Humble Yourselves

"Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you."  James 4:10 NASB

One of my pastor's favorite sayings goes something like this:  "The New Testament is in the Old, concealed; the Old Testament is in the New, revealed."  This makes sense as far as prophecy is considered, but I have found that the stories, themselves, sometimes have counterparts.  I realized this week that the stories of "Cain and Abel," and "The Prodigal Son," when read together, reveal far more than either of the stories by themselves.

Here is my edited version of the story of Cain and Abel, for those who may not be familiar with it.  If you want to read it for yourself, it can be found in Genesis 4:1-16.   Cain and Abel were sons of Adam and Eve.  They each brought an offering to God.  Abel brought a firstborn lamb.  Cain brought some of the crops from his fields.  For some reason not explained, God accepted Abel's offering, but rejected Cain's.  Possibly he could see that Cain was not offering his best, or maybe the offering was supposed to be a blood offering.  Whatever the reason, it seems that Cain knew why his offering was not accepted.  However, he decided to get angry at God, and to take it out on his brother.  In the first biblical murder, Cain kills Abel.  Then, to make things worse, when God asks him where his brother is, Cain says, essentially, "I don't know, it wasn't my day to watch him."  Well, God, being God, knew what had happened, and told Cain he would have to leave.  Cain got scared, then, and tried to say it was too harsh a punishment, because somebody might kill him.  Well, God said he would put a mark on Cain so that people would not kill him.  However, he was still banished.  So, off Cain went.  

So who was "The Prodigal Son"?  Here, again, is my version.  This story was told by Jesus and is recorded in Luke 15:11-32.  A man had two sons.  The youngest got tired of working on the farm, and asked for his inheritance ahead of time.  The father gave it to him, and off he went.  Well, after a little while, he had spent all of his money.  He managed to get a job feeding pigs, but was jealous of them for the husks they got to eat, because he was so hungry.  Finally, he decided that he would be better off at home, working for his Dad, than he was on his own, so he started off for home.  Well, his Dad  saw him coming, and ran out to meet him.  The son said, essentially, that he had done wrong to his father, and to God, and asked if he could please get a job working on the farm.  Instead of this, however, his father welcomed him back and threw a big party, even killing the fatted calf.  The older brother came in from the fields and asked what the party was about.  The father said it was because his brother had come home.  Big brother got upset, because he had been a good son and had never gotten a party, but the father said he was throwing a party because this son, who he thought was lost for ever, was found.

So, you ask, how do these stories go together?  Well, I will tell you.  First, you will notice that Cain and Abel are in the Old Testament.  This is the part of the Bible that talks about life before Jesus.  The only way to please God was to follow the law completely, a very hard thing to do.  If you didn't follow the law, you could offer a blood sacrifice to cover the sin.  Not your blood, but the blood of a perfect animal.  You see, God can't be near sin.  He is totally good, and cannot be with bad.  The only thing that can cover the bad is blood.  Now, please do not go out and find a lamb to sacrifice.  There is a better way.  This way was revealed in the New Testament.  

The prodigal son is in a story told by Jesus in the New Testament.  It is a parable, or a story that means something.  The father in the story is a picture of God.  So, Jesus was showing God's forgiveness.  Again, there was blood, as getting the food for the party included killing the fatted calf. But the important thing I noticed, is that Cain and the prodigal son reacted very differently to their sins.  Cain sinned, and he got angry.  This led him to sin again, and in a worse way.  Then, he didn't admit it to God, but tried to lie.  His only worry throughout the whole thing was that he was going to get in trouble.  He didn't really care that what he did was wrong.  Because of this, he was banished from God's presence forever.  The prodigal son, however, had a totally different reaction.  He humbled himself. He gave up the idea of being a son, and begged his father to let him be a servant.  He admitted his sin.  Because of this, he was reinstated as a full-fledged family member.  

The New Testament tells of Jesus.  It explains how he became our sacrificial lamb.  When he died on the cross, his blood covered all of our sins.  We don't know what would have happened if Cain had humbled himself before God.  I like to think he wouldn't have been banished.  He would have had to offer a sacrifice to atone for his sins, however.  We don't have to do that, anymore.  We just have to accept the sacrifice that was already made for us.  John 3:16 is one of the most well-known Bible verses.  You can even see it on posters at baseball games.  It says:  "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth on him shall not perish, but shall have eternal life."  This is God's promise to us.  Jesus was that son.  We have to believe in him.  And then, we have to humble ourselves.  We have to admit that we have sinned.  Face it, we all have.  Then, we have to ask for forgiveness.  He will grant it.  Then, we go on.  We learn from our mistakes, and do the best we can, and we keep coming back to our Father in Heaven.  He will not turn us away, if we come to him humbly.

Raising Musical Kids

I have a new book review on my website.  The book is called "Raising Musical Kids:  A Guide for Parents" by Dr. Robert A. Cutietta.  If you click here, it will take you to right to the review.  I encourage you to check it out, whether you are a musician or not.  It is a very clear guide on things every parent can do to help their child learn to enjoy music throughout their lives.

If you would like to order the book, you can come back here and order directly from the affiliate link on this page.  Or, do as I did and borrow it from your local library.  I actually intend to buy the book, as there is a lot of information here that will come in handy as my children get older.

Will the Real St. Patrick Please Stand Up?

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!  I hope you have all had a wonderful day.  I read an interesting account of St. Patrick's life to my kids today, and thought you might be interested in hearing it, too.  Sadly, there was no mention of the chasing away of the snakes (that was one thing I always admired him for!)

I am going to paraphrase from the book "Jesus Freaks II:  Revolutionaries" by dc Talk and the Voice of the Martyrs.  This is a really great book, as is their first book; "Jesus Freaks:  Martyrs."  They also have a third book out which I haven't read yet, called "Under God."  It's on my list.

Patrick was captured from his home in England when he was 16, and taken to Ireland as a slave.  During the six years that he spent there, he became closer to God.  When he finally escaped and went back home, he studied for the ministry.  He felt called to go back to Ireland to preach the Gospel.  Twenty years later, he had his chance, and went back to the village in which he had been a slave.  He intended to convert Milchu, his former master, but found that the man had burned his own house with himself in it.  Patrick decided he had to deliver the people from their false gods.

Patrick learned that the High King of Ireland, King Laeghaire, would celebrate Beltine, a Druidic feast, at his courts in Tara.  On the eve of the festival, the king was supposed to light the first bonfire.  If anyone defied this, he would be put to death.  So, Patrick set a fire as a challenge. The king ordered it put out, but it kept burning.  He ordered Patrick to be executed, but the soldiers got confused and attacked each other.

Because of this, the king's chief bard, two daughters, and one of his brothers accepted Jesus on that day.  Patrick was given legal sanction to preach throughout Ireland.  He worked for the next thirty years, and successfully planted churches in every district in Ireland,  He died on March 17, A.D.461 when he was around 72 years old.

As I was reading this, I was struck by the timing of it all.  We think of Patrick as a Catholic saint, and indeed he is.  However, it occurred to me that he was born less than 400 years after Jesus Christ.  At that point, Christians were not divided into Catholic and Protestant.  This was before the start of Islam, before the division of the church into Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox, and over 1,000 years before Martin Luther posted his ninety-five theses which started the Protestant reformation.  St. Patrick was not catholic or protestant.  He was merely a faithful follower of Jesus Christ.  May we all follow his example!

Book Review - "Created to be His Help Meet" by Debi Pearl

Right off the bat, I have to tell you that this is one challenging book.  Many marriage books give equal weight to the responsibilities of the husband and the wife.  Not this one.  Some tell you subtle things you can do to change your spouse.  Not this one.  Some suggest that there are situations which can't be helped, and you would be better off if one of you left the relationship.  Not this one.  This book is written to women only, and as such, it gives the woman full responsibility for making her marriage work. Well, not total responsibility, as God plays a significant role in this, too.  The book is subtitled "Discover how God can make your marriage glorious," and there are plenty of examples of marriages that have thrived, and have in fact become glorious.  The author uses her marriage as an example many times, not because it is perfect, but because of what she has learned through her mistakes.

I came across this book at the recommendation of a friend, and we are now going through it as a group study.  The group has so far gotten to chapter four.  However, it is one of those books that you just can't put down.  I read through the whole thing in only a few nights, and have since gone back to read it more slowly and carefully, trying to put some of the information into practice.  Amazingly, I have already seen changes in my own marriage, just from following some of this book imperfectly.  And ~ listen up, ladies ~ this has been accomplished without nagging or crying or any of the usual weapons we use against our husbands!  Miraculously, it has come about because of my being a better wife.

"Created to be His Help Meet" is a wonderful book.  It will make you cry, laugh, and want to hit something (probably Debi Pearl, if only she were nearby!), but in the end it will change you.  If you follow the admonitions here, you will find yourself closer to your husband, closer to God, and closer to being the woman and wife you were meant to be.

~NOTE~ I am attempting to be an Amazon affiliate.  The link here is my affiliate link, which means that if you click on the link and ultimately end up buying the book through this link, I will make a tiny amount of money.  Just so you know, I will not post links to anything that I do not wholeheartedly recommend.  I am not trying to make a bunch of cash at someone else's expense.  However, there are some books that I am really excited about, so I decided this might be a good way to share them, and hopefully help with the finances a little at the same time.

Wheatley Family Egg Drop Soup

I was going to call this "Robin's Egg Drop Soup," but I thought some people may get the wrong idea!


Ingredients - for 2-3 servings

1 quart of chicken broth, stock, or prepared bouillon
1/8 cup thin sliced onion
1 cup Ditalini or other small pasta
2 eggs, lightly beaten with a fork

Combine chicken broth and onion.  Heat to boiling.
Add pasta.  Bring back to boiling and cook until done, stirring occasionally.
Take soup off the burner, lower temperature, and slowly pour the eggs into the soup in a thin stream.
Put soup back on burner, and cook at low heat until eggs are set, stirring occasionally.

Variations:  Instead of sliced onion, use 2 cloves minced garlic, or wait until soup is done and add chopped chives or scallions.

This is a very quick and easy soup, and my kids love it.  The measurements are actually approximate - I just usually throw in some onion and a few handfuls of pasta.  This is a good amount for the kids and I.  If hubby is eating too, we would need about double.  Enjoy!

And Then Shall the End Come

"For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes in divers places.  All these are the beginning of sorrows."  Matthew 24:7-8 KJV

Today there was an 8.9 magnitude earthquake in Japan, followed by a tsunami which is speeding across the Pacific.  As I write this, it has already hit Hawaii and is heading toward the West Coast of North America.  Please send your prayers up for all of the people affected by this disaster.  

My church is currently studying the books of Daniel and Revelation in both our Wednesday evening Bible study, and during Sunday morning Sunday School.  We were just reading this passage in Matthew this past Wednesday, which is why I was able to locate it so quickly.  I suppose this is why I have had the end of the world on my mind.  As this world winds down into chaos (yes, I believe it's going toward chaos, rather than away as the evolutionists claim), we seem to be seeing more and more reports of disasters, both natural and man-made.  Everything from floods to earthquakes, from government overthrows to economic crashes, from sickness to death is broadcast world-wide to add to the sense of doom.  It is easy to become stressed out and depressed as you realize that you have little or no control over the things that are happening.  

There is something, however, that we can do.  God is still in control.  Everything that is happening now was foretold thousands of years ago, and there are clear directions for us to follow.  Jesus gave us guidance in the same chapter of Matthew that foretold the disturbing events that would happen.  Beginning in verse 42, he tells of a faithful and wise servant:  "Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.  But know this, that if the goodman of the house had known in what watch the thief would come, he would have watched, and would not have suffered his house to be broken up.  Therefore be ye also ready:  for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man cometh.  Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?  Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing."  Matthew 24:42-46.  

Does this mean that our job is to stand around and wait for Jesus to ride in on the clouds?  Yes, we are to wait.  No, we are not to stand around.  Jesus' last words in Matthew 28 tell us exactly what we are to be doing while we wait.  "Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:  Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you:  and lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world."  Matthew 28:19-20.  Our job is to tell others.  At this time, we don't have the luxury of the "gospel of wealth" that is preached in so many places.  Our mission is more urgent and more important than convincing people that they can have the easy life.  Jesus basically said that it's going to get worse before it gets better.  People need something more to hang on to than the promise of the easy life, because that is getting harder and harder to find.  People need to know Jesus, and they need to understand what it is to follow him.  Not as a "life insurance" policy so that they will go to heaven when they die, but as the promise of a new life now.  Following Jesus comes with a cost.  You will likely not become independently wealthy.  Things in this life may even get worse, but we know that this world is not the end of our journey.  Jesus said in John 16:33 "In the world ye shall have tribulation:  but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world."  I pray that he will come back to find us being faithful and wise servants.  Come, Lord Jesus!

Are We In the End Times?

Chances are, you've heard something lately about the end of the world.  An ancient Mayan calendar supposedly points to 2012 as the end date.  Family Radio has determined that Judgement Day will come on May 21, 2011.  Just to get it clear straight off, I don't believe we will know ahead of time when Jesus will come back.  I believe that Jesus, himself, was very clear on this point.

"But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.  But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.  For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark.  And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall the coming of the Son of man be...Watch therefore; for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come...Therefore be ye also ready; for in such an hour as you think not the Son of man cometh." Matthew 24:36-39,42,44 (KJV).

So what are we to do?  What's the point of worrying about it, if we don't know when it's coming, anyway?  Well, the last verse above kind of twists that around.  "Therefore be ye also ready."  We need to be ready ALL THE TIME.  We can't let our guard down.  We can't think we have more time.  We can't say "I'll worry about it, tomorrow."  Tomorrow may not come.

As a parent, this is even more of an issue.  I was reading a post at "Building a Heritage of Faithfulness."  Please read her post, "Training Children in Godliness ~ A Far-Sighted Focus."  It is a beautiful post, which really challenged my plans for educating my children.  What do we really need to be teaching them?  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
 

The Home Keeper's Journal

In my kitchen this week …. I'm trying to keep my head above water (or dirty dishes).  Also trying to use up those leftovers - fewer leftovers in the fridge = less having to dump moldy food (my most despised job!)

Service is/is not something that is on my mind very much because … I have really not been focusing on service, lately.  This is a good reminder that I need to.  My focus has been drawn to crises and my own problems, but I need to start looking outside myself again.

There are times when my service seems ….. useless.  I can't tell if I am actually helping people or not.

I know I serve others when I ….. am seeing what others need, and am joyfully extending myself to help them.

My service to others is most like Jesus when …. It is done with no thought of myself.

Johnny Cash - Five Feet High And Rising

This about sums it up.  I'm up early after a late night of shoveling muck, bailing water, and trying to move everything to high ground.  We had a huge amount of rain which, combined with the melting snow, ended up in our basement.  The sump pumps are working, but weren't quite enough for the deluge last night.  On a good note, we got the basement cleaned a little more.  Lots of bags of garbage and soaked cardboard boxes went out the door.  On a bad note, I didn't want to be doing it at midnight.  I praise God that he prompted me to check on the basement before I went to bed.  The water was just starting to come in, then.  It would have been SO much worse to have noticed it after the fact.

Make sure you turn off my playlist at the bottom of the page before playing the video! 

Extreme Makeover, Blog Edition

"Music of the Heart" family, here is your new blog!  I've done some renovation, and I would love to know what you think.  I've tried to clean it up a bit, and make it easier to navigate.

Blogs are kind of like houses, I've found.  If you keep bringing things in, and don't take anything out, you end up with a clutter problem.  I've added a few new things, so I eliminated a few old ones.  

One change is that I am only displaying one post on the page at a time.  Other recent posts can be accessed from the snippets in the upper right hand corner.  I've also added the "Amazon Shelfari," which I saw on another blog and liked quite a bit!  It is a bookshelf of some of my favorite books.  Under Shelfari, you will find a widget from Suite101 which displays links to my last three articles and my profile.  I removed the blog archive, because I've never even used it myself.  If you want to read other posts, you can click on the categories in the list at the right to find posts about those subjects.  

I was pretty happy to find the book picture, because in case you haven't gathered yet, I love books!  This kind of reminded me of the bookshelves in my front hallway.  I enjoyed the birds I had on the former screen, but I am a little tired of white - it is still white outside my window.  In fact, today the air is almost as white as the ground.  It is drizzly and foggy here.  Happily, there is some bare ground showing (especially over the septic tank), so things are looking up.  Spring may get here eventually.  Until then, join me in my little library here, and we will tackle the world's problems together.

Turning the Corner

This has been a rather stressful week for me.  I've been glued to the forums at Suite101, trying to decipher what was happening.  It turned out to be an odd time to join the site, since the rug was seemingly pulled out from under it less than a week after I started there.  Yesterday we got the first real feedback from the administration, and there are going to be changes made.  They are going to be eliminating some articles and some writers.  I have no idea, this early into things, which articles and writers those may be, so I have no idea if I'm one or not.  I guess we'll just have to see.  Until then, I'm going to go forward on a couple other things I've been working on.

• First, I need to finish my History and Geography of New York curriculum.  I am almost done - I have about 2 1/2 sections left to write.  Then I have to figure out how to publish and market it.  
• I also need to work more on my Music in the Homeschool website.  Maybe I can figure out how to include adds on it, and make a little money there.  It is finally showing up in the search engines a little, so that is a good sign.
• I am going to take the story that I wrote for the story contest and expand on it.  Rory was really excited about it and wanted to know more about the people in the story, so I think I could make it into a book.  Of course, I would then have to figure out how to publish and market it (sigh).
• I'm searching the Bible right now for the prayers of Jesus, as a study to learn how to pray better myself.  Possibly I could make it into a bible study.
• If I stay at Suite101, I will have to see what kind of articles they are requiring, and figure out how to write them.

I still have to clean my house, grocery shop, do laundry, take care of my family and homeschool my son, so I'm not too sure how fast all of this is going to get done, but I am going to give it a whirl.  At least I have a plan, and I've told someone else, so now I have to do it, right?

Progress

Here is an update on my recent posts:

Desk - almost clean - have to put away one DVD - "Franklin Camps Out" (Lily's), one pair of "WEDNESDAY" panties (also Lily's), and one birthday card (Mike's).  Oh, and one pencil (probably mine).

Suite101 - 3 articles, 190 pageviews, 54 cents (odd thing, here - one of my articles shows up a page behind my blog post about it, and another a page behind a "news" site which printed half of my article).

Adsense - 23 page impressions, 0.00 dollars

Story - This one wasn't in a post, but I entered a story writing contest in December.  The winners were announced today - not me - so if anyone knows what I can do with a 1,210 word story, let me know!  Rory was just as happy, because then we can "keep" the story, and read it whenever we want!

School - Rory got all of his schoolwork done before lunch, so we went to Friendly's, and he got to spend the rest of his birthday money at Walmart (a lego set, of course!)

Lily's Hair - Lily actually wanted to buy hair bands at the store.  She was rather perturbed that she couldn't wear them before we paid for them.  She really wanted the purple one.

Well, that's all the news that's fit to print - hey, it could end up on a news site, if "Teaching Music To Your Children" did!