Obedience vis-à-vis Sacrifice

24 Tuesday Mar 2015

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Devotional

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appease, biblical truth, childish tactic, commandments, condemnation, discipline, faithful obedience, fitting, peace offering, propitiatory gift, punishment, rebelliousness, sacrifice of general atonement

Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams. ~ 1 Samuel 15:22 ESV

Whenever my third grandson was disobedient, he would try to avoid discipline by giving me a “peace offering”—some of his tasty cookies, or one of his favorite toys. This grandchild honestly believed that by sacrificing his most cherished possessions he would get me to change my mind about his promised punishment.

King Saul used a similar childish tactic. He was hoping to circumvent the punishment due him for disobeying God. King Saul disobeyed God’s command to destroy EVERYTHING belonging to the Amalekites. Realizing his own rebelliousness, King Saul decided that a burnt offering (sacrifice of general atonement) would appease Jehovah. As a result, King Saul ordered his subjects to sacrifice some of their recently acquired best spoils.

Unfortunately, the damage was done. There wasn’t anything that King Saul or his subjects could do to lessen God’s condemnation. For his disobedience, the king received a fitting punishment—God rejected him as Israel’s king.

Let us learn the lesson King Saul didn’t. That lesson teaches this biblical truth: Our obedience to God always will please Him. Thus, whenever the Holy Spirit reminds us of this biblical truth, we invariably should respond to that reminder by doing exactly what God has commanded us to do, realizing that when we persistently practice faithful obedience we will not have to try to appease our Father with a propitiatory gift (a.k.a., peace offering). Shalom.

~ from my manuscript: Keeping It Real: Daily Renewing the Mind

My Sincerest ‘Thank You’

07 Saturday Mar 2015

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Praises and Thanks

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be a friend, be grateful, be kind, birth day, born day, give thanks, Happy Birthday wishes, show love, special day

He gives you something you can then give away, which grows into full-formed lives, robust in God, wealthy in every way, so that you can be generous in every way, producing with us great praise to God. Carrying out this social relief work involves far more than helping meet the bare needs of poor Christians. It also produces abundant and bountiful thanksgivings to God. This relief offering is a prod to live at your very best, showing your gratitude to God by being openly obedient to the plain meaning of the Message of Christ. You show your gratitude through your generous offerings to your needy brothers and sisters, and really toward everyone. Meanwhile, moved by the extravagance of God in your lives, they’ll respond by praying for you in passionate intercession for whatever you need. Thank God for this gift, his gift. No language can praise it enough! ~ 2 Corinthians 9:11-15, MSG

thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live. ~ 1 Thessalonians 5:18, MSG

First and foremost, I thank God for all of my WordPress friends who thought enough of me to take the time to post their Happy Birthday wishes on March 6. I am truly blessed!

Secondly, I personally thank everyone who stopped by my blog on March 6, and I especially thank those individuals who left me their Happy Birthday wishes yesterday on my “Google Does It Again!” blog posting. Much love . . . . .

Shalom . . . . .

Google Does It Again!

06 Friday Mar 2015

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Praises and Thanks

≈ 7 Comments

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50 spiritual years, 64 natural years, born days, God is good, grandparent, Happy Birthday, natural birth, parent, sexagenarian, sixties, spiritual birth, The Beatles' "Birthday" song

You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous—and how well I know it. You were there while I was being formed in utter seclusion! You saw me before I was born and scheduled each day of my life before I began to breathe. Every day was recorded in your book! ~ Psalm 139:13-16, TLB

I, Wisdom, will make the hours of your day more profitable and the years of your life more fruitful. ~ Proverbs 9:11, TLB

Just like last year and the year before that, I woke up on March 6 (thank You God) to find that Google once again had displayed on my web browser’s homepage a Happy Birthday doodle made just for me. Even though it is the very same doodle Google first displayed in 2013, every year it still is exciting to see this absolutely cute drawing in honor of my born day. Thank you so much, Google!

Well, it is now official. In this natural world, today I can begin celebrating my 64th born day. However, on Sunday March 1, I also began celebrating my spiritual birth’s 50th born day. What a fabulous month March has been so far!

Just yesterday I tenderly mentioned to a family member that I vividly can remember when my parents (God rest their souls) were in their sixties. Now I am the parent and grandparent who is the sexagenarian!

Time seems to have flown by at warp speed. Even so, I am grateful to God I can say that through all the days of my life HE has remained incredibly good to me. Thank You God!

Please join me in singing the following lyrics from The Beatles 1968 “Birthday” song:

They say it’s your birthday
It’s my birthday too, yeah
They say it’s your birthday
We’re gonna have a good time
I’m glad it’s your birthday
Happy birthday to you.

It’s my birthday! Happy Birthday to me!

March 2015 . . . The First Eight Days

02 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Praises and Thanks

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“old man” nature, cream of the crop milestones, God's family, happy birthdays, March 1, March 6, March 8, natural born day, new-man nature, parents' family, physical birth, physically alive, physically born, simplicity and complexity, spiritual birth, spiritual born day, spiritually alive, spiritually reborn, water baptism day

He has rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son. It is through his Son that we have redemption — that is, our sins have been forgiven. He is the visible image of the invisible God. He is supreme over all creation, because in connection with him were created all things — in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, lordships, rulers or authorities — they have all been created through him and for him. ~ Colossians 1:13-16, CJB

But to as many as did receive him, to those who put their trust in his person and power, he gave the right to become children of God,not because of bloodline, physical impulse or human intention, but because of God. ~ John 1:12-13, CJB

You crown the year with your goodness,
your tracks overflow with richness. ~ Psalm 65:11, CJB

I mentioned in my last blog posting that during the first eight days of March I experienced some additional milestones in my life. That is why beginning yesterday (March 1^st) and continuing through March 8^th, I will be celebrating these milestones, which began with my spiritual rebirth and the Spirit washing me clean with God’s Word. This milestone probably actually happened on February 28^th of 1965, as it was on this day that I was led by the Holy Spirit to give my life to Jesus Christ. However, the magnitude of my decision to confess I needed a Savior did not fully register with me until the very next day, which was March 1, 1965. This is the day my spiritual new birth became a reality—felt genuine to me. Additionally, this week I will be celebrating my physical birth on Friday. I was physically born on March 6, 1951. Lastly, on Sunday I will be celebrating my water baptism or public outward expression of the Holy Spirit’s inward work. My water baptism took place on March 8, 1965.

These milestones are addressed in my above illustrated Birthday Haiku graphic. They also are noted in the same graphic by the numbers 50 (my spiritual birth years) and 64 (my natural birth years).

It is such a wonderful blessing that in the month of March God planned for the most important days of my life to happen. It is amazing how He planned for me to become spiritually alive (spiritually reborn into God’s family), saved and justified, as well as planned for me to become physically alive (physically born into my parents’ family). These born days are why, for me, the words the prophet Jeremiah speaks are all that more applicable to my life. Jeremiah writes:

For I know what plans I have in mind for you,’ says Adonai, ‘plans for well-being, not for bad things; so that you can have hope and a future. ~ Jeremiah 29:11, CJB

There can be no doubt that being able to commemorate these two most important days of my life (spiritual and physical born days) is part of God’s plan for my well-being. He not only allowed both days to happen in the same month but also He allowed them to happen within a matter of days. That is why it is clear to me that God put my two born days in March to help me better understand both the simplicity and complexity of my “old man” and “new man” natures, primarily by their juxtaposition.

I am so grateful to God to have clustered so many of my milestones in close proximity of one another. Without doubt, the milestones on the 1^st, 6^th, and 8^th of March are the cream of the crop! Thank You so much, Father God, for these rich and abundant blessings!

Shalom . . . . .

HAPPY BORN DAYS to me (March 1 and March 6)! HAPPY WATER BAPTISM DAY (March 8)!

Another Noteworthy Milestone

02 Monday Mar 2015

Posted by Rev. Nadine Drayton-Keen in Praises and Thanks

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2-25-1984, 31 years, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., beliefs, centers, churches, companies, credo, families, foundations, groups, Guide, institutions, Kappa Delta Omega Chapter, mantra, ministries, motto, organizations, perpetual attitude, principles, service to mankind, Service to Others, sisterhood, slogan, soror (sister), succinctly condensed, truths

Be generous with the different things God gave you, passing them around so all get in on it: if words, let it be God’s words; if help, let it be God’s hearty help. That way, God’s bright presence will be evident in everything through Jesus, and he’ll get all the credit as the One mighty in everything—encores to the end of time. Oh, yes! ~ 1 Peter 4:10-11, MSG

Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you’ll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you’re content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty. ~ Matthew 23:11-12, MSG.

Last week I blogged about a very important milestone in my life—becoming a published book author. Well, in the same week that my book Perfect Peace went live, I also celebrated the beginning of my 31^st year as a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Back on February 25, 1984 I became a member of Kappa Delta Omega Chapter (a graduate chapter) of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority (AKA). Here is a scan of my official AKA membership certificate:

February 2015, thus, was a very memorable month for me. I couldn’t have planned any of these milestones to have happened in February, if I had tried.

I should note here that only a few of my family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances know that I am an AKA soror (sister). That is because I no longer wear AKA apparel, nor do I wear AKA jewelry, or carry anything at all that has the AKA Greek letters on it. Nevertheless, I am indeed an AKA soror—a soror who has spent a good deal of her sisterhood trying to live up to the AKA credo: “To be supreme in service to all mankind.”

There is no doubt in my mind that it was because of my upcoming 31^st year anniversary with Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority that had me thinking on February 17^th about today’s institutions, organizations, companies, centers, foundations, ministries, churches, groups, families—and so forth—whose guiding motto/mantra/slogan/credo is: “Service to Others.” In my musings, I had found it interesting that I am, and/or was, a member of several institutions, organizations, and so forth, that have adopted the “Service to Others” motto and/or credo.

Now for me, the “Service to Others” motto/credo is so much more than JUST a short statement or phrase that succinctly condenses the beliefs, truths and principles that guide me. For sure, the “Service to Others” motto and/or credo actually defines my perpetual attitude, which has echoes that ricochet off my Christian lifestyle and reverberate in every institution, organization, and etc., that I currently belong to—or used to be a member of, at one time or another.

Thinking about the meaning of the “Service to Others” motto/mantra/slogan/credo certainly is what led me to compose a Service Haiku. Please enjoy my following illustrated 2015 Service Haiku:

Also, I hope my blog readers have enjoyed my illustrated AKA Haiku, which is in this posting’s initial graphic.

God indeed has been very good to me in February 2015. He also is being good to me in March 2015. In fact, the first eight days of this month have witnessed additional milestones, which I will be celebrating. Those milestones will be addressed in my next blog posting.

Shalom . . . . .