Odyssey of an Albatross: Pleasant Stone Devotional Meditation: March 27

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Pleasant Stone Devotional Meditation: March 27

"And Jesus going up to Jerusalem took the twelve disciples apart in the way, and said unto them, Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, and shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again. Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him" ~ Matthew 20:17-20

"Zebedee's children" were Jesus' disciples, John and James. Of course they were right there when Jesus "took the twelve disciples apart ... and said unto them, Behold we go up to Jerusalem." He told them as plainly as He could that he was going to be crucified. That first He would be mocked and scourged. John and James couldn't have missed hearing what He said. John was even his beloved disciple. And yet they sent their mother to Him immediately after He had told them about His horrible death up ahead, to ask him if they could have the choice seats in His Kingdom.

They even came with her. "Then came to him the mother of Zebedee's children with her sons, worshipping him, and desiring a certain thing of him." Of all Jesus' disciples I [Eugenia Price, the author] seem to love dear John the best and I can never read this passage without tears getting in my way. Even John, "the disciple whom Jesus loved" couldn't yet understand what was up ahead. What was at hand. The Lord of Glory was there in person telling them how He was to suffer and die and they sent mama to "worship him" in order to get something they wanted for themselves.

John and his brother James missed the point entirely. But Jesus took even this flagrant bit of self-seeking and "turned it to a testimony." He redeemed even this utter selfishness by using it to hand them and us the key to the Kingdom:

"Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister (servant); and whosoever will be chief among you, let him be our (bond) servant: Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many."

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2012 - Precious, Pleasant Stones, We Being Refined to be His Jewels

“And I will make thy windows of agates, and thy gates of carbuncles, and all thy borders of pleasant stones.” ~ Isaiah 54:12

"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." ~ Isaiah 61:10

In youth, we were all used to handling stones or kicking at them with our feet. Who hasn't picked up a stone and flung it through the air once or twice. At the time, it probably never occurred to us that something so common as a rock or a stone might have any value to it. Maybe today you feel common and ordinary, but as a child of God you are unique and precious in His sight! Our heavenly Father keeps a rock collection made up of people just like you and me. God sees value even in a lost soul, and through the blood of Christ, He brings the truth to the world - the realization that rocks can change!! Have you ever tried to change the shape of a rock with your own hands? It's impossible! Only the hand of the Lord can change us, but change IS possible!!

"And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible." ~ Mark 10:27

As in the case of the rock tumbler, a coarse grit is used on the first cycle, then a progressively finer grit. It may seem at present that the Lord's tumblings in your life are too abrasive, but it won't always be so. The smoother you become, the less abrasive He'll have to be. Yield to the process of perfection, for the end results are worth it! According to the directions for a rock tumbler, once the tumbling begins, it must continue till the cycle is finished. If the contents of the barrel are left standing for an extended period of time, the mixture will harden and become one solid cement-like cake. It's that way in our lives too. We need continual tumbling to keep our hearts from hardening again and the Lord knows it better than we do! Don't lose hope, don't give up - just patiently wait on God to bring about your beauty.

"As for God, his way is perfect" ~ Psalm 18:30

"He hath made every thing beautiful in his time" ~ Eccles. 3:11

Yes, through the various elements of nature such as wind, water, heat and pressure, over time this change is brought about in rocks. You know what's interesting about rocks? Each one is different. Some are larger or smaller. Some types are softer or harder. All this affects the tumbling process. The rocks that remain roughest after the first cycle must be taken out of the barrel, removed from the smoother ones so that they can continue to become smoother yet in the second cycle... Would you be one of those rocks that hindered the refining of another?? For good tumbling, it is instructed not to mix different types of material together in the barrel. For example, agates and amethysts when tumbled and polished together will not give the best results because the agates will chip the amethysts and neither will take a good polish. The bags of stones provided are wisely selected so that each individual bag can be tumbled and polished in one batch. God knows what He is doing in all our lives. Trust His tumblings! He knows precisely what people to put together in particular circumstances or trials of life because it is best for those selected, in order that each might take a good polish.

Yes, different rocks go through different changes, but if they change enough, they finally end up looking very much alike!! That should be our goal, ladies! Each one of us will experience some tumblings in life as we go through various forms of pressure at different times and for various lengths of time. However, the end result should be the same - we should all come out to be more like the image and likeness of Jesus Christ! Our lives as Christians should be bordered or outlined with pleasant stones. This is the reason for the pressure God's designing hand places upon us individually as He carves and polishes out the image of His precious Son in us. He brings out that which would otherwise never be seen by the world!

”He putteth forth his hand upon the rock; he overturneth the mountains by the roots. He cutteth out rivers among the rocks; and his eye seeth every precious thing. He bindeth the floods from overflowing; and the thing that is hid bringeth he forth to light” ~ Job 28:9-11

"And I put a jewel on thy forehead, and earrings in thine ears, and a beautiful crown upon thine head." ~ Ezekiel 16:12

About Raising the Standard Series and the Renaissance Concept of the Two Books

UPDATE: 12/2011 - Completed Raising the Standard study. Character Sketches Volumes 1-3 are in the blog archives. New direction for 2012.

The seed of this topic and of the following topics in the "Raising the Standard" series was found in two wonderful volumes I received several years ago as a gift from a friend, Character Sketches, From the Pages of Scripture, Illustrated in the World of Nature, Institute in Basic Youth Conflicts Inc. 1983. For anyone who is not familiar with this publication, it is a wonderful "two books" approach to youth ministry... not only giving Scriptural lessons, but also giving examples in nature and educating youth both with the observable facts and stories of animal behaviors, and profiling Biblical characters who best exemplify each godly character topic key point. Highly recommended for all, but most particularly a very cohesive bible study for young people. It is a beautifully illustrated and informative set.

What's the two books approach?

Today’s theologians should seek a coherent way to integrate what we are learning about the natural world through the best science with what the Holy Scriptures tell us about the God of creation and redemption. Perhaps we could revive the Renaissance concept of the Two Books. According to the concept of the Two Books, nature is a book of revelation. Nature reveals to us something about the mind of God the creator. St. Paul alludes to the book of nature.

“Ever since the creation of the world his eternal power and divine nature, invisible though they are, have been understood and seen through the things he has made.” ~ Romans 1:20

The second book, of course, is the Bible. In this book we learn of God the redeemer. Nature gives us general revelation, whereas the Bible gives us special revelation. The two books together provide the resources for understanding reality in relationship to God, the creator and redeemer.

"But ask now the beasts, and they shall teach thee: and the fowls of the air, and they shall tell the: Or speak to the earth, and it shall teach thee: and the fishes of the sea shall declare unto thee." ~ Job 12:7-8

Odyssey of an Albatross

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Pleasant Stone Devotional Meditation: March 27

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