Learning to Lean

"Who is this coming up from the wilderness,
leaning upon her Beloved?"

~A picture of one whose faith and love of God
has not been shaken by the wilderness experiences of life.
She clings to Him during that time
and has learned to lean on Him entirely.

The song, "Learning to Lean" comes to mind.

"Many waters cannot quench love, nor can the floods
destroy it."

Song of Solomon 8:5,7

As Paul said,
"Who can separate us from the love of God.."
Romans 8:35

Jesus is there

To those who are being persecuted because of their faith,
it must be comforting to know that Jesus is there,
also being persecuted.

He said to Saul, the persecutor,
"Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting ME?"

Acts 22:7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daniel 3:25~"I see four men loose walking~~~
and the fourth is like the Son of God."

Not only did the fire not burn them
but God gave them the added gift of His presence
with them. Those flames would have been fearful
even if they weren't hot and His presence there
would have kept them from the panic Peter
experienced 'when he saw the wind was
boisterous, was afraid, and began to sink.'
Matt. 14:30

Organized Worship

From Nehemiah 10-12~

The singers and the singing were a very important part of Israel and their worship.

'Asaph, who began the thanksgiving with prayer,
Matthaniah, who led the thanksgiving psalms,
The heads of the Levites, with their brothers across from them,
to praise and give thanks;
group alternating with group~
to celebrate~
both with thanksgiving and singing,
the singers built for themselves villages
all around Jerusalem~
had appointed two large thanksgiving choirs,
one went to the right hand and on the wall,
the other thanksgiving choir went the opposite way.
So the two thanksgiving choirs stood in the house of God.
The singers sang loudly, with Jezrahiah the director.
In the days of David and Asaph of old,
there were chiefs of the singers,
and songs of praise and thanksgiving to God,
offerings~~~to the storerooms,~~
where the singers were.'

They singers were supported the same as the Levites.

They must not Know him

Those who picture Paul as a harsh, opinionated man
see him in an entirely different way than those who
knew him personally. When he left them at Ephesus
they all wept freely, and fell on Paul's neck and kissed him
sorrowing~because he said they would see his face
no more. Acts 20:37

For Goodness Sake!

Spurgeon, in his book 'Evening by Evening' says,

"They who yield to the Holy Spirit's influences,
become good.
They who obey His impulses do good.
They who live under His power, receive good."

Instead, we are servants

God's plan and will for His people was to live in 'the land that You gave to our fathers, to eat its fruit and enjoy its bounty.' Instead, because of sin and disobedience they cried, 'Here we are, servants today! Here we are, servants in it.' Neh. 9:36

Just as today, many times we live below our privileges and do not enjoy the blessings that are God's will for us. We think our will is better, to our sorrow.

Women in Ministry

Sometimes I think I am too negative towards women
and their need to be used in the church and the power struggles that I see.

I am interested in Aquila and Priscilla's roles in the church.

They worked together and when they saw that Apollos was not teaching the whole gospel 'they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately.' Acts.18:26

I needed to see that. She had an active part in their ministry.

Apollos, among all his other great attributes, was teachable. He did not become defensive when Aquila and Priscilla showed him that he was not teaching accurately but accepted it and changed his message.