But they were coming, regardless and as I poured over the Word of God, He reminded me that whether I feel like it or not… He is WORTHY to be proclaimed!!! And you know what… His reminding me of His value… of COURSE made me EXCITED about proclaiming Him! He is so good! I could hardly wait for them to get here! He’s faithful. Pray that He will continue and that I won’t be selfish. Pray that my babies will continue to do well. Above all, pray that God will be honored in EVERYTHING that transpires in this happy house!
And I welcome your thoughts about how long this should go on… and the direction it should take… as long as it’s biblical! :o)
©PortCityPrincess 2007
All Rights Reserved
Hi!
I just got off the phone with Bessie!
I had to reschedule our “get-together” for Wednesday at 11.
I forgot that I have a doctor’s appointment Tuesday that I really must go to. :o(
So… you faithful friends and family, PRAY PRAY PRAY and especially on Wednesday! :o)
♥
©PortCityPrincess 2007
All Rights Reserved
A twenty-three year old called me ma’am.
Ouch.
©PortCityPrincess 2007
All Rights Reserved
As I sit here, doing research, I hear Lydia knowingly tell her big brother,
“If at first you don’t exceed, try try again!”
©PortCityPrincess 2007
All Rights Reserved
Delight Within the Veil 
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