[aron]

Originally Posted by New Beginnings

I appreciate your perspective... However, I cringe at the words "public and loudly." I have not spoken in a meeting in 10 years. I am not a confident person and am terrified of public shaming. I realize that The Lord can supply me with strength and confidence, but after all these years my faith is weak..

When I said "public and loudly" I meant to speak to your children, and the Christian women you connect with, and others that the Lord gives you. I didn't mean at some church gathering. Sorry. I have a flair for overstatement.

When your husband comes in the door and you are speaking to the children of the wonders of God's love in Jesus Christ, as revealed to you by the scripture you've been reading, it will touch him within. He will hear, and receive. God's word is powerful.

Let me rephrase my argument. If you read the NT, you will notice that Jesus repeatedly said, "Do you not understand the scriptures?", or "Have you not read scriptures?", then quote something. Jesus was dealing with people with small minds and a small Bible, but Jesus told Satan that "every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" was good for human life and living. Jesus had a 'big Bible': the word was living, and real, and operative to Jesus, powerful enough that He believed that the promises of God could raise Him from the dead. And they did: see Peter's word in Acts 2:30, and Paul's word in Acts 13:35-37; both referenced Psalm 16's declaration of faith in God's promise. Jesus took this promise and walked through death with it. And He did it for us.

And look at Paul in Romans 1:1-3 "Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle, set apart for the gospel of God, which he promised beforehand through his prophets in the holy Scriptures, concerning his Son, who was descended from David according to the flesh..." This "promise beforehand" through the prophets was a constant theme of the NT. But in the LC "God's Economy" template, if something doesn't fit, then it gets cut off (explained away, or called "low" or "natural", or simply ignored). God's promise through the prophets, concerning His Son Jesus Christ, was either shoehorned into Lee's hermeneutic, or abandoned.

But Lee's sleight-of-hand trick was to wave verses in the air, all with the confident "this equals that" verbiage. Yet if you begin to consider the Word outside of Lee's teaching, you will see it says many entirely different things, like remembering the poor, caring for the weak and the sick and the lonely, loving one another and loving God, etc. All these things were fulfilled by Jesus Christ. Then you'll begin to receive power to speak of a Christ whom you see, and the LC teachings won't be able to stand before you. Because you're equipped with the word. And your family will be infused with God's life.

Jesus wasn't trying to win a game of Trivial Pursuit with the Pharisees. He really lived by every word of God. And He used every word of God, and obeyed them in full and in depth, and thus fulfilled the promise spoken through the prophets. God doesn't want you to do it: God wants you to see Jesus doing it. Then the Spirit that shows you "this Jesus" (Acts 2:32) will give you the life of "this Jesus". In one very real sense, you don't have to do anything, just see. The very stones are crying out (Lu 19:40).

Originally Posted by New Beginnings

I should start with strengthening myself through the word of God. Yet I cannot quiet the feeling of wanting to run away from the LC, quickly.

So you can run away from the LC, and quickly. The path is before you, open; it is in the word of God. Jesus was called the Word of God for a reason. He is before you, hoping to speak a word to you, and ultimately through you. And God has sovereignly arranged for people to speak to: husband, children, friends, family. You have everything you need. Just fix your spiritual eyes on one thing: Jesus Christ, the promise of God. He's waiting to have a conversation with you, in scripture. "My sheep hear My voice", etc.

For example, one day I realized that the word shows us Jesus' love for His Father in heaven, and His love for the people around Him: he "loved them to the uttermost" (Jo 13:1). Jesus fulfilled the command: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself." Jesus did it. You want love? You want to love God? You want God's delight, love and favor? It is right in front of you, in the person of Jesus Christ, revealed over and over again in scripture. Once you get this simple fact, it will begin to spill out of you, into your world. Then watch it act. God's word is living and operative: it will act. Just find Jesus in the word. Find Him, and hold Him, and never let Him go.

Just pursue Him desperately in the word. Don't look to the right of left. Don't look back, don't look down. Just fix your eyes on Him, and a new world will open, "in Him." You'll hear His voice, and follow. Enjoy the ride.