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Monday, September 14, 2009

growing up monday



today, i am joining joanne @ blessed... with a "growing up monday" post. she has a great idea of bringing the message that God is speaking to all of us together, uniting our hearts, and growing up together. Please be sure to stop by and read her post and link up with the others who are joining in to unite us all while we grow up together.

she writes, "wouldn't it be fun to be able to check in with other sisters around the world and see what we are learning in each of our churches on sunday mornings or in our weekly Bible studies? we are the body of Christ. we gather on Sundays in our church homes to learn and grow from His word. each week there is something our pastor shares or teaches from the Bible that speaks (sometimes shouts) right to my heart."

i think this is a great idea. we can reflect on what God is revealing to us, write it up in a post and share it with each other. maybe it will help us get the bigger picture of what God is desiring to say to His body. we can grow up together as one body. we are to grow up in the knowledge and understanding of Christ. we can do that together.

we are going through the book of joshua on sunday mornings. we have been looking for the types and shadows of Jesus and the new covenant within it. joshua, himself, is a type of jesus. he takes God's chosen people into the land of promise. he was the man that God chose to lead them into all the fullness of His promised blessings. he represents Jesus because it is Jesus who has lead us into God's promised blessings of salvation.

when the isralites were in slavery, they continued their covenant with God through circumcision and observed the passover. but, after they left Egypt and crossed over the red sea into the wilderness, they ceased to observe the covenant rituals of circumcision or the passover. they were told by God to begin to live by the law of moses instead. they wandered in the wilderness for forty years trying to obey the law and failing. God provided for His people miraculously over and over again. He gave them manna from heaven to eat and drinking water poured forth from impossible places. but, when it came time to enter into the promised land they found it impossible to believe that God would really do what He promised and deliver the land over to them. why? because the law does not produce faith.

the people in moses' generation were unable to enter into the land that God had promised because they could not believe God. moses, representing the law, took the israelites up to the jordan river that separated them from the promised land. but, joshua, representing faith, lead them into the promised land. God opened the waters of the jordan river and they crossed over on dry ground. joshua 4:19-5:12 continues the story as they camped on the shores on the other side of the jordan river. they were now in the promised land.

to celebrate the great power and faithfulness of their God, the children of Israel followed joshua when he instructed them to return back into a covenant relationship with God by circumcising all of the men. while the israelites were in the wilderness, they ceased to depend upon the covenant relationship with God indicated by circumcision, and lived by the law. so, none of the men that were alive at this point, had ever been circumcised. God instructed Joshua to stand up and be His covenant people again and cut covenant with Him by circumcision. after every man was circumcised, they remained camped at the shores of jordan until they were all healed.

then, the Lord told joshua to name the place that they were camped at, gilgal, which means "to roll away the shame or the reproach." God had brought His people forth and delivered them into the land that He had promised them in miraculous fashion. people everywhere had heard of what God had done for His people and they were very afraid of the israelites. God had rolled away the shame and the reproach of slavery from them and set them up to be the rulers of this great promised land. that night they celebrated the passover. the next day they began to partake of the fruit of the land that God had delivered into their hands. there was no more miraculous provision for food or water. manna ceased to fall from heaven because provision was provided from within the land of promise.

i asked God for the significance in this portion of the story of the Israelites. i knew there was some truth within this part of the story that meant something to us today. what was the nugget of revelation that would help me to see more clearly what Jesus has done for me in the new covenant. i felt the Lord speak clearly in my spirit that the place of gilgal is where Jesus has brought us to. He has taken away our shame and guilt before God when we, by faith, walked across the pathway that God provided for us in Jesus. He took us out of the bondage of sin and helplessness and into righteousness, the place of promise. and, from that time forward, we are not to look for manna from heaven any longer, we are to begin to live off the produce of the promised land. we are not supposed to be looking for an outward manifestation of His provision, but know that the provision that He has promised us will come only from the land of promise. that land is my spirit united with the Holy Spirit. the promised land is in me! the provision for my life, in every way, is found within the promised land and it will come forth as i dwell there and share communion with the faithful, covenant God of promise. God's promise of provision and blessings will not come down from heaven but will now come forth from within me.

What about you?

What is it you are studying? What lessons did God want you to learn this week, and what did you take away from your pastor's lesson or church family today that you can apply to your lives now?

Let's share with one another what we are learning and how we are growing up in Christ. Be your hometown church representative and fill us all in!

21 comments:

Charlotte said...

Your post compliments what I posted yesterday on my blog about the Psalm 23.

Christy Rose thank you for sharing what you are learning. This post was like adding meat beside my mashed potatoes.

Blessings,
Charlotte

RCUBEs said...

Disobedience leads us to nowhere but obedience is what always pleases and brings us to God! Sometimes, it's difficult for me to go to our fellowship with my hubby and son because I get home and that's when our service starts. Even if I can listen to the podcasts or my 2 boys fill me in, I know I'm missing a lot when I can't go.
That is a great idea to post what every woman is learning every week. Through that, maybe the Lord wants us to learn something bigger that's why He made one of His children think about doing it so. Your post blessed me...I love that line "the promised land is in me"...Thanks be to Jesus! Love and blessings to you sister!

Darcie said...

Thanks for sharing Christy! I always appreciate the thought that revelation is not necessarily seeing things that others dont, but seeing things as Gods sees them. Always thankful when God gives us a revelation.

Five Moms & A Blog said...

Hey Christy,

I'm glad you enjoyed the HTML tips. Hope they can come in handy for ya sometime. =0)

Erica

Karen said...

This was all so very good! I love the idea of sharing "growing up Monday" lessons....

This past week, the Lord has reminded me countless times that He is in control and watching over my life...and the things I have laid at His feet, do not need to be taken up again...I have to trust and obey....

Heart2Heart said...

Christy,

This is a great post and a great way to connect with one another to see what is going on in churches all over.

We have been studying the final chapters of Matthew and learning about the sacrifices Jesus made in his final hours praying in the garden begging as any of us would for God to remove that cup if it were all possible.

Just when we think God doesn't understand the pressures or stress in our lives, he was stressing out so much he sweated blood. I know I think I have had bad stress days but nothing compared to that.

God has really connected to all of us so well, we can really turn to Him when things are going wrong. He has been there and gotten through to the other side. Not even death, defeated Him.

Love and Hugs ~ Kat

momstheword said...

This was such a great idea that Joanne had.

Just talking about what we're learning is a great way to cement it into our own heads and hearts, you know?

Mich said...

Great idea...

I'm studying about how God uses the most unlikely people to carry out His greatest tasks.

Jen said...

I love this idea...as for what we are studying, nearly all my posts are reflections of what God has taught me about Himself lately. The end results of my Tuesday morning Bible study and the sermon that I've heard that week, as well as the fruit of my private time spent in His word.

Loren said...

Christy,

This is soo good! The Holy Spirit within us has provided all we need and if only we would seek, allow and trust that. So many times we second guess or doubt the LORD or ourselves YET He has provided all that we need. Sometimes we need to be more obedient or listen to what HE is saying and deny our flesh or other times we just need to take that leap of faith and conquer the fear that holds us back.
Thankyou for sharing this and confirming things within myself as I read this!
You are an amazing teacher as usual :)
love you

septembermom said...

You gave me some great things to think about today. I love the line, "God's promise of provision and blessings will not come down from heaven but will now come forth from within me."

God bless you Christy Rose!

Beth in NC said...

Hi Christy! What an interesting perspective you shared. Thanks Friend!

I don't have time to share about our services. I am doing well to come by and say hello. :o) Don't give up on me.

Bless you!
Beth

elaine @ peace for the journey said...

"Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, 'the kingdom of God doesn't come with your careful observation, nor will people say, "here it is" or "there it is" because the kingdom of God is within you."

I couldn't help but think of these verse as I read your words about the Promised Land living within us. We carry an extraordinary kingdom, do we not? If we could really take hold of that, I'm convinced we'd walk our days differently.

peace to you this night~elaine

Jennsmere said...

Hi Christy...thanks for this post! You are such a blessing...

Susan

Joan said...

Hey! I'm back, well sort of. Still trying to set aside some time for blogging & comments.

BSF - we studied Moses last year. It was incredible. Learned so much about God's character and His love for me.

This year we are in John, just started yesterday. Should be another great year in the WORD!

Thanks for stopping by and being so faithful.

Blessings,

momstheword said...

thank you for your sweet words! At least you all are laughing with me instead of at me, hehehe!

~*Michelle*~ said...

Thanks for sharing what you've been learning with His Word.

When I read "to roll away the shame" I felt this cleansing feeling come over me.....what a HUGE representation of God's awesome grace and mercy in five small words.

Thanks again.....I am always blessed when I visit you!
xox

Anonymous said...

How true! We need to get rid of that slavery mentality. Because God created a covenant with us, a contract, it shows He does not view us as slaves. Slaves are not free to create a contract.

However, more people need to recognize this "contract" relationship. That means there are expectations on each side. God is not the only one "giving" or obligated. When we enter into a contract with God, we are saying, "O.K. I'll accept the benefits you are providing, and I understand you have expectations of my behavior when I will try to fulfill." Most forget their obligation.

Be Blessed today!

Amber said...

Wow. This was a great post. And a great idea.

We're studying how to study the STORY of Christ that is OUR STORY. I love it. It is one of those lessons that is so simplistic that we gain so much knowledge out of it.

Loren said...

gave you an award today....thankyou for the gift of your friendship, hope all is well with you!

Kristin said...

Hey Christy! Hope everything's going okay. Haven't heard from you in awhile :)