The Fullness of Christ...

This morning we had a lunch for the women in the church. A time to encourage one another towards Christ. With Easter approaching I thought it necessary to speak on the work of Christ. I took a few moments to explain how through Christ being fully God, fully man, fulfilling the Law, and being fully Righteous, we are recipients of grace upon grace. Here is the handout. Celebrate the work of our Risen Lord as you dwell on these verses of scripture!

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth…And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever see God; the only God; who is at the Father’s side,
he has made him know.” John 1:14, 16-18

Fully God

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities- all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the first born from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of the cross.” Colossian 1:15-20

Fully Man

“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.” John 1:14

Fully Accomplished the Law

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until it is accomplished.” Matthew 17-18-19
“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.” Hebrews 4:15

Fully Righteous

“Therefore, as one trespass led to condemnation for all men, so one act of righteousness lead to justification and life for all men. For as by the one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so by the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous.” Romans 5:18-19
“But when Christ has offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified…Where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin.” Hebrews 10:12-14, 18

Therefore…

“But when the fullness of time has come, God sent forth his only Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying “Abba, Father!” So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” Galatians 4:4-7
“And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” John 1:16

Grace- Greek word Charis (Χάρις)- A favor done without expectation of return; absolute freeness of the loving kindness of God to men finding its only motive in the bounty and freeheartedness of the Giver; unearned and unmerited favor.

Average morning at the Davidsons....

A little Penny Whistle-ing, a little brake dancing, a little screaming....


Oh! And a little tattoo-ing...

oh my.... =)

In the article The World's Best Country for Women, the writer explores which country in the world is the best place for women to live. The rankings seem to be based on: job power, education, time out of the home, dating, and acceptance of femininity. Here are just a few quotes:

The goal of equality starts young: "Anti-Sexism Awareness Training" begins in kindergarten, where male toddlers are encouraged to play with dolls, and females with toy tractors. In school, classes in cooking, sewing, metalworking, and woodworking are compulsory for both sexes. All education, including college, is free, and girls routinely outperform boys; in 2005, women made up more than 60 percent of all Swedish college students. All this adds up to more flexible gender roles later: As one Swedish website puts it, "In our country, women drive the buses and men push the baby buggies."

Ebba's live-in boyfriend, who works 9-to-5 for a leather company, also does the household chores. According to one study, Swedish men do more housework than men anywhere else — an average of 24 hours per week...While her boyfriend cleans house, Ebba focuses on being a role model for the 250,000 young female readers of her magazine.... Nevertheless, she's a firm believer that Swedish women don't have to give up their femininity. "I love makeup, I wear pink, and I'm obsessed with handbags," she confesses. "I'm proof that you can be both smart and womanly. I get thousands of letters from girls saying that I inspire them."

"Even so, Sweden's acceptance of women as the aggressors in relationships has its perks: Anna-Maria regularly dates three or four men at a time without social disapproval. And when it comes to sexual freedom, it's hard to imagine a country with more relaxed rules...One-night stands are also common. "You can sleep with whomever — there's no stigma against women who've had many sexual partners," she says. Which is convenient, since Anna-Maria is having too much fun to settle down just yet. In time, she says, she hopes to meet a long-term partner and have a family. Though her requirements might seem unrealistic, Anna-Maria knows what she's looking for: "I couldn't give up my job, so I wouldn't dream of marrying a man who wasn't prepared to stay at home and look after the children on an equal basis with me."

What garbage is this? Femininity is chalked up to loving make-up, wearing pink, and being obsessed with handbags (If this is true than I fail miserably). Sexuality is praised not in the context of marriage but because you can have multiple partners and you don't have to "settle down just yet." Not to mention that little boys are taught to play like little girls and little girls are taught to play like little boys. Where is the recognition that we are created male and female. Yes equal as humans, but MALE and FEMALE! AHHHH! It is outrageous that these are the standards of the world. How we buy into the lies of Satan that what we were created to be is somehow wrong or must be improved upon. The only improvement to our being is Christ. His work, His sacrifice, and His imputed righteousness on our account! I pray that women of Sweden's eyes would be opened to see the glory of God's created order! That they might know true joy in His role for their lives. This is why there must be godly women in the church who are willing to teach the younger women what is good....

"...and so train the young women to love their husband and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled." Titus 2:4-5

"For man was not made from woman, but woman from man. Neither was man created for woman, but woman from man." 1 Corinthians 11:8-9

"Then the LORD God said, "it is not goof that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him...So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brough her to the man." Genesis 2:18,21-22

I'm so annoyed and disgusted... can you tell??

Lydia! Where's your....?

This is one of our favorite games to play with Lydia... specifically for the last one!

Lydia where's your.....

tongue?

eye?

Teeth?

Nose??

hahaha... we have some interesting findings during this game!!

Parenting score.... Zero

Yesterday Lydia picked up "The Jesus Story Book Bible" and clear as day said "Bi-ble." I was so excited to think that we have talked about the bible enough with her and Micah that it was a word that she added to her vocabulary, which is expanding everyday! So I thought with my prideful spirit... Score one for decently good parenting....

But turns out Micah has also been expanding his vocabulary. About a month ago we put a ban on Micah watching the original 101 Dalmatians. It is his favorite movie. But after viewing it, we realized they say a word often in there that we did not want to be used by him. So before he started to use it, we thought it best to put that movie on the shelf. Well yesterday about a month after the last viewing of the movie, as Micah and Lydia were playing, he looked right at her and said, (insert silly voice) "Don't do that you i-di-ot." YIKES! Parenting pride took a plunge back to ZERO. I didn't punish him because he really didn't understand what he said, but after a good conversation and the promise of a spanking the next time it was used was given we moved on.

So yesterday was a good day of words and a not so good day of words... but regardless, they were all good teaching moments!

Our Christian walk is like a rose....

I was visiting with and older women from my church this morning and without knowing it, she gave me a beautiful illustration of the Christian walk.

She said when her granddaughter was young, they would take walks together and she would take the opportunity to point out the glory of God as they walked through the beauty of His creation (Romans 1:19-20). She liked her granddaughter to a rose. She said now you are like a rose bud, small and beautiful with potential for so much. With time your pedals will bloom and the world will see your beauty as you open into what you were created to be. And as you age, you will give off a wonderful fragrance (a fragrance of godly wisdom) to all those who come in contact with you.

I saw the image she was describing. As we sat at the table, her fragrance was strong. The wisdom she shared, the beauty of her gentle and quiet spirit, and her fear of the Lord left me longing to hear more. In her, I saw her Creator and she praising His name.

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere."
2 Corinthians 2:14

Contentment...?

A question that weighs on my mind often is, how do we teach our children to be content? Content with the toys they have, where they live, how much play time they have, what food they are given to eat, what books we read, the little bit of TV they watch, and the list goes on. This verse weights heavily on my desire to teach them contentment in Christ and not in this world...

6 Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, 7 for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. 8 But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9 But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
1 Timothy 6:10

Any suggestions?

It felt like spring... so we did spring type things!

It felt really nice outside today... so Micah and I started preparing for our garden!

I'm really looking forward to the garden this year. I think now that it's not such and unknown, I will be more prepared to deal with the bountiful harvest!

Micah was excited to put his "Diego" gloves back on and help me dig in the dirt. I was surprised how much he remembered from a year ago!



We are trying something new this year by starting some of the plants inside then transporting them to the outside garden once it's been weeded.