Burning, but not consumed

The Beauty of Fire

A gracious home is a having a carnival, and the theme is "The Beauty of Fire". Lindsey at
Enjoy the journey is the host of this carnvial, go on over to read more posts on the subject of "The beauty of fire."

My first thought upon hearing the subject "The beauty of Fire" was of the burning thornbush that appeared to Moses. (Exodus 3:2). "And the Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire from the midst of a bush. So he looked, and behold, the bush burned with fire, but the bush was not consumed." NKJ

When I think of the beauty of fire, I think of the beauty of a holy fire that does not consume me. The bush was a thorn bush, a symbol of fallen man under the curse and in my mind's eye takes me back to Genesis 3 and the thorns that came because of sin. Moses was a sinner under this curse, as am I. Again, I am taken back to Genesis 3..."Genesis 3:24, the first mention of fire in the Bible, speaks of "a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life". This fire appeared after man fell by eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. This flame excluded man from the tree of life; it kept him from even touching it." Life study of Exodus Vol. 1, Witness Lee.

The moment of Moses with the burning thornbush is not one of exclusion like the flaming sword, but in contrast shows me that even though I am a sinner under the curse, it is possible for the glory of God to burn within me and upon me. This is possible, and beautiful because of Christ's redemptive work on the cross that fullfilled the requirements of a holy God. The flame placed to keep man away from the tree of life is now the flame that visits man, indwells man and does not consume.

Fire is again pictured in the Outpouring of the Spirit on the day of Pentecost. "This fire no longer excludes us from God; instead, it is the flame of God's visitation." (ibid.)

For me, the fire is beautiful because it represents God's holiness, his purifying, and his visitation. The fire is beautiful because it does not consume. I am just a thorn bush, and all that is not gold, but is wood, hay and stubble will be burnt away... yet I am promised that Christ has redeemed me, that He lives in my heart (Galatians 4:6) and that I am the temple of God (1 Cor. 3:16). His fire burns away all that is not gold, but does not consume me. To me, that is mercy, and that is beauty.

hymn

Sunday nights at our house; our house usually looks like this on Sunday nights- we have anywhere from 6 to 10 bible college students plus a family or two for dinner and fellowship. On the menu last night was Chicken Tortilla soup, (made in the crockpot, very easy) corn bread, salad and mud pie. Our bible college (called The Full time training) is a strict environment and the students live in a dorm situation with lots of rules. They like to come over to our house and just hang out. We love having them over, they are alot of fun, we get to hear what they are learning, and they are such a good example for our kids of young people who love the lord and are running after Him. Last night Jonah and Andrew shared a song out of our hymn book, but with a different melody. The words really touched me, and specially after Jonah told us it was written by Madame Guyon while she was in prison. I don't know anything about her, I guess I have more reading to do after the Fall reading challenge, but I wanted to share the words:

A little bird I am.
Shut from the fields of air, And in my cage I sit and sing
To Him who placed me there; Well pleased a prisoner to be,
Because, My God, it pleaseth Thee.

Nought have I else to do,
I sing the whole day long; And He whom most I love to please
Doth listen to my song; He caught and bound my wandering wing;
But still He bends to hear me sing.

Thou hast an ear to hear
A heart to love and bless; And though my notes were e'er so rude,
Thou wouldst not hear the less; Because Thou knowest as they fall,
That love, sweet love, inspires them all.

My cage confines me round;
Abroad I cannot fly; But though my wing is closely bound,
My heart's at liberty; for prison walls cannot control
The flight, the freedom of the soul.

O it is good to soar
These bolts and bars above! To Him whose purpose I adore,
Whose providence I love; And in Thy mighty will to find
The joy, the freedom of the mind.

A really sweet song, I wish I could share the melody-it made it all the better. The really great part of the evening was later, after everyone left- we were able to talk to the girls about Paul being in prison and writing to the believers about rejoicing. We enjoy Sunday nights so much, we get to feed the brothers and are in our turn fed by them.

Tale of a meandering homeschool mom-

1) meander. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. 2. To move aimlessly and idly without fixed direction:

I am a homeschool mom. Yet, you might have wondered at the lack of 'back to school' posts here on my blog. Well, I have been struggling this year with my whole homeschool outlook. As summer drew to a close this year, for the first time since we began this adventure called homeschooling, I was not excited about the upcoming year. I tried to drum up some excitement as September loomed over the horizon, but I came up with zip, nada...

I battle a sort of educational dual-personality complex; I admire and agree with a more 'classical' approach to education. Ancient classics, Latin, real British history, logic and rhetoric, Shakespeare with a decided Charlotte Mason bent...'living' books vs. textbooks when applicable, nature study, short lessons, half the day left for play and exploration. I found Ambleside Online last year and felt like I had come home.

However, my free-spirit, gypsy-like ways somehow impede all of my lofty goals and ideas. I come to an impasse with my soul-life again and again every school year, and this year the whole struggle and feelings of shortcoming overwhelmed me.
This year I gave up the Ambleside Online scope and sequence for one not classical but big on providing everything you need in one very big binder, including a schedule. (I noticed long ago my lack of ability to stay on task) This schedule, I decided would be my sustaining power amidst my wandering inclinations.

I hope I am not painting a totally inept picture of myself as a homeschooler; I do manage to get done the important subjects that need to be done-and even add in fun and interesting subjects. We homeschool through a home-based charter school here in California, and the school has been satisfied with what we do. I do feel many educational experiences get passed over though, because of my structureless ways and here is where my feelings of inadequacy play in.

Two weeks ago I dutifully did my planning, gathered my books and even sat down and made a schedule for our day-figuring in all I wanted to accomplish and ending at a respectable time to allow for creative play. I had visions of blogging a smooth-running day, posting pictures of the different subjects we covered at their appointed times. You can guess at the outcome, I am sure. Hubby called at lunch to see how it was all going, and talked to a very depressed, demoralized wife. We started an hour late (and I can never tell why...things just happen and it gets later and later) and it just fell apart from there. My emotions that day ranged from deciding I am such a failure at my life...(lunch time) to giving up and keeping my unstructured lifestyle (we did get everything done, it just took all day in short unpredictiable spurts) sing with me-"I've just got to be me!..." by dinner time to calm determination to just keep trying to nail some structure. I decided to stick with the calm determination...my civil engineer husband (read logical/linear) supported this approach.

The thought I wanted to leave with today is this: I was able to attend our Wednesday night ministry meeting tonight and the subject was "Living in the reality of the Body of Christ through the experience of the Cross." I was really touched by this point-

we do not want to be guilty of ignorance of the experience of the cross. We need to see the revelation that our old man was crucified with Christ-Romans 6:6, Galatians 2:20. This includes the entirety of my old being. I may not have the feeling or experience of it at this moment, but it has already happened.

The rest of this week, I will forget my self, cease struggling and simply walk in newness of life.
Amen

The Book of Kells-'Turning Darkness into Light'. We had the opportunity to see the Book of Kells exhibit at Trinity College in Dublin. The Book of Kells contains a lavishly decorated copy, in Latin, of the four gospels thought to have been produced by monks in the 9th century. I loved seeing the signs for the exhibit stating- 'turning darkness into light'; such a comission to undertake! The artwork, detail, and labor undertaken to produce these copies of the gospels was extraordanary and stunning.

The highlight for me was the last room of the exhibit where two pages of the book were exhibited. To stand and gaze at this work of art made over 1,000 years ago...opened to the Book of John, chapter one. It is in Latin, so a card next to the page stated part of the translation. It read like this..."In the beginning was the Word,..." that was all the translation given and as I stood there gazing on it, shoulder to shoulder with other tourists perusing the offerings on display that day, I was electrified by the thought of the link I as a believer hold with all the other believers today and all of the other believers through the ages and these monks over 1,000 years ago who loved these words.

I wanted to ask, "do you know the rest?

It's God made music,

God made visible, God spoken... say it with me..."

"In the beginning...was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it."

The other page displayed was this artwork page (pictured above) of the four evangelists. Sky was able to share with some ladies the symbolism behind the artwork for each gospel.

This was how I understood his remarks; For Matthew-the lion- symbolizes the king savior. The book of Matthew centering on the kingdom of the heavens and emphasizing the kingly line of David. For Mark-the ox-symbolizes the slave savior. No lineage given in this gospel because slaves have no history. Christ is shown doing the will of the father in this gospel. For Luke-a man-symbolizing the man-savior and lineage given of the line of Adam to Christ. For John-the eagle- symbolizing the God-Savior and no lineage given because "In the beginning was God..".

Again, it was stunning to realize the link we have to the monks who labored to illustrate the truths of the gospels. The signs for the exhibit were so relevant in these dark times, 'turning darkness into light'. It was a really exciting visit for us. The homeschool mom in me was immediately excited over the possibilities of a unit study on illuminated books, begun with readings on monks, the reformation, Guttenburg, library books on illuminated writings-followed by purchase of a calligraphy set to illuminate our own books...you can see where this is going...I run around in circles much of the time. Four months later we would finally get to the book of Kells... (so, how many steps does it take for a homeschool family to change a lightbulb????)