Blog Archives - The Adventures of a Middle Kid

Pee-ew

6/23/2015

Three words for you. Wet. Chicken. Coop.

There, you have the picture. Whenever my respirator slipped I sure thought, "This stuff stinks." Not, of course, that I didn't already know that. I've dabbled about in enough chicken manure, both dry and wet, that I am well acquainted with the odor. However, when mixed with decomposing straw as well, the smell increases.

If you haven't guessed by now, I got the second chicken coop cleaned today. It really was worse than the other one and I don't think I got it quite as clean, but due to the walls being wire paneling and tarp instead of wood, that is a little understandable.

The worse part wasn't the smell, believe it or not. It was the MILLIONS of chicken mites. The press-board "wall" on the west side was literally crawling with the disgusting beasties!! They look a lot like ticks, which doubled my creeps. It was rather inevitable that I got covered with them. Anyway, we burned the press-wood wall and nesting boxes--this was after I had used up nearly an entire bottle of vinegar trying to kill them. (Vinegar kills fleas and ticks, so I figured it would work on another bug.) I killed some of them like that, but it didn't really put much of a dent into them. I spent the rest of the afternoon, until I showered, killing them whenever I spotted or felt one on me.

It took several hours and many trips with the wheelbarrow to clear out the floor space. I then hosed the thing down and hopefully any remaining evil mites drowned in the deluge.

Shortly after I finished, Mr. S showed up with my new queen (I paid for him for her, of course) for the new hive and we put her into the nuc between two frames--the very thing that Mr. Bush does not recommend. I am considering this a bit of an experiment. :) I think my new bee-keeping friends are a little more by-the-book industry standard than I am inclined to go. I will definitely listen to their advice, but I will make up my own mind, which I am thankful that they are encouraging me to do. That is the kind of advice that I like...these are the reasons why we do such and such...but you make up your own mind. I think it was over on Mr. Bush's site that I read something along these lines: "There are as many different methods of bee-keeping as there are beekeepers." I suspect that is rather true...and I am sticking to foundationless--even if it's just because it's cheaper at this point.

That reminds me, I spent a hunk of the morning figuring up pricing and shipping rates from three different companies. I think I'm going to stick to Brushy Mountain for the time being for my supplies.

I sure have a stiff back...

Racheal

Adoption, Repentance, and Sanctification, Part 7

6/21/2015

Part 7 also equals the completion of the chapter...and the break over into the 200+ page range. I didn't take the most extensive notes today, so hopefully it isn't too sketchy.

The final section in Chapter 18 of the Authentic Christianity series is the "Imperfections of Sanctification in Believers"--or why there is no such thing as total perfection for a believer in this life. The springboard catechism question is #78: Whence ariseth the imperfection of sanctification in believers?
A.: The imperfection of sanctification in believers ariseth from the remnants of sin abiding in every part of them, and the perpetual lustings of the flesh against
the spirit; whereby they are often foiled with temptations, and fall into many sins, are hindered in all their spiritual services, and their best works are imperfect and defiled in the sight of God.

This Catechism answer presents us with three Biblical and practical truths that must be kept in mind when living the Christian life. (1) Sanctification is imperfect in the believer in this life, because of indwelling sin remaining throughout him and because of the sovereign determination of God for good reasons known to
Him. (2) This imperfection shows itself in the constant warfare in the Christian between the remaining sinful passions against the activity of the indwelling Spirit of God. (3) The consequences of the indwelling sin and its outbreaks are that the believer is often frustrated by temptations, falling into many sins, and sometimes
hindered in his worship of and service to God. (174)

Although the perfection of holiness and Christlikeness will not be attained in this life, nevertheless the believer is to be at work “perfecting holiness,” for He knows that when Christ appears, he will see Him as He is, and at last be made completely like Him by that power of His that makes Him the Master of everything that is (1 John 3:2, 3). (175)

Thomas Ridgeley gives us three good effects of the Divinelyordained
imperfection of sanctification in this life until death.
1. If the work of sanctification were to be immediately brought to perfection, perfect holiness would here be as much attended with perfect happiness as it is in heaven, and consequently godly sorrow would be no more exercised on earth than it is
there....
2. Believers, from their own experience of the breakings forth of corruption, together with the guilt they contract thereby, and the advantage they receive in gaining any victory over it, may be qualified to administer suitable advice and warning to those who are in a state of unregeneracy, that they may be persuaded
to see the evil of sin, which at present they do not.
3. God farther orders this, that he may give occasion to his people to exercise a daily conflict with indwelling sin. He suffers it to give them great disturbance and uneasiness, that they may be induced to endeavour to mortify it, and be found in the exercise of such graces as are adapted to an imperfect state. (176)

Dr. Morecraft goes on to clarify particular portions of the catechism. First he addresses the meaning of "the remnant of sin abiding in every part". He begins with pointing out the difference between a believer and an unbeliever and then explaining "every part".

The unbeliever is “dead” in his sin (Eph. 2:1, 5), a “slave” to his sin (Rom. 6:17), at war with God, unwilling and unable to stop his rebellion against God or to subject himself from the heart to God: “and those who are in the flesh cannot please God” (Rom. 8:6–8). In direct contrast, the believer is no longer dead in sin, having been
“made alive together with Christ” (Eph. 2:5)....He was DEAD IN SIN, and now, he has “died to sin” (Rom. 6:2), and is “dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (6:11), so that he might “walk in newness of life” (6:4), and “not let sin reign in [his]
mortal body that [he] should obey its lusts” (6:12). (177)

He will be a sinner to his last breath, although he is a regenerate sinner in process of sanctification, which process will be complete at glorification with the return of Christ and the resurrection of the body on the last day (Phil. 1:6). (178)

Indwelling sin is to be found throughout the intellect, memory, imagination, affections, character, being and personality of the believer in Jesus. (178)

“Flesh” does not mean physical body. The contrast Paul is making is not between
body and soul....Flesh” includes the operations of the mind as well as those of the
body (7:23). It refers to our fallenness and sinfulness, which we inherited
from Adam (Rom. 5:12–21). (179)

The point is that indwelling sin is in every part of the believer, therefore, sanctification must purify and renew the entirety of the believer’s life... (180)

The point is: in the believer indwelling sin is in every part therefore the war rages in every part, because the Holy Spirit indwells and sanctifies in every part. (181)

Secondly, Dr. Morecraft addresses the meaning of "perpetual lusting of the flesh against the Spirit". There was quite a bit of discussion from various epistles of Paul, but I barely took notes and in reality, I doubt without quoting whole pages the logical flow would have come through quite right. All in all though, the point was that the sinfulness that remains in a believer is constantly at war with the Holy Spirit and vice versa. In the end however, there is victory over indwelling sin!

In this verse [Gal. 5:17] Paul is describing the inner struggle of the Christian between the “flesh,” i.e., his remaining fallenness and sinfulness, and the “Spirit,” i.e., the Holy Spirit of God who indwells him as a believer. These are two antithetical operating principles within all believers: the dictates of sin and the dictates of God. (182)

Paul’s prevailing desire was to do good, to do what God says is good, to be conformed to Divine Law, so much so, that he says he hates the sin he commits: “I am doing the very thing I hate” (7:15). Only people with new hearts hate sin and consent to God’s Law. (188)

Although our struggle with indwelling sin is a fierce, continual and life-long one, it is a war in which victory over the dominion of sin in the Christian life is experienced because of the living Jesus Christ, His Word and His indwelling Holy Spirit. (191)

Here we see the way to victory in our struggle with sin and Satan is by: (1) Standing firm in the strength the Lord provides us in Christ; (2) Putting on the whole armor of God...(3) Recognizing the nature of the struggle as primarily spiritual, against sin and the forces of darkness; and (4) Using the shield of faith in Christ and His Word to “extinguish all the flaming missiles of the evil one.” (192)

The one final section before we reach the conclusion concerns the results of the imperfection of sanctification in this life.

Because of the imperfection of sanctification in believers [which] ariseth from the remnants of sin abiding in every part of them, which indwelling sin manifests itself in the perpetual [i.e., life-long] lustings of the flesh against the Spirit, true believers are: (1) Often foiled [frustrated and embarrassed] with temptations; (2) Fall into
many sins; (3) Are hindered in all their spiritual services; and (4) Their best works are imperfect and defiled in the sight of God. These are the consequences of indwelling sin. (198)

That true Christians are often frustrated with temptations and fall into many sins is proven in the life of the apostle Peter. (198)

When we are lax in our struggle against the sin that remains in us, and when we are no longer “fixing our eyes on Jesus,” that sin becomes an “encumbrance” that “so easily entangles us,” making it extremely difficult to “run…the race that is set before us.” (198)

Insofar as our works of worship and service to God originate from the work of the indwelling Holy Spirit, they are good and pleasing to God; but because they arise from a sinner, regenerate though he be, our best works of worship and service to God are imperfect and defiled with our sin in the sight of God, so that God accepts them, when done in sincerity, not because of our sincerity, but solely because of the merit of Jesus Christ. (199)

First, Christ, the great Mediator between God and man, pardons whatever is faulty and unrighteous in our service to God. ...
Second, through Christ, our sincere service to God, imperfect and faulty though it is, is accepted by God. (200)

In conclusion then:

How may sanctification progress in your life? First, absorb yourself in the Word of God, in the reading of it and, especially, in hearing the faithful preaching of it; because it is a mirror and a laver: it reveals and cleanses. It renews the mind (Rom. 12:1–2), as well as guides and engages the heart. Second, rest in Christ alone for continual salvation from the tyranny and consequences of sin (Acts 15:9; Heb. 9:12).
Third, long for and pray for more of the Holy Spirit’s powerful influences in your life (2 Thess. 2:13)....Fourth, associate with and develop close friendships with other sanctified people (Psalm 1:1) because association begets assimilation: “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm” (Prov. 13:20). Fifth, pray for increased sanctification as you repent more consistently of sin and conform your life more diligently to God’s Word....Sixth, if you are not baptized, get baptized. Join a Bible-believing church. And take the Lord’s Supper in faith as often as possible (1 Cor. 10:16, 17). Seventh, obey God’s Law for Jesus’ sake, regardless of your mood or emotional state (1 Cor. 7:19). (201-202)

How can you tell that you are being sanctified? You will experience the following things: a growing awareness of and hatred for sin in your life (Ps. 119:104); a growing desire to obey God’s law (Isa. 58:13); a growing love for and gratitude to Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:14; Eph. 3:17–21); advancement in living a well-ordered life (1 Pet. 1:15); a firm resolution never to be satisfied with anything other than holiness
of life before God (2 Sam. 6:22; Acts 20:24). (202)

Racheal

Of Bartonella

6/17/2015

This probably won't relieve me (much--or for long), but it gives me something to do while battling and resting my achy back against something that isn't too soft or too hard.

I am in throes of a "Bart Day". By this time of day I am thoroughly sick and tired of it and that just winds me up tighter.

A "Bart Day" for those of you who don't know, means that I have been simmering all day long just under the surface. I haven't actually erupted today, but I have shown my teeth a couple of times.

I know that it's bartonella causing this underlying fury and irritation and not "just" my sin nature...though there is of course that aspect if I cease the battle. I know it's Bart because I'm usually just a flair up, die down, go back to life kind of person when it comes to my temper. When I stew, irrationally, in my own irritation juices for HOURS on end (read all day), then I know it's bartonella since it goes against my normal character.

Sometimes I think if I just "let go" and let the volcano out I would feel better...but I wonder about that. For starters, my words would be nasty and hurtful and probably directed at a family member...for no real reason other than they got into my space in a way that I didn't like for some numbskull irrational reason. For seconds, being Bart, it would probably only relieve for a little while and then I would just do it all over again. So no; I think in the long run the simmering is better. Even though I feel like SCREAMING.

For instance, I showered (I was hoping the hot water would ease some of this pain in my back muscles--it didn't seem to help very much) and then went upstairs. The only way I kept myself from either screaming, crying with frustration, or yes, punching the wall (which would have brought tears of pain) once I reached my room was balling my fists up and grinding them into the cover a book that was laying on the table. I think I might have also been biting my lip in the process, since that is rather characteristic when I'm fighting some sort of volatile noise. While that may sound like a lack of self-control, I assure you that it is the safest and most harmless manner to deal with the violence that simply must get out of me or I would go insane. I am not one of those people who say one ought to just "let of steam" when they are angry, but I also understand, from personal experience, that for some people there is a necessity to release some pressure, in a controlled fashion, in order to disarm an explosion.

I'm not pretty on days like this, either inside or out. Inside I'm an emotional roller coaster (you do not want to see inside my brain) and outside I tend to have a set scowl (I think literary people would call that a "lowering brow") which forms from my teeth being set together firmly. My muscles ache from my tenseness, as my physical works with my spiritual to control my pathogenic bacteria.

For all that, I have managed to get a few useful things accomplished today. I did a semi-straightening job in one room (mainly because I was setting up to do my director's interview--which Mama thankfully suggested that I do on Friday when I'll be home by myself--which very thing I had actually intended on doing, but forgot); of course, that was done in a bit of a ill-tempered stew, but it got done. The fabric isn't all over the place quite as badly as it was. I helped get Grandpa up without biting him, although I did let him know right off that I was a grouch. Poor guy was sooo sleepy. I ALMOST finished this baby romper I started yesterday. I quit on the do-it-yourself snap tape because I was going to turn into a screaming maniac if I didn't. I may actually be calm enough by the time I finish this post that I can go finish it. Making snap tape is actually something that falls right down my alley of things I should like doing--I get to use a tool! So my anger doesn't even make much sense...even though I did booger the thing up.

I am thankful that my family recognizes my "bartish-ness" and tries to be accommodating to me. If it weren't for their loving me in that particular way, I sometimes wonder if I wouldn't explode a little more frequently.

I hope...no, I pray that I do not wake up to another Bart Day tomorrow. I HATE this stuff.

Racheal

So Much for the Chiropractor...

6/16/2015

I say that rather tongue-in-cheek since I don't really feel so messed up...and I didn't really have too much that needed adjustment when I went to the chiropractor yesterday morning with Savannah.

However, since then, I have done some Grandpa lifting in addition to some other things (we'll get there in a minute). Anyway, Grandpa is going through "med-adjustment syndrome". The dear old guy is so dreadfully susceptible to medications...he gets knocked off his head nearly every time he either goes on a new one, or even if he runs out of something and has a few days off. By this evening, he seems to be leveling out some. He spent the entire afternoon in bed and we just recently got him up. He did most of the transfer himself. Maybe by tomorrow evening he will be able to transfer safely on his own. I hope so!

This afternoon, I tackled a job that caused Grandpa to turn up his nose when I told him what I was fixing to go do. I cleaned the chicken coop. I should have taken before and after photos--or not. I would then have shown off what a dirty chicken farmer I am. The long and the short of it is that I cleaned out all winter's build up out of the old coop. The first wheel barrow load was a bit too much for me and I ended up accidentally tipping it over. Almost half of the stinking mess then sprawled all over the ground in front of the door--so I did my best to clean that up. After that, I stuck to roughly half full barrow loads. It is interesting how heavy wet chicken "stuff" is. It took probably an hour and a half to do the scraping and shoveling. When I got done with that, I put the hose on the most firehose setting I could get out if it and washed the coop down from ceiling to what is currently mud floor.

Once it dries out (probably tomorrow), I will go in and put clean straw down (making a mental note to do a little chicken coop clean up at least once a week), prepare all the 'furniture' (water can, feed bucket), and then run the girls from the newer coop on in.

Then, oh joy! Another coop to clean. Unfortunately, the second one is rather mite infested (more evidence that I need to work harder at chicken farming). Once I get that cleaned up I will organize it to my liking as a brooder coop. I am looking forward to getting peepers soon! Chickens may stink when they are wet...but I rather like the insane birds.

Savannah tells me supper is done...and am I ever ready for it!!

Bye y'all!

Racheal

Engines...More or Less

6/11/2015

Most of what I did yesterday (time wise) was in one way or another connected to an engine.

I started out the day (pre-breakfast, post-coffee and "dirt" [detoxer]) butchering another chicken. I finished the job this morning with butchering the very last one and slipping "Blackie" in with the Golden Comets. Now I can clean the old coop (though I seriously doubt I have the energy to do it today) and move the newer birds in. Once I do that, I will need to clean the OTHER coop and THEN I can get my meat birds!

We have been eating the old birds which I have been killing off on at a one a day rate for a little over a week now and they are rather tough. Could be worse though flavor-wise. Due to the single-chicken at a time routine I have been following, I have just been skinning them out rather than taking the time to heat water and then pluck them. I'm getting pretty familiar with the best way to skin out a chicken...

Shortly after breakfast yesterday, Mama and I took Grandpa to a doctor's appointment. The heart doctor is Cuban. He walked into the room and started speaking and I thought, "Cuban. He sounds exactly like Desi Arnaz [aka Ricky Ricardo from I Love Lucy if you didn't know that... ;]."

Grandpa is doing pretty good, so he doesn't need to go back for another six months according to Dr. A. He did put him back onto one medicine that he had taken him off of, but not all three. It should help the swelling in his feet as well as lower his blood pressure just a bit. (A desired effect.)

We stopped in at a garden/hardware store on the way home and picked up some more green bean seed, a pretty plant (I forget the name), and some parsnip seed. I like parsnips, even if Grandpa doesn't. :)

When we got home we ate lunch...then I went out and check on my bees. Katherine took some pictures...

From there I went into a "diagnostic" on the car. The passenger floor board has been getting wet, so Mama talked to Daddy about it (he's in Dixie right now) and he told her something and when she relayed it to me, I got a little mixed up about what had been said...so I'm particularly glad that after perusing the book I gave him a call. (Oh, by the way, the issue is assumed to be connected to the A/C unit.) I learned the difference (more or less) between the A/C compressor and the A/C evaporator--which I never did actually lay eyes on, but anyway...

Tying up my hair like Rosie the Riveter, I started out by lifting the hood and peering into the depths of the engine while reading in the book. Then I called Daddy and changed tactics. I crawled into the front floor board on my back (which I didn't know I was capable of doing) and unscrewed this and that and developed a general idea of where what I thought I was after was located. Daddy had said that perhaps I could get to the drain from the inside. No go. I did manage to help clean up some of the water from the carpet though. The back of my shirt got quite damp.

Daddy had also said that if I couldn't get to it from the inside to put the car up on the ramps. So, I went a-searching for them, thinking I knew exactly where they were--which I did...more or less. They were within the same vicinity, but just so happened to have the little VW Rabbit on them. Hmph. That isn't going to work. So I crawled back into the floor board to replace the screws and called Daddy in that position. He suggested something that made me say, "That would be interesting..." and I heard Aunt Terry (who is also down in Dixie at the moment) laugh. I had already tried crawling under the car, but as it is closer to the ground than my bed (which I cannot get under), I nixed that idea in a second.

The next part of the day is that which Savannah quite enjoyed telling on me about. I walked into to the house and declared, "I have a request (Savannah would put the accent on the "re" which would probably be accurate)...I need you to drive the car over me."

Before you start gasping in horror, let me explain that I wasn't asking her to actually run over me, but to drive the car into the garage, over the well pit--with ME down in it. Who knew that a well, in the garage, would double for a grease monkey pit? Maybe it wasn't such an...interesting...idea after all.

So anyway, I crawled down in there (with two ladders--one to get in and the step ladder to actually stand on down there--though I actually stood on both of them for the most part) and felt a little nervous as Savannah drove over me. (As Daddy had kidded, "You can pretend to be a GI in the foxhole while a tank drives over you." Not really a funny idea, particularly when I recall that two young soldiers actually did get run over and killed by a tank during training back when we were stationed at Fort Polk. I guess if your foxhole is deep enough and you were hunkered down a tank could drive over the top of you safely.)

I flashed my light up into the engine compartment identifying this, that, and the other...and trying not to bump my head on the tranny. Not spotting the evaporator (which according to Daddy looks something like a small radiator), I asked Savannah to go get my computer and look up the location of the A/C evaporator in this particular make and model of vehicle. She did, and sliding my computer where I could see it, showed me a diagram she had found. After peering at the diagram for a bit and looking over my head a little more, I determined that I couldn't actually see the evaporator, but those "tube thingys" with a rubber elbow protruding under them was what I was looking for. I had Savannah hold my flashlight (she had to lay on her back and stick her arm under the car, over the pit) while I went to work. The elbow itself popped off fairly easily and then I took the coat hanger I had been supplied with and snaked the drain. I cannot say whether or not I actually unblocked it (assuming it was blocked) because it was dry as a bone in there as the A/C hadn't been run for several days (aka, the last time it was out). Daddy had told me that I might get a snoot full of water if I unblocked it, but my logic (which could be faulty) thinks that any water that might have been in it wasn't any more because it was a) in the carpet and b) the vehicle hadn't been run (except to back it out and into the garage) for several days, giving ample time to both drain and evaporate.

Savannah backed the car out and I emerged from the well pit, hands blacked from the axle and engine components. All in all, despite the attempt at a crick in my neck, I rather enjoyed the escapade and felt ridiculous that I should have experienced any apprehension concerning the car being driven over me. One sister was driving and the other guiding...nothing to fear there. :)

I went in, washed up--to a degree--took my final "killer" for the day, grabbed an apple out of the fridge for later (I ended up eating two in the next few hours), put my sandals back on, and strode off to the barn. There I inserted my ear plugs and greased up the mower. Soon she roared to life and I took off to mow the front yard and the road. I left the back mostly un-mowed because, after all, I am feeding bees and that clover that is beautifully dotting the landscape (and feeding nitrogen into the soil) is part of their food. (I actually startled Mama later in the day because I was up at the top of the rise, down on my elbows and knees watching a bee working a clover blossom and she didn't know I was there; so when she walked up the row in the garden to see me in the tall grass, I gave her a start. I have a bad habit of that...)

Yesterday was one of those full, dirty days in which I am particularly thankful for hot running water at the close of the day.

Racheal

Adoption, Repentance, and Sanctification, Part 6

6/7/2015

It took me three weeks to finish these last thirty-odd pages, so I didn't bother putting up anything until I finished it. Hopefully, I will be capable of completing the chapter next week. (The way my brain has been functioning lately, I'm not going to count my chickens before they hatch--or rather, my words before they are read.)

Anyway, we were still in the midst of Dr. Morecraft's exposition of sanctification and just facing the six basic truths concerning the basis, nature, and dynamic of sanctification.

First, it is God Himself who sanctifies His people (Lev. 20:8; 21:15; 21:23; 22:16, 32). Until God sanctifies the sinner, that sinner is “unclean” morally, and outside the covenant community and covenant promise. (144)

Second, to be holy is to be purified by God and set apart for His purposes (Lev. 20:23–26). A sanctified people is a holy people; and a holy people is a people who have been purified from sin and moral corruption by God, and who are set apart for His purposes and pleasure.
...God has “separated you from the peoples” is so that these “separated” people will “be Mine.” (144-145)

Third, those whom God has sanctified for Himself are called thereby to be saints, i.e., holy people, consecrated to God, who live in obedience to God’s Law out of gratitude for redemption in Christ. (145)

Fourth, the necessary reason and pattern for our sanctification is the holiness of Jehovah, who says, “As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; because it is written, ‘You shall be holy, for I am holy’” (1 Pet. 1:14–16). (147)

Fifth, the motive for our striving after holiness is gratitude that Jehovah is our Redeemer, who has made us His own (Lev. 11:44, 45; 26:6–13), as well as our Lord (19:3–37). (147)

Sixth, the basis of our sanctification is the atonement of Jesus Christ, of which the sacrificial system of the Old Testament was a type and symbol (Lev. 1:4; 4:20, 26, 31, 35, 36; Heb. 9:11–15; 9:27, 28; 10:10–26)....Israel’s standing as God’s people was not based on any merit in them, but was based solely on the atoning sacrifice of Christ, symbolized in the Old Testament sacrificial system, by which He accomplished eternal redemption and reconciliation with God with everyone for
whom He died (Heb. 9:12). (148)

"The work he came to do is finished (Jn 17:4; 19:30). Consequently, he who is our great High Priest is no longer “standing” but “seated” in sovereign glory at the right
hand of God.… But His work of sacrifice is done. Its absolute perfection means that it is a single sacrifice for sins and that its effectiveness is for all time, and thus it can never be added to or repeated. “A seated priest,” says F.F. Bruce, “is the guarantee
of a finished work and an accepted sacrifice.” 202. Hughes, A Commentary on the Epistle to the Hebrews (Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1977), 400–01. (149)

In summary, Leviticus 11:44–45 relates God’s holiness, God’s sanctification of believers, and the believers’ sanctification of themselves: “For I am the Lord your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy; for I am holy.… For I am the Lord, who brought you up from the land of Egypt, to be your God; thus you shall be
holy for I am holy.” (150)

Having seen the basis of sanctification (i.e. God's own holiness), let us look at the means of sanctification.

First, faith in Jesus Christ, our redeemer:

First, faith in Christ is the instrument of sanctification. The risen Christ sent Paul to the Gentiles “to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light… so that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among them who are sanctified by faith in Me” (Acts 26:18). (150)

We cannot possibly live for God in obedience to His Law without faith in Jesus Christ. ...
Faith nourishes itself on Christ by the means of grace and salvation which God has appointed in the Bible, each of which is of great and indispensable use in our sanctification: (1) The whole Word of God—“Sanctify them in the truth; Thy Word is truth” (John 17:17); (2) Prayer and worship (John 14:13–17); (3) Providential discipline by the Father (John 15:2; Rom. 5:3–5; Heb. 12:5–7); and (4) The sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper (Acts 2:42).(151)

Faith joins us in union with Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:13). It lays hold of Him who is the Sanctifier (1 Cor. 1:30). Faith is the mouth that feeds on Christ (John 6:53). Faith puts us in contact with Him who is the source of all spiritual power (1 Cor. 1:30).
Christ sanctifies His own through the channel or by the means of faith....We must never look to ourselves, our faith, our worship,our sincerity, or our obedience to God’s law for salvation. Christ is our only Savior. (151)

The believer does and produces nothing good in thought, character, behavior or
activity in his own strength. (154)

True saving faith includes true repentance from sin, both of which are gifts of God (Eph. 2:8–9; Acts 11:18) which seeds, along with other spiritual graces, are planted in the heart by the Spirit in regeneration. These two spiritual gifts—faith in Christ and repentance of sin—are always effective as means by which the heart and
life are sanctified. They are not only “twin graces,” they are the “mother graces” of all other gifts and graces.
Repentance of sin is inseparable from faith in Christ, and therefore is a means of sanctification, because faith not only receives, it severs. (154)

Second, obedience to Biblical Law (interesting how this built on a point Pastor touched on in his sermon this morning):

...those whom God has saved by His lovingkindness, God’s commandments are a
delight, for they know that as they obey them from a heart of faith and gratitude, they walk in liberty and righteousness. (156)

Biblical Law is the way of holiness and the rule of sanctification. It is the tracks upon which sanctification runs. The relationship between holiness and law is crucially important. There can be no holiness of life or sanctification without the guiding direction and instruction of Biblical Law and joyful obedience to it for Jesus’ sake....The Law never was intended to be a way of justification; but it is definitely the way of sanctification for all the justified...God’s Law provides a structure for the
believer’s life, within which he can live and love safely, maturely and under God’s blessing. (156)

The Hebrew word for Law is “torah,” which means direction or instruction. Therefore, a lawless life is a directionless life, and a directionless life is a meaningless life; because there is no meaning to existence apart from God and His revelation. (157)

The gospel does not annul the Law of God, rather it establishes it (Rom. 3:31), and confirms it (Matt. 5:17). Christ placed Himself under the Law for us (Gal. 4:4–7), lived in perfect obedience to it in our behalf, satisfied all its demands in life and death, and bore its curse (Gal. 3:13–14). Hence, believers are free from the indictment, condemnation, curse, and aggravation of sin, which the Law brings against the sinner, because of what our Great Substitute and Redeemer has done
in our place....Faith proves itself in delighting to obey the revealed will of God....The moral law of God retains its force forever. (158)

Nevertheless, the Bible does place the human life of Jesus before us as a model for us to follow. This “imitation of Christ” by believers is not simply a form of sanctification, it is the essence of sanctification....God’s purpose for His elect is that they be “conformed to the image of His Son” (Rom. 8:29). And in resurrection, God will “transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of
His glory” (Phil. 3:21). (161-162)

What is He asking people to do in following Him?...He is calling upon His hearers to take up their cross and to choose Him as their Master and to continue to choose Him
regardless of the crises that may come upon them because of their choice. (162)

Throughout this section of his epistle, Peter is calling for believers to manifest submission to God, to civil authorities, to their human masters and employers, although they may be harsh and overbearing (vs. 18), because if a believer suffers injustice and patiently endures it for the sake of the Lord, “he finds favor with God”
(vs. 19–20). (164)

A believer is to “please his neighbor for his good, to his edification,” precisely because “Christ did not please Himself; but as it is written, ‘The reproaches of those who reproached Thee fell upon Me’” (Rom. 15:3). We are to be generous in our giving to the needs of the church, because “though He [Christ] was rich, yet for your sake He became poor, that you through His poverty might become rich” (2 Cor. 8:9). We are to be patient with one another and forgive one another freely, “just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you” (Col. 3:13). We are to walk in love with one another, “just as Christ also loved you, and gave Himself up for us” (Eph. 5:2)....We are to be kind, tenderhearted and forgiving toward one another, “even as God also in Christ forgave you” (Eph. 4:32). (166-167)

We are to be diligent in our use of the means of grace:

By “means of grace,” we have reference primarily to the reading and preaching of the Word of God, worship and prayer, and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper....As believers diligently observe these outward means of saving grace in hope and faith, God brings His presence and His blessings into their lives.
He works sanctifying grace into believers as they diligently use the means He has instituted, hence they are said to be “means of grace.” They are powerful instruments of sanctification in God’s hands because He makes them effectual to the elect for their salvation. (168-169)

Means of grace are not only Christian duties performed in obedience to God, who instituted them as the way He desires to be approached by His creatures, they are also promises from God by which He assures His people of His presence and His blessing... (169)

Larger Catechism Q. 153 emphasizes that our use of the means of grace must be diligent to be beneficial to us. We must not use them in a careless, haphazard or indifferent manner, as though we neither expected nor desired to receive anything from God through them. (169)

The role of providence in sanctification:

God’s providence is a powerful means of our sanctification: “And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God” (Rom. 8:28). Providence is a means of sanctification in that it has the power to impress upon the
conscience the truths of the Bible, bringing them home to our hearts, by working with the Word and Spirit, on our mind and emotions. (170)

What is the dynamic of sanctification:

The Larger Catechism tells us that all the effects of sanctification in the believer result from the powerful operation of the Holy Spirit applying the death and resurrection of Christ unto them. (171)

By virtue of our union with Christ in His death and resurrection, we have died to the tyranny of sin over us and have been raised spiritually to newness of life, in which life we are no longer slaves to sin, but are, rather, slaves to God and to righteousness from a glad and willing heart (Rom. 6:18, 22). (171)

Finally for today, the difference between justification and sanctification:

First, in justification God imputes or credits the righteousness of Christ to us as the basis of our standing with Him (Rom. 4:6), and in sanctification the Holy Spirit infuses or imparts grace in us, enabling us to live righteously (Ezek. 36:27).
Second, in justification God pardons our sins because of Christ (Rom. 3:24–25), and in sanctification God subdues our sin because of Christ (Rom. 6:6, 14). The former takes away sin’s guilt, the latter its reigning power.
Third, in justification all believers are equally freed from the revenging wrath of God in this life, and what is more all believers are completely and perfectly saved in Christ from God’s anger in this life here and now: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1). In sanctification, however, all believers are not sanctified to the same degree, nor are any perfectly
sanctified in this life before death; rather, all believers continue to grow up and mature toward perfection, which is a life-long process completed only at death and resurrection... (173)

Racheal

Strawberries

6/4/2015

I feel like I have the shakes, but looking at my hands it doesn't really look like it. My right one is a wee bit wobbly, but hardly noticeable. I feel rather more tired than I think I should--after all, picking strawberries isn't that hard, even when one does have to take on some odd positions (it's rather like playing Twister, but with more dire results if you slip your position). Who says you need to do squats as an exercise? Just go wade through a five foot across 80 foot row. :)

I haven't been overly perky today anyway. I really cannot think of a what I did today (other than 1.5-2 hours picking strawberries) that really classifies as being of much use. Well...I guess I stood Grandpa up and vacuumed Grandma's floor--THAT was useful. :)

But anyway, we have strawberries everywhere. Yesterday I processed (i.e. cut up and freezer bagged) what totaled three gallons (or a little over 11 pounds) of the things. I think that tomorrow, once folks go to the Market that I will probably start in on the ones we picked yesterday...three big dishpans full. I picked two today.

I like that kind of processing work--particularly if I can listen to something or watch an old movie while doing it. Strawberries move along at a higher rate of speed when the only the ears are occupied. Even if I didn't have something for my hearing/seeing senses to occupy their time with, I would still enjoy it while telling myself a story. No, I haven't outgrown my imagination. I once had a girl tell me that she thought that the imagination got weaker as one got older. I disagree (respectfully, of course :D)...I don't think that it gets weaker, but rather I think it shifts a little. If you cultivate it, it rather gets stronger. At least, that's my take on that oh-so-interesting topic.

Some of those berries will more than likely go to market (and if they come home I will be very surprised!). Then, of course, we gals keep dipping into them as we walk by. But seriously! They need to be done since we've nearly run out of counter top! (I had set one pan on the floor but Abby the Awesome Tabby looked a little too interested in them, if you know what I mean. She is an odd cat--she eats stuff like avocado, green beans, mango...so it wouldn't surprise me if she ate strawberries.)

I wonder if I ought not go set the table. Mama is not in yet, but I believe supper is done...

Racheal

P.S. It seems, sometimes, that I do an awful lot of complaining. The thing is, I'm not complaining really. I'm just stating facts. If I look at you and say, "My hip is hurting me" (which it is, those Twister positions aren't exactly known for doing it any good), I'm stating fact, not whining. Generally. Once in a while I do--not that it helps anything! :D I'm not today though.

Updates

6/1/2015

For starters, I fully intended on reading Authentic Christianity yesterday. I didn't manage it partly because I was tired, herxing, and blue and partly because a) we listened to a Dr. Morecraft sermon after lunch and b) Mama and Savannah were having a conversation. I ended up just crawling into bed and spending the afternoon there.

Now...to go back in time...I cannot remember all of what I did last week...but Savannah and I went to the "out of town" Farmer's Market on Friday. Savannah and Katherine were supposed to go and I was supposed to go to a doctor's appointment with Grandma (Mama was sick), but it got changed around because I parallel park just a wee better than Savannah (or so I think). Anyway, I took my guitar with me and played a little...I think the market master got a picture of me playing, but I don't know.

I declare, I have no depth of jaw! (I normally say "no chin" but that isn't exactly true...)

The above photos are traditional (or becoming traditional) "road trip" shots by Savannah. You may be ale to spot some of our multitudinous array of market items behind my gorgeous sister. I enjoyed being behind the wheel of our Annabelle again.

We did fairly well for a slowish day (I asked several other vendors if it was slow since I hadn't been there this year yet and they said it was). I spent the last thirty minutes or so sitting on John's egg cooler talking to him and Dee. Mr. "Clucky" seemed to think my nickname of Rooster was appropriate. I have an invite to put bees on their property which I actually do intended on taking up once I get my feet under me a little better as a beekeeper.

All in all, I enjoyed myself even though in a personal way I didn't make any "dough".

The next day, Savannah and I set up at the local market and then she went home to eat breakfast. It rained some...and by 11:30 we had had a whopping total of FIVE costumers. Chuck (the only other vendor that day) had to leave early anyway, so when he left, we also left, but only partly due to the rain. The other part was that Savannah and I were going on another "sister trip". :) I was going to get my new queen bee! For further information, see the Bee Project.

Today I did a little Cow Cavalry work. Not as much as I hoped to get done, but enough to mark a few things off my list. I was going to get back to it after lunch, but I went out to stand Grandpa up (Daddy made him a standing frame--we hook a horse girth around his hips and crank him up into an upright position where he can stand and work on his leg strength; just in case you are wondering, he enjoys this...it's not something we make him do). While he was standing, I replaced the arms and the wheel handles (or whatever they are called) on his wheelchair. It took me two trips to the old garage to get the correct wrench for the wheels, but after that it was a breeze. It was actually kind of funny because Grandma had said something about, "I don't know if you can figure it out" and I kind of laughed and retorted cheerfully, "I have something of a mechanical bent, Grandma...I think I can figure it out!" Then she laughed. After all, I am the kid who always took stuff apart and put it back together again. (I keep remembering the telephone from years ago...but anyway.)

After that, Mama and I went out and planted a little buckwheat...then we picked the strawberries. Since then I've been typing...fed the chickens...took Grandma eggs...went and peered at my bees on the landing board...typing...drinking tea...but do you really care about all that? Probably not. :D

Now I'm going to go feed my cats their supper. Until next time then!

Racheal