01.29.10 A little of the Beauty of God's Creation and a song

Always Enough by: Casting Crowns!


And...finally some snow!!!!!

01.28.10

My heart is very full right now. I am reading many things, just not much time to write them here. I'll start with the passage that has stayed with me all week from a sermon Sunday night. From James 1 starting with verse 2:

Consider it all you, my brethren,
when you encounter various trial,
knowing that the testing of your faith
produces endurance.
And let endurance have its perfect result,
so that you may be perfect and complete,
lacking nothing.

I have to comment here about endurance. This word did not mean much to me until last September, as I am not an enduring person of late. But, I trained for eleven weeks for a sprint triathlon last year. How much better I understand this athletic language now! I trained six days a week almost without fail. I added a little more distance or laps each time until by the day of the triathlon I knew I could swim, bike and run the distances of the race. God really taught me a lot about preparation and sticking to something til the finish.

But if any of you lacks wisdom,
let him ask of God,
who gives to all generously
and without reproach,
and it will be given to him.

But he must ask in faith
without any doubting,
for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea,
driven and tossed the wind.

So, I have lacked much wisdom in understanding the workings of this world and the people around me. I had not been asking for wisdom! How often do we think we do not know what to pray...but here, James tells us unequivocally, "PRAY FOR WISDOM". But, then comes the hard part..."ask...without any doubting". This is where I have to pray, "Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief!" Jesus promised that in this world we would have troubles, but to take heart, because HE has overcome the world!!!

01.19.10 What to sing when nothing else helps!

It Is Well With My Soul

When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, with my soul,
It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,
And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

For me, be it Christ, be it Christ hence to live:
If Jordan above me shall roll,
No pang shall be mine, for in death as in life,
Thou wilt whisper Thy peace to my soul.

But Lord, 'tis for Thee, for Thy coming we wait,
The sky, not the grave, is our goal;
Oh, trump of the angel! Oh, voice of the Lord!
Blessed hope, blessed rest of my soul.

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.

Horatio Spafford

01.18.10 A tribute to Martin Luther King Jr.

We spent our morning reflecting on the life and work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. My favorite book to read to my kids about him was written by Christine King Farris, his sister. She writes from her childhood mind of growing up with her brother Martin, or M. L. as they called him. It is a beautiful account of their childhood and the things she feels impacted his "dream" the most. Such a wonderful tribute to the man, who in Christine's words, "turned the world upside down". We collected some quotes for copywork today and listened to his speech on Youtube. The following are a few of the quotes that struck me most:

A lie cannot live.

The time is always right to do what is right.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their CHARACTER.

A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hatred; only love can do that.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

A man can't ride your back unless it's bent.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.

01.15.10 My Hiding Place

One of the first truely Living Books I read aloud to my older children was The Secret Garden By: Frances Hodgson Burnett. I recently came across a version with beautiful illustrations by Inga Moore. I guess, truth be told, I came alive along with Mary. So, anyway, in keeping with the idea of The Secret Garden, my verse for the day is as follows:

Psalm 32:7 (Amplified)
You are a hiding place for me; You, Lord, preserve me from trouble, You surround me with songs and shouts of deliverance. Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

01.14.10 Comfort in our Testings!

Romans 16:10: Salute Apelles approved in Christ.

Apelles, that tested man in Christ; "the Lord knows, not we,
the tests he stood." (Moule)

(my bible references Romans 8:11 for "approved": But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.)

From Edges of His Ways for today's date:

Let us stop for a moment, and think what it would be if at the end of the day our name might be written thus: that tested man--that tested woman--that tested girl--that tested boy, in Christ. Would it not be joy past telling if only that might be? But to the tested man, woman, girl, boy, there is sure to come temptation to depression; and so in this same letter and in others, St. Paul uses a beautiful, strong, heartening word...comfort*, and which means not so much the consolation of grief, as "the encouragement which banishes weakness and depression." (Dr. Griffith Thomas)

Let us be "comforted together" afresh today. We may all be His Apelles.


*Romans 1:11-12
For I long to see you so that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established; that is, that I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other's faith, both yours and mine.

01.10.10 Don't Worry!

Matthew 6:25-26 (New American Standard Bible)

The Cure for Anxiety

²⁵"For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?

²⁶"Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?

Philippians 4:6-7 (Amplified Bible)

⁶Do not fret or have any anxiety about anything, but in every circumstance and in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, continue to make your wants known to God.

⁷And God's peace which transcends all understanding shall garrison and mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Colossians 3:15 (New American Standard Bible)

¹⁵Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body; and be thankful.

John 14:27 (Amplified Bible)

²⁷Peace I leave with you; My [own] peace I now give and bequeath to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. [Stop allowing yourselves to be agitated and disturbed; and do not permit yourselves to be fearful and intimidated and cowardly and unsettled.]

01.09.10

You, O Lord, are our Father;
Our Redeemer from Everlasting is Your name.

Isaiah 63:16

01.07.10 How much we need Christ

Puritan John Owens wrote these words:

Believers obey Christ as the one by whom our obedience is accepted by God. Believers know all their duties are weak, imperfect and unable to abide in God's presence. Therefore they look to Christ as the one who bears the iniquity of their holy things, who adds incense to their prayers, gathers out all the weeds from their duties and makes them acceptable to God.

01.06.10

(from William Carey on his 70th birthday, to one of his sons)

I am this day seventy years old, a monument of Divine mercy and goodness, though on a review of my life I find much, very much, for which I ought to be humbled in the dust; my direct and positive sins are innumerable, my negligence in the Lord's work has been great. I have not promoted his cause, nor sought his glory and honour as I ought, notwithstanding all this, I am spared till now, and am still retained in his Work, and I trust I am received into the divine favour through him.

2 Corinthians 5:15
"and He died for all,
so that they who live
might no longer live for themselves,
but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."

2 Corinthians 5:14
"For the love of Christ compels us..."

"Nothing in my hands I bring, simply to the cross I cling."

01.05.10 Grace that is Greater than all our Sin

Today I was overwhelmed with amazement at how God takes everything we read and uses it to aid in explaining whatever He is teaching me!!

I have missed a couple of weeks of The Disciplines of Grace study in our small group due to work. I decided not to skip to the chapter they are on, but pick back up where I left off reading and catch up. I skimmed the first chapter until I came to parts I didn't remember well. And here is the point where I realized that I know I read this, but it didn't mean as much too me then as it does now because of all the things the Lord has been teaching me!!! Only God, only His Word!!!

Bridges says, "It is only the joy of hearing the gospel and being reminded that our sins are forgiven in Christ that will keep the demands of discipleship from becoming drudgery.

It is only gratitude and love to God that comes from knowing the He no longer counts our sins against us (Romans 4:8) that provides the proper motive for responding to the claims of discipleship."

But, we tend to swing from one extreme (being proud of our accomplishments like the Pharisees) to the other (constant feelings of guilt).

"When we pray to God for His blessing, He does not examine our performance to see if we are worthy. Rather, He looks to see if we are trusting in the merit of His Son as our only hope for securing His blessing."

All of this points to my need to be in His word and in prayer and listening to the Holy Spirit. This is why I'm blogging scripture and prayers and plan to do this all year. I need time with him. I need accountability!

Philippians 3:9, I want to be “found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith.”

"We look to God, not as our enemy or as a frustrated father who can never be pleased, but as our Father who is 100% for us because of Christ alone. Therefore, we trust him, that because of Christ (his death and righteousness), he will give us the Spirit—and everything else we need. " John Piper

01.04.10

I've had this verse rolling around in my head all day....

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:11

Then, these came....

"Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?" (Jer. 8:22 NIV)

and...

"They go from one sin to another; they do not acknowledge me." (Jer. 9:3 NIV)

this prayer is from Stormie Omartian's Praying God's Will For Your Life

Lord, I know You are God of the universe, and I recognize that You are present in my life. Please help me sense Your hand on me as I go about my daily tasks. I love You, Lord, and I thank You for Your love and care for me.

In Jesus Name,
Amen.

01.03.10

Joshua 24:14

Now therefore, fear the Lord and serve Him in sincerity and truth; and put away the gods which your fathers served beyond the river and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. If it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.

Well, if that isn't the way to start the new year off right!!!! 'nough said!!!

01.02.10

Charm is deceitful,
beauty is vain,
but a woman who fears the Lord,
she shall be praised.

Proverbs 31:30

01.01.10 "Restoring the Years of Loss"

(from Love to Eat, Hate to Eat by Elyse Fitzpatrick)

"I hope that these thoughts don't discourage you
or bring you any sense of condemnation.
Perhaps you've never thought about your body in this way before,
and now it seems as though it's almost too late.
Perhaps you are already suffering the effects of neglecting or abusing your body (or life).
Don't give up.
It's never too late to begin serving God.
He can restore and help you.
Listen to these words from the prophet Joel (from the Lord):

"I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten,
the creeping locust,
the stripping locust,
and the gnawing locust,
My great army
which I sent among you."
Joel 2:25

God's people had sinned and they were reaping the consequences of their behavior.
Just think-- God could have said,
"Well, tough luck, guys. I told you not to sin and you went ahead,
so now you'll just have to reap the consequences of your actions."
But that's not what He does.
No, He calls them to repentance,
and THEN He tells them that He will make up for all the losses they have suffered".
(Italics mine)


"These have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name."
John 20:31