March 15, 2010

• Welcome to deerlife! I’m just getting started.

  
  Hi everyone! Welcome to deerlife!

  I’m just getting started here, so the site is still under construction…but a few thoughts off the bat…(well, more than a few, I suppose)…

  Why the name deerlife?

  I’m a deer set free…The name is a bit of a change-up from Revelife…

  The deer set free – that’s from Genesis 49:21, a verse which hit me a few years back…not long after God had begun to free me to worship Him and serve Him in a way I’d not known before. (I wrote more about that here.) Since that time He’s had me on an unbelievable and wonderful journey with Him, a journey I never would have imagined. It’s not been without challenges, griefs, heartaches or pain, but He has been with me through it all, and has grown me in ways I’d not imagined.

  God is my first passion. I’ve been saved for over 28 years (so most likely I’m older than you!), and I’ve been married almost as long to a man whom God used to draw me to Himself.

  I love God more today than ever. He has shown me how wonderful His provision for me in Jesus Christ is. Christ took on my sin and died for me, so I might be forgiven of my sin. And then God credited Christ’s perfect righteousness to me so I might be accepted in His sight and have fellowship with Him. God the Father made me His child by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. It was His free gift to me. Undeserved by me (I was unworthy). Unearned by me (salvation is a gift which cannot be earned or bought or bartered for in any way whatsoever). The part of the freedom I’ve only begun to understand in the past few years is that God has given me a new heart, a new nature though the gift of His Holy Spirit so I might be able to fulfill His commandments, to walk in His ways and to remain in His yoke. Yes, I could have told you about the Holy Spirit, I could have said He was important, but I can’t say I really had been able to see my real need of Him; my Christian life was much more of myself than of Christ.

  In other words: our salvation from beginning to ending (our justification, our sanctification as well as our glorification) is all of God and all of Christ and all to the glory of God alone (I Corinthians 1:30-31; Romans 8:29-30). Not that I really understand that, but by His grace I am trying to walk that out as He reveals more to me…

  I’m in love with the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who purchased me by His sovereign grace alone. No, by that I do NOT mean Jesus is my boyfriend – not at all! This love is both intimate and reverential. I know I only love God because He first loved me. I adore Him as my all in all (though I confess I do not always treat Him as such). I desire to give Him my all knowing that He gave His all for me (I confess I often fail at that, and that not only grieves God but grieves me as well).

  Jesus Christ died so we might know His Father and know Him (John 17:3). That knowledge goes beyond a mere head knowledge but to a living reality which produces joy unspeakable and full of glory. As the grace of God works in us to will and to do of His good pleasure (Philippians 2:12-13), as we follow after God, we can have fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore…there is no need for us to wait until heaven to enjoy God. We are created to enjoy God here and now: today. Even in our pain and sorrow. Even in our suffering and disappointment. No matter what joy can be ours because we know that God is for us and we know that nothing whatsoever can ever separate us from our God.  I’m pursuing God for His sake and for His glory, but as I do so I have seen as I do so, it brings me joy I never thought possible. So that makes me a Christian hedonist.

  I hope and pray that if you’ve not known God at all or if you have known Him but have never known His joy in such a way, as we meet here together you might desire to know Him more intimately, to know Him as Abba, Father, the God who is transcendent as well as immanent, the God who died so You might know Him. That you might come to know and understand that the God who created all things and rules over the entire universe also tends and cares for the sheep of His pasture, and He calls each one by name and is intimately involved with all His people. He sent His Son, so each one of His children might enter into His very presence unashamed with boldness and confidence.

  I also desire that we might become more intimately attuned to the workings of His Holy Spirit in our lives. Let us consider the wonder of this: For all who have believed on Christ, the life of God has come to dwell in our very souls (borrowing there from Henry Scougal). Our very souls! Will you ponder that! How can it be? It was amazing enough that God sent His Son to become sin for us, to die for on the cross for our sin and credited His righteousness to us, so we might not be condemned but have peace with God. But then God sent His Spirit to live in us!…I think we all need to grow in our understanding of that life who dwells within us…at least I know I certainly do.

  A few more things about me…

  I love reading and studying the Word of God, talking about God and His Word and writing about God and His Word.I have found that the study of theology increases our joy…as we come to know God better through His Word and through reading good resources in addition to His Word (more on that below), we come to rejoice in Him and what He has done for us more and more.

  A couple notes regarding my theological beliefs…

  I subscribe to the five solasAs way of disclaimer: I’m a deer who likes tulips…no, not eating tulips, but rather I should say I like tulip…TULIP, a.k.a. Reformed Theology. I know many of my brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ do not. By God’s grace, however, I endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. I welcome and count all as brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus who have been washed in the fountain of Christ’s blood and are trusting Him alone to save.

  In addition to my passion for God, I have a passion to see God’s people, God’s Church, revived again.

  Related to all the above, in case you didn’t already know it, I’ve already got a couple other sites on Xanga:

  naphtali_deer: devoted primarily to the ministry of the Word
  tent_of_meeting: devoted to prayer for revival.

  So, why deerlife?

  Good question! (Yes, tell me if I’m nuts, or what…)

  One reason I set up this site was so I might do Xanga TV…if I’m brave enough. lol. A friend here (a friend?!), yes a friend , has challenged me to do that…I must say that I generally prefer writing, but though I do have opportunities to speak with friends in person (which immensely blesses me and I hope them also), I have found myself wanting to speak a few of my thoughts to my friends here on Xanga and Revelife. We’ll have to see about that, however…

  I’m not quite sure what I might actually end up doing here, but it may be…

  A little quirky…
  A little mind-altering…(in the words of a former Xangan)
  A little outside the box…

  I admit I’m serious much of the time, but once in a while I do like to kick back and relax – but even then my mind is still buzzing and full of ideas…with a concern for God and His Church and His glory always rising to the surface…and a desire to press on to know Him and to help others do the same.

  Who knows what else might happen here at deerlife? I’m not really sure. I’m not expecting to spend a whole lot of time on this site, but I hope it might be a means to connect and fellowship with like-minded brothers and sisters in Christ, to be able to kick back in a bit less formal way, to interchange ideas and bounce things off one another, to talk about our relationships to God, our daily challenges in walking in the Spirit and mortifying the flesh, to share our blessings and burdens and to encourage one another to run the race set before us, to help us live the life God intends…and through all that to glorify God and enjoy Him forever (or to glorify God by enjoying Him forever) as we fellowship here with one another. Of course, anyone else is more than welcome to come along for the ride as well…with the full disclaimer that I am a Christian and I expect many of the others who may join in will be also, therefore no doubt there will be talk about our Savior Jesus Christ and we will be speaking and discussing from a Christian/Biblical worldview.

  So a few more ideas of what possibly might happen here…Perhaps we might:

  • share what God has been teaching us through the sermons we hear as well as our individual and group studies of His Word
  • discuss theological issues
  • discuss ministry issues (how we can practically help others)
  • share good resources (books, authors, sermons, music). With that, I’ll make this disclaimer: mostly all the books I read are by dead authors, meaning as far as I’m concerned there is very little worthwhile being published nowadays. I know there are exceptions to that, but I’m sad to say that they are few and far between.
  • discuss and pray for one another that God’s will be done in our lives and our lives might be to His praise, honor and glory, after all that’s what we’re here for, isn’t it? (For example we might ask for and discuss ways we might mortify/overcome sin, and ask for prayer and help in discerning God’s will for our lives, etc.)

  (With all that, I would certainly direct you to check out my other blogs I cited above…)

  I feel I already have a lot I’m already juggling (as do many of you), but if we might come together here once in a while to support each other, I pray it might be a blessing to all so we might build up the local body of Christ in our own communities.

  Please feel free to comment, message me, use the chatboard, etc., etc.

  I love the Church and want to see her glorify God as she is intended and that starts with each one of us! I am a strong advocate of every member ministry. As Christians, we are all ministers, we are all uniquely called and equipped by God to be serving Him, His people and our neighbor in love with the gifts and resources He provides for His glory. I am praying God would be gracious to us and allow us to encourage one another to live our lives to His glory in the places He has put us here on this earth.

  Enjoying Him immensely and hoping and praying you will also,
  Karen

  Psalm 16:11.  ∞

  • 10:04 AM
  • 17 Comments