The Theme of Fall

September 2, 2016

"He will tend His flock like a shepherd;

He will gather the lambs in His arms;

He will carry them in His bosom;

and gently lead those that are with young." Isaiah 40:11

I'm going into fall with a pretty good rhythm going. We all know how easy it is to let the laundry sit in the baskets unfolded, to eat meals that are quick and easy without thinking about how good they are for you, or to let the floors go a few weeks without being vacuumed. 

Often times, we come to the end of summer with a lot of bad habits and a desperate need to get things back into shape. That is almost always exactly where I find myself each year. This year, things are different. Our summer routine required keeping things in shape and left a lot of room for it too. For once, I lived a quiet life getting things done and being able to have a pretty good idea of when people would be coming and going. Rather than going into fall feeling like I have a lot of things I need to work on, I've got a rhythm going and I want to keep it up. 

Normally I come out of summer with a list of resolves,  but  this year I'm going into fall with a single word on my mind, namely, TEND. This fall, I'm resolving to tend the good habits, my soul, my relationships, and whatever else God brings before me. 

Tend is such a good word. It's good in part because it's so familiar. I am, by nature, one who tends. I enjoy the work of tending. I find it somewhat easy and even when it's not I find it super rewarding. The work of tending requires thought and planning and diligence and effort. The work of tending means that we cannot grow weary of doing the same things over and over again. 

The best part of letting this single word be my resolve is that it's not something I have to do alone.

I may not be part of Isaiah's original audience, but God most certainly does tend, gather, carry, and lead His people. As I've read the Bible in 2016, I am enamored with the thread of how God TEACHES His people to be His people. He commands things that are good for us. And then He goes a step further and leads us along. 

Tomorrow morning, I'll stand with my family to join the church that we've been attending for the last year. As I do, this resolve of mine will gain another facet. It's something that's been missing and I'm honestly a little scared, bust mostly just really excited to see what will become of this step. The Church is the place that God does a lot of tending. He gathers His people for a reason. As we join this church we'll be opening ourselves up to the tending that God has for us to receive and to give there. 

On this gray Saturday, I'm sitting in a quiet, clean house with a candle burning and some Jill Andrews playing. My soul is peaceful and full and overflowing with gratefulness to this God of mine. He is good, you guys, so good. I'll never tire of His goodness.

However you're making it to fall, my prayer is that God would grant you so much peace in your soul and some wisdom about how to make the most of this new season. God leads His people. There is nothing sweeter than being led by Him.

One Year Later

April 20, 2014

Having just celebrated Easter with my new church family, I am overflowing with praise to God for the gift of other Christians. I don't doubt that many of you share my gratefulness for solid brothers and sisters in Christ. Some of you know the struggle that comes with yearning for and asking God to grant you a church home. It is a familiarity with that longing that convinced me of the NEED for regular communion with other Christians.

You see, aside from a short stint when I lived in Massachusetts, I've never been a part of a solid local body of believers. It got to the point where I went over four years without even going to church. The story of that period is a long one, but it boils down to a period in my life where the only option was a church that was not true to or enamored with the Word of God. During that time, I stayed as close as I could to God and I never stopped asking Him to grant me people who LOVE Him. I spent a lot of time at the Ranch and with Jay and Alice and Al and those in person times of Christian fellowship were beyond sweet. For several years, I missed having a church and felt really silly when people asked me about what church I was a part of and having to tell them that I wasn't. If I'm honest, it mostly felt really good not to have that area of battling with people who should have known better in my life any more.

Eventually, the whole not having a church thing started to really bother me. I missed what I had in Massachusetts and I craved a body of local believers the way that many people crave marriage or a baby. I cannot express to you just how overcome I was with this longing. Last Easter that longing came to a head. On Palm Sunday, I wrote this post and then I visited my parents' church for Holy Week services only to be reminded of the gut wrenching words that came from the pulpit there. On Easter Sunday, I sat out on the back patio at our house listening to the church bells ring. It was a beautiful spring day and I was just coming to the end of a journal. I poured myself out to God in prayer. By the time I gathered my things and went back into the house, my soul was refreshed. I didn't know what was going to happen, but I had submitted this area of concern to Him. I was honest with myself, with Him, and full of confidence in whatever it was that He had in store. 

One year later, Easter rolled around and everything was so different. On Sunday I stood surrounded by this new body that I've been a part of since the end of August. The voices cascading over me as we sang "Christ The Lord Is Risen Today" were enough to make me sing this familiar song with all that I had in me. As we joined together to read Psalm 2 and hear the preaching about being glad in God, I was sitting in my seat overflowing with gladness. When the bread and the wine were passed around, I feasted on my Lord and His faithfulness. Though God didn't have to grant me a church or make it possible for me to have a place in it, He has. Those years of living where I grew up have given me so very much to be grateful for, the main ones being the walk with God that I have, dependence on Him, and a strong conviction for the absolute necessity of regular communion with other Christians. 

Wherever you are, please do not take God's charge to meet with other Christians lightly. As with all of His commands, this one is for your good. Seek out people who love God and whose delight is found in His Word. Praise God and pray for churches full of these kinds of people. I still have to finish the "Strategies for Beholding" series, but until then, it is my hope that this testimony of God's grace will remind you of the gift that we Christians are to one another. 

How has God's grace shown up in your life recently?

Six Months To Live

February 8, 2016

Last September, I sat in the front row of a room full of people who had gathered together to celebrate the graduation of 39 men and women who had just completed their training as police officers. An older gentleman sat down beside me and we quickly struck up a conversation. It turns out that his grandson and my brother were from the same department. We talked for quite a while before my Aunt leaned over to make sure he wasn't bothering me. He wasn't. The man was beaming from ear to ear and was eager to tell me all about himself and his grandson. Before we knew it, the graduates were ready to march to the front of the room where they would be recognized for their achievements.

The moment my brother walked up to the stage, I started whooping and hollering at the top of my lungs, just like I used to during his football days. I was prouder than proud and afterwards he told me that he thought all of our family was working together to make all that racket. When I had finished cheering, the man beside me said, "Oh! That was your brother? You shoulda warned me. If I'da known, I'da hollered too!" Needless to say, I gave a couple of cheers when his grandson marched across the stage.

After the ceremony, everyone joined their police officer for pictures and congratulations. From there, the officers wandered around congratulating each other and saying their see ya laters. When we were on our way back to the dorms to pick up my brother's belongings, we passed the old man one more time and congratulated the family. As we were walking away he said, "Goodbye, sister and brother!" And I smiled all over again.

It was raining that day. The same rain that turned into the flood in Columbia less than one week later. But the rain didn't take away from the excitement and the pride and the joy that was floating around that gym.

I got news today that that man's grandson committed suicide yesterday. Last September when we watched him march across the stage, none of us knew that he only had less than six months to live. Nobody knew that this man with a badge and a gun and a bullet proof vest would use a gun to take his own life. None of us knew the pain that he carried with him in his heart. We knew that he was young and had his whole life ahead of him. Turns out, that "whole life" was less than six months.

When I received the news, I walked directly to the window to look at the sun streaming in. I thought of the young man and of the stories my brother has told me about him. I thought of his grandpa and what this news will mean to him. I did what I promised myself I would do in 2016 as I mulled over this bad news by whispering the words, "Behold, our God!" to myself.

I sit here at my table by that same window looking up every now and then to see the sun shining through the big maple in our backyard and to watch the squirrel scurry around collecting nuts and seeds and I'm still thinking of that young man and his grandpa. News like that cannot be easy to receive. I have so many questions and the one I keep coming back to is, "What now?" The young man is GONE. He's finished carrying around the burdens life on this earth gave him. His family just got a new burden added to their shoulders.

And I'm thinking about my Grandma's sister who finally called to tell my Grandma that she was diagnosed with ALS in October and was given six months to live. One at the cusp of adulthood, choosing to take his life less than six months after a huge accomplishment and the other dealing with a diagnosis at 50 years old  knowing that her time is running out and FAST. Suicide and disease are both heavy burdens to bear. They both remind us that life on this earth will always be tainted by sin.

I could talk about how none of us know how much longer we have, but that's not what's on my mind. What's on my mind are the stories of the lives that we DO have. We took my Mom out for an early birthday lunch yesterday. She'll be 49 on Saturday and hearing my youngest brother pray the words, "May she be with us for a good long while." made me tear up then and they're making me bawl today. All I can do is cry and pray and remind myself to behold OUR God.

Pray for these families. Pray for the family dealing with this young man's suicide. Pray for my Grandma and her sister. Pray for my Mom, that her 49th year would be full of God's grace and that we would have her with us for a good long while.

Death and disease and aging and burdens play a huge part of life here. May we work together to make finding the answers to the "What now?" question a little easier. Along the way, may we stop to behold God, for the wonder of His glory is all around us. Even in times like these.

A Strategy For Beholding God: Purposeful Prayer

February 5, 2016

"But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting anxiously for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life." Jude 1:20-21

Purposeful prayer is one of the main means by which Christians can position themselves to behold God as they wait on Him. It is informed and strengthened by consistent Bible reading. In purposeful prayer, we are resolving to wait on God while paying careful attention to what we are waiting for and exactly what it means to be waiting on God.

Faith in God sustains us when we don't think we can wait on Him any longer. It shouldn't surprise us that God means to use the purposeful prayers of His people to stir up the kind of faith that sustains.

Pay Careful Attention To What We Are Waiting For

When we take things to God in prayer, we are declaring that we are waiting on Him for certain things. It is important to consider the themes that our prayers are taking. Doing this requires some effort. It's sort of like taking an inventory  and we should be specific.

Andrew Murray gives some examples of what may be waiting for. Namely, for:

God to take His place as God in our prayers

God to work in us the sense of His holy presence and nearness

a special petition that we expect an answer

God's power in our inner life

the state of His Church and saints

some part of God's work that we are looking to Him to do

He goes on to say that, "it is good that we sometimes count up to ourselves exactly what the things are we are waiting for, and as we say definitely to each of them, 'On Thee do I wait,' we shall be emboldened to claim the answer, 'For on Thee do I wait.'"

Christian, taking specific things to God in prayer and then going over that list is a great way to keep yourself dedicated to this kind of praying. Exactly what are the things that you are waiting for right now?

Pay Careful Attention To What It Means To Be Waiting on God

Paying careful attention to what it means to be waiting on God is the part of keeping our prayer purposeful that helps to ensure that we truly are praying to GOD. I know that's a mouthful, but it is easy to get so caught up in either not praying at all OR in the things that we are praying for that we actually forget about the God to whom we are praying. This will never do.

The very purpose of prayer is to unite us with God in Christ. We take our needs to Him and turn them over to Him. Prayer leads us to trust Him and to KEEP trusting Him. While we pray, we are turning our attention away from everything else in order to direct our gaze to God.

Murray reminds us that we are waiting on "the living God, such as He really is..." In all His:

great glory

infinite holiness

power

wisdom

goodness

love

nearness

"It is the presence of God, as He can in Christ by His Holy Spirit make Himself known, and keep the soul under its covering and shadow, that will waken and strengthen the true waiting spirit." Christian, you must guard against the tendency to turn away from God as He presents Himself in Scripture.

You see, purposeful prayer goes hand in hand with consistent Bible reading. You cannot be purposeful in your prayers without being impacted by your time in God's Word. This Word shapes our prayers and our view of God in a way that binds these two means together so that we may truly be waiting on God as we go about the business of beholding Him. What do you know of God and what role does this knowledge play in your praying?

What It Means To "Pray In The Spirit"

Before I close, I would like to go over what it means to "pray in the Spirit". This is where the "purposeful" part comes in. We must not be careless about HOW we pray.

Packer describes "prayer in the Spirit" as, "prayer from the heart, springing from awareness of God, of self, of others, of needs, and of Christ." He goes on to say that, "he (or she) whose heart seeks God through Christ prays in the Spirit." Praying in the Spirit is a means God grants His people to keep themselves in His love and as such, it is a means by which He keeps them in His love.

Just in case you missed it, praying in the Spirit requires a heart that is truly seeking God and His will. Have you been praying in the Spirit?

If you know your heart isn't seeking God, take it straight to Him and ask Him to teach it to. If that seems odd, read over the first few books in the Old Testament (especially Deuteronomy) and watch for the ways that God taught and instructed His people even before He gave them commandments. He is the best Teacher you'll ever have.

The Place of Purposeful Prayer

Though many of us struggle with keeping up with purposeful prayer, it is a true gift of God. If we doubt the power or place of prayer, we ought to look at the life of Christ who modeled it so perfectly. He was always meeting with God. It was something He could not neglect if He was to carry on with the work He came to earth to do.

The very fact that we are looking to and waiting on God will stir up in us natural utterances of prayer, just like it did for Christ. Murray puts it this way, "It is a great thing for a soul not only to wait upon God, but to be filled with such a consciousness that its whole spirit and position is that of a waiting one..."

If we are struggling to carry on or to keep our resolve to behold God, it could be that our lack of purposeful praying is playing a big part in that. May God grant us grace to employ this means by which our souls are kept in His love and may our prayerlessness be one more thing that makes us aware of our need to go to God.

To those of you who are purposeful prayer warriors, may your dedication of this means of grace remind you daily of God's work in your heart! May you remain strong in this area and may it accomplish much in your life as well as in the lives your prayers are touching.

How are you planning to devote yourself to purposeful prayer in 2016?

Where are you when it comes to this area of the Christian life?

Resources:
Packer quotes taken from p. 79-80 of "Keep In Step With the Spirit".
Murray quotes taken from  chapter 7 of "Waiting on God".
If you would like more on the topic of prayer here's a very helpful sermon.

The Circle: January 2016

Last time I took part in Kiki's link up, it was July and I let a bunch of FB quizzes introduce me. This time around, the theme for The Circle is to make a goal and inspiration moodboard for 2016. I had a lot of fun going through my pictures to come up with illustrations for some things I want to make sure that I do this year.

One Word: My word for 2016 is behold. Basically, this word is a constant reminder that I want my life to be centered around beholding God in all things and at all times.

Stay In God's Word: A big part in this business of beholding is consistent Bible reading. I'm currently taking one hour to read through Scripture first thing every morning. Along with this habit, comes the need for purposeful prayer and regular communion with other Christians. I'll be writing more about each of those topics over the next few weeks.

Travel: If the opportunity comes at all, I want to follow Alice's advice and "See everything and do everything they say to do. You can rest when you get home." 2015 held quite a few opportunities to travel including two trips to SC. This is half hope and half pep talk.

Let The Music Play: I've been embracing music more like I used to and I forgot how much I love it. I'm going to be sharing playlists every once in a while here too.

Write And Write Some More: I decided to write a book this year. It's going to be a novel and my goal is to use it to communicate the feelings of "home" that my Mom's parents and their house hold for me. I haven't played with fiction in years. It's going to be TOUGH, but tough is good.

Remember Julia: I went from knowing nothing other than her status as "a famous cook"  to being completely smitten with and inspired by Julia Child. In November 2014 I read her book "My Life in France" which fed my curiosity about France (created by F. Scott Fitzgerald) as well as my passion for cooking for anyone willing to let me put food on the table. In November 2015 I read "As Always, Julia" where I learned about her dedication to language studies, Paul's heart for gardening, and Avis's stick-to-itiveness when it came to getting Child's cookbook published. Basically: I want to spend an hour a day on French and remember to make the most of every circumstance. Have a bunch of free time? Use it wisely, who knows what might come of your efforts. You might be moving? Keep the garden up as if you'll be there for a hundred years. The business of accomplishing ____ is tough? Don't give up! 

Go For Walks: I love walking and I've been doing much less of it lately. I want to change that.

There you have it, seven goals and inspirations I'm carrying close as 2016 descends upon us!!! Things are off to a great start and I can't wait to tell you more about why that is.

Are you linking up with Kiki?

What are some goals and inspirations you have for 2016?

Christmas 2015 In Pictures

The day after Thanksgiving in 2009, marked the day when no family holiday would ever be quite the same. That was the day my barely 17 year old brother packed up his truck and made the cross country trek to start life over again in South Carolina. Since that day, holidays have held a bittersweetness to them that makes me squeeze WHOEVER I'm with a little bit closer.

Christmas 2015 was unlike ANY Christmas before it. My brother (who is now 23) and sister (who happens to be 17) were missing. He still lives in SC and she was visiting over the Christmas vacation. Meanwhile, I ended up celebrating the day at The Queen's Cottage with my Mom and youngest brother. It was just the three of us because my brother was SICK, I was getting sick, and my Mom was getting over having been sick. No body wanted our germs and we didn't feel like traveling, so we stayed put.

The whole week is kind of a blur. The day we dropped my sister off (the Thursday before Christmas) it started snowing and it didn't stop until a few days after Christmas. We shoveled like our lives depended on it. We saw the Star Wars premiere. We got rearended while we were at a stop sign on Monday. Went to a party on Tuesday night with some new friends. By Wednesday, we realized that we would probably be staying put and started planning for how we would celebrate.

I can't remember if it was Christmas Eve, Eve or Christmas Eve...But my Mom and I went shopping to get a few surprises to make sure that Christmas still felt SOMEWHAT like Christmas for my 15 year old brother. We braved the crowds and made our way to Wal-Mart where we picked up some sparkling cider, a waffle iron, one small gift for him, a little tree and tree skirt, and a giant platter of shrimp cocktail.

It was Christmas and sick or not, we had plans to make the most of it!

On Christmas morning, my Mom lit the candles and opened the drapes and the celebration of our Savior's birth began.

We had our traditional waffles with strawberries and whipped cream. We exchanged a few small presents. We had allll the time in the world to lay around feeling miserable (just keeping it real). We facetimed with my sister and the family members she was gathered with. I made a small pot of spaghetti (thankfully, it was the kind of sick where we could all hold down food and had decent appetites) complete with repurposed hamburger buns which served as garlic bread and some homemade crutons to go on our ceasar salads.

The day was slow and lazy and special all at the same time. It was Christmas and the three of us were together with eyes glazed over, fevers running high, and the kind of quiet in your soul that comes when you're thinking deeply about LIFE. 

It was a Christmas for the books. People were missing and a lot DIDN'T happen. Oddly enough, it's not one I want to forget anytime soon.

How was YOUR Christmas?

What is your favorite Christmas tradition that you take with you no matter WHERE you spend it?

 

A Strategy For Beholding God: Consistent Bible Reading

These wait all upon Thee,

That Thou mayest give them their meat in due season.

That Thou givest unto them, they gather;

Thou openest Thine hand, they are satisfied with good.  Psalm 104:27-28

The resolve to behold God is essentially about waiting on Him. To wait on God is to join Christ in looking to Him as our supplier and commander. ALL that we have and are, have been and are being received from the hand of God. We truly have nothing to boast about in ourselves. Nothing. Positioning ourselves to wait on God is even a gift of grace that He grants us.

If we would behold Him, we must be always waiting on Him. Neither waiting on nor beholding God come naturally to us. We are naturally inclined to want satisfaction, but our hearts are master deceivers. Waiting on God is a special kind of waiting. It is about being aware of Him, in communion with Him, and totally dependent on Him. It has been said that we become what we behold. I like to take it a step further and say that, whether we realize it or not, we behold what we want to become. Beholding God is what happens when we truly are positioning ourselves to wait on Him. When our lives are shaped by that kind of waiting, everything becomes a finger that points directly to Him.

The hope of the Christian is the faithfulness of God. We know we cannot earn our way into God's favor...Here too, in resolving to behold God and positioning ourselves to wait on Him, we see His grace. As Andrew Murray says in chapter 4 of "Waiting on God", "...He [God] means His very demands to be promises of what He will do." Consistent Bible reading is one area where the demands and promises of God intersect.

Anyone can read the Bible. Anyone can commit to regular reading time. BUT, what such a resolve accomplishes and whether or not it exists is up to God. Christian, if you would behold God and wait on Him, you must be about the business of getting to know Him. The Bible is His special revelation given and preserved for the sake of His people. The point of today's post is this: We must make good use of His Word.

It is too easy to get caught up in waiting on OTHER things. And that waiting leads us to behold other things.

Choose a time each day, choose a plan, and make use of this means. The meat of God's Word is near, if you would wait on Him and behold Him, you must be about the business of gathering it and feasting upon it and drinking from this well that will not go dry. Check out this article for a list of plans and tons of resources. This is the plan I'm doing in 2016.

I have found that no means accomplishes so much as regular time spent in God's Word. It is in reading that Book that I have come to see God, to desire Him, and to find myself completely dependent on Him. The testimonies of consistent time in its pages have filled little books of their own. 

May 2016 be a year of consistent Bible reading. May God use this grace to fill you with such clear sight of Him that our lives are marked by waiting on and beholding Him.

How are you planning to devote yourself to consistent Bible reading in 2016?

Is this something you struggle with?

One Word: 2016

January 2, 2015 || Photo Credit: My Mom ||

"Make me to know Your ways, O LORD; teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, for You are the God of my salvation; for You I wait all the day long...My eyes are ever toward the LORD..." Psalm 25:4-5 & 15a

When I was in college, I had one professor who seemed to be obsessed with the idea that reality was defined by God. He was always bringing everything back around to his belief that it is only possible to live according to reality if you are consciously aware of God and that any other approach to life is basically wandering around in a type of dream state or worse yet, psychosis. I was drawn to his firm belief in this philosophy of life and still find myself challenged by it to this day.

It is crucial that we are always aware of the reality of God. We need to be aware and we need to be enamored with Him. Being aware of God means that we KNOW Him, that we are WATCHING for His hand at work, and that we are TRUSTING Him with every moment of time. My professor was right. Everything in existence was created by God. To walk around for a single second without Him on our minds is insanity. He is reality. We face reality when we face Him and keep our faces turned to Him.

We all know that this is HARD. It's hard to go along in constant communion with God. It's hard to see a child suffering at the hands of irresponsible parents. It's hard to want desperately to conceive a child of your own and realize that another month has gone by and your womb is still empty. It's hard to watch the news. It's hard to go through the easy times and still cling to God the way we do on the darkest of days. It's hard to get our minds to reach outside of ourselves and live in light of eternity instead of our current desires. In short, it's HARD to face reality.

As Christians, we have reality Himself working for us so that we WILL see and know and cling and BEHOLD. We can face reality knowing that every single thing that has ever happened has passed through the hands of God and is meant for the good of His people (which is to be made more like Christ) and the glory of His name. This same is true for everything that ever will happen too.

God never tells people to do something without equipping them to do it. Scripture is full of assurances of this. Behind every command is truth and grace and means. The command to live for the glory of God in 1 Corinthians is surrounded by truths that explain exactly what that is, assurances that His grace makes it possible, and reminders of HOW it's even possible in the first place. That's just ONE example.

I believe that the three crucial means by which it is possible for us to face reality and live in light of it (again this is the fact that God IS and that He upholds everything). There may be more, but over the years these are the ones I've found to be indispensable: purposeful prayer, consistent Bible reading, and regular communion with other Christians. All three of these means are KEYS in the life of Christ - the one who faced reality, was enamored with God, depended on Him for everything, and remained in trusting communion with him. When these resolves are ours are met with God's grace, things begin to make sense and I might even say, a little bit easier.

My word for 2016 is BEHOLD. Beholding God is the great joy of my life and I want 2016 to be about developing a real habit of it. I want to see the sun rise and have this thought welling up in my soul, "behold your God!". I want to hear a tree fall and see that it completely missed our house and fence and the bushes and say to those around me, "behold our God!". I want to see an accident on the side of the road and remind my soul to remain confident, "behold our God!" I want to face anxiety head on by preaching to myself, "Why are you downcast, my soul? Hope in God. Behold your God!"

My professor was right, when God offers you His hand and commits Himself to being YOUR God, ANYTHING short of committing yourself to Him IS insane. May 2016 be a year of BEHOLDING Him in a way that I've never quite beheld Him before. May habits be formed and the walls of hope shored up.

"It will be said on that day, 'Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him that He might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for Him; let us be glad and rejoice in His salvation." Isaiah 25:9

What's your word for 2015?

Advent 2015: Waiting On God

By the beginning of November I start planning ahead for the Advent season. This year the first Sunday came and went and I still had no idea what I was going to do. I searched and searched and not one single study or specific Scripture stood out to me. Little did I know that the book I would be using was waiting in a thrift store for just 49 cents. 

Last Wednesday (the fourth day of Advent) we decided to pop into a thrift store during the break we had between an appointment and rehearsals. After doing a search for any stores that were nearby, we pulled into the parking lot to find that they were having a major sale. My Mom and I headed straight to the bookshelves. We found some great theology books (something that doesn't happen all that often in thrift stores) that were all in excellent condition. After combing through the stack, we narrowed it down to 16 titles. 

Friday rolled around and I was still anxious about what I was going to be doing for Advent...That's when I decided to look through the small selection of books we have at this house (the rest of our books are still at the other house) to see if anything could be adapted into a study that would take me through Epiphany. 

Andrew Murray's little volume titled "Waiting on God" which happens to consist of 31 days worth of meditations on the topic seemed pretty fitting. I set to work mapping out the study with the calendar. I gathered up materials that we happened to have on hand and made a simple Advent Calendar to hang up. My plan is to read one meditation and the Scripture that goes with it each day. Along the way I will journal my thoughts and keep my eyes peeled for hymns, poems, and daily happenings that go along with what God uses my study to teach me. 

I completed the first study time this morning and I can't wait for the next 30 days!!! Everything I have I owe to God and the fact that this study seems perfectly planned by Him shouldn't come as a surprise, but if I'm honest it is causing me to stand back in awe. I have so very much to learn and the weeks leading up to Christmas following a fall spent being reminded that the grace and presence of God are my greatest treasures is going to do much for my soul. 

I'll be here studying what it means to wait on God and I'm expecting Him to teach me how to do it...Our lives are full of examples of His providence, protection, and provision. May we all see His glory in a way that we've never quite seen it before this Advent season. The glimpses have already begun!

How do you celebrate Advent? 

The Reason Why

January 25, 2015

"...for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me [Jesus Christ] and have believed that I came from God." John 16:27

I've been going through the book of John over the last few days. Today, that verse in chapter 16 stopped me in my tracks. I've read over it countless times, but on Good Friday 2015, I realized that Jesus Christ made clear the REASON for God's love. 

Scripture tells us that the fulness of God dwelt in the person of Jesus. That's what made Him THE Christ. Everyone did not believe that. That's what made them gather together with shouts of, "Crucify him! Crucify him!" 

Sometimes I wonder what that day was like... What did those who DID believe go home thinking? What was it like for the sky to go dark and for the earth to quake? Were there people IN the temple? How far away could the voice of Christ be heard?

Today, Christians throughout the world are remembering the day their Savior died. We are contemplating what He did and looking forward to celebrating what came next in just a few days. That Friday was good because it was a day that the glory of God was on display. Nearly two thousand years later, we haven't forgotten. 

May we praise God for making Himself known to us. May we praise Christ for taking the wrath of God that we deserve for our sin. May we praise the Holy Spirit for teaching us what He received from Christ. As we love Christ and have believed that He came from God, may we know that that is the reason for the Father's love for us. 

We go by the name "Christian" for a reason....On this, the day He died, may we pause to ponder yet another facet of exactly what He accomplished.  

 

The Brain Within Its Groove

October 27, 2014

The Brain, within its Groove
Runs evenly --and true--
But let a Splinter swerve--
'Twere easier for You--

To put a Current back--
When Floods have slit the Hills--
And scooped a Turnpike for
Themselves--
And trodden out the Mills--

Emily Dickinson



A mind IS powerful. If it gets away from you, it is an ugly beast. Unstoppable almost.

Dickinson is content to leave it at that, but her words caused me to continue. The problem of the wicked mind running away and dragging us with it is the real problem behind so much of our anxiety and fear and anger.

 Reading about Zelda Fitzgerald and Isobel Kuhn and even Agatha Christie has let me in on a little secret - I'm not alone in the games my mind plays on me.

I'm not the only one who finds myself very discouraged. I'm not the only one who has times when it seems that the darkness is so overwhelming, there is no way around it. I'm not the only one who looks out at this life and realizes that for all the good, there is a lot of BAD.

I know the power of my mind when it escapes from its groove. I also know the agony that follows.

The best course of action is to not let our minds get away. We must do all that we can to keep them in their groove. Even a fleeting thought, a splinter, and you could be in for yet another "ride". 

What our mind needs is the Word of God working in us by the grace of God and the power of the Holy Spirit. Only this Word can remind us of the truth and direct our minds to stay on course. 

Are you into poetry? What's your favorite poem?

Do the words of this poem ring true for you? 

Do you battle fear and anxiety? 

 

I might be back next Tuesday 

with a few more thoughts on this.

In the meantime, let's chat! 

Two - Four

So, two weeks ago, I turned 24 and had a party and made my favorite bundt cake (recipe to come!!!).
 
When it came time to add another number to my age this year, I had a lot of thoughts. This has been a year when God has been teaching me that:

to behold is to become

to become you must behold

we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. 

(2 Cor. 3:18)

Everywhere I turn, I am reading or hearing someone say some variation of those phrases.

If you've been around here for a while, you know that my greatest joy and aspiration in life is to become like my Savior. He is my only hope. He is my anchor. He is my guide. I love knowing that God has committed Himself to helping me to see His glory and to use that sight to make me more like Jesus Christ.

I've been coming to this space for years now to share some of these glimpses and to share the highs (and lows) of life.

23 was a pretty awesome year. I really don't think 24 can even compete.

God is still teaching me this "to behold is to become" business, so I must have a lot more to get to the bottom of.

During my last week of 23,  I read a book that Jay brought back from his trip to Florida this year. The book is "The Evangelistic Zeal of George Whitefield" by Steven J. Lawson. I love reading about people who truly were committed to God and depended on Him with every fiber of their being. Whitefield was such a man.

Did you know that someone tried to attack him in his bed?

Did you know that he preached tirelessly until his dying day?

Did you know that he is probably the reason why Phyllis Wheatley ended up published?

As I reflect on 23 and embrace 24, I continue about the business of setting my hope in God. I thank Him for these men who have honored His name above their own. I pray that I would behold Him and that beholding Him I would be transformed. I pray that I would have the same wherewithal that drove Whitefield until his last so that wherever life takes, I can truly say, "I will fear no evil". I pray that the words of my mouth would be a fountain of life and that my influence would inspire many to join in on the praises of our great God.

What has God been teaching you this year?

How many candles are on YOUR cake?

Two Days in June

When I was 9 years old my Mom forced me to go to vacation Bible school even though I begged and begged her not to make me go. Before that week was over I found myself realizing that I was in desperate need of God's forgiveness. That regular day in June became a super significant day in my life. After all, it was the day that I was born again. God knew me and called me to an eternity of knowing Him.

Many years have gone by. I've owned several Bibles, I've taught Vacation Bible School, I've read countless books, and poured over the Word. Ever since I got saved I've wanted to do one thing: Figure out the Bible and be changed by it. In many ways, it HAS changed me. God gave me a taste of Himself and I've always asked Him to KEEP me thirsty and to use His Word to lead me through my days.

Still, if I'm being honest, I have always known that SOMETHING has been missing. I may be a student of God's Word and I may be seeking to live by that Word, but I can't say that I really, really KNOW the Word.

I am 23 now and another regular day in June has become significant. This time, I read a 160 page book that taught me HOW to begin combating the problem of not really knowing the Word of God. This little book is called "Women of the Word: How to Study the Bible With Both Our Hearts and Our Minds". I finished reading it in one day and promptly spent one morning and one evening taking down everything that I had learned on a few pieces of paper.

In 160 pages on another regular day in June, Jen Wilkin laid out the tools and the processes that are necessary for me to truly KNOW the Word of God. Jen invites her readers to diligently work at being students of the Word in order to get to know God, Himself.

I don't think it's possible for me to give you enough reasons as to why you MUST read this book right away. You'll just have to trust me. This is book is unique. I have studied under a lot of teachers and none of them have given me such a step by step process as to HOW to ACTUALLY study the Bible. However, when Jen says she's writing a "how to", she means that she's writing a HOW TO! Jen's process will be with me for the rest of my life.

Even though those two June days were years apart, God made both of them life changing. I needed to be born again and I needed to be taught how to seek Him. I needed to know that the Bible is about God. I needed to know that when I go to the Bible I ought to be going there to behold Him.

Is Jen's way the ONLY way? No...But I will tell you this, Jen's way is concise, it is freeing, and it is effective. In "Women of the Word" you will have the opportunity to discover that "something" that is missing from your life as a Christian.

If you're like most women I know, you DO want to know God's Word and be changed by it, but you just don't know where to begin....Jen's book will take you by the hand!

You will learn to study the Bible with Purpose, Perspective, Process, Patience, and Prayer. There's even a chapter that lays out the steps one by one so that you can begin a study right away.

I've got a notebook loaded and I'm all set to begin a study of 1 Peter in order to see what it has to tell me about who God is and how He reigns and rules over everything. By God's grace I'm hoping to see how 1 Peter relates to all the other pages of Scripture. As I learn more about God, my view of myself will most certainly be affected and I will be called to respond with specific courses of action.

When fall rolls around I'm hoping that I will be well on my way to Comprehending, Interpreting, and Applying these 66 books that God has given to His people. And you know what else? I hope that you'll be joining me!

Women of the Word is scheduled to release in July. Go pre-order your copy today by clicking HERE!

 * I was provided with a review copy of this book by Crossway. All thoughts are my own honest opinion.

One Phrase

We hear it all the time, "I just want God's will for my life."

Jesus Himself said, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do y own will but the will of Him who sent me." (John 6:38)

He also said, "Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?" (Luke 2:49b)

And that makes us wonder...WHAT is the Father's will? 

Through His Word, God makes His will clear. 

Jonathan Edwards put it this way, "It appears that all that is ever spoken of in the Scripture as an ultimate end of God's works is included in that one phrase 'the glory of God.'" 

I'll give you a few examples:

Colossians 1:16 "For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities - all things were created through Him and for Him."

He created ALL things...For Himself. 

1 John 2:12 "I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for His name's sake." 

He forgives sins...For His name's sake. 

Isaiah 48: 11 "For my own sake, for my own sake I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another."

Here God was speaking to Israel and promising to defer His anger in order that He would not cut them off...For His own sake, so that His glory would be seen.

God acts, God sent His Son to act, God saved you to act. In all these things He is working. He has a will and that is that He would be glorified. 

Whoever you are, wherever you are, God DOES have a will for you life. He calls you to know Him and He leads you in living for His glory. 

Can your plans today be summed up in glorifying God? 

Oh, you have a floor to mop? Or maybe a letter to mail? There is good news! Glorifying God does not ONLY pertain to things that seem in themselves "holy". 

Remember that quote I shared before by Samuel Taylor Coleridge? He said, "Christianity is not a theory or a speculation, but a life; not a philosophy of life, but a life and a living process." 

Paul says it like this in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God."

God's will is NOT far off or unknowable!

His will is that He would be glorified.

Jesus came for His Father's glory and in His coming He made it possible for us to live with that same purpose.

We live for that glory by reading His Word and remaining in communion with Him...Our lives stay centered around Him. With Jesus we say, "I must do His will." With Jesus we shine because, "I delight in His law." 

His glory is plain to us and made known through us and THAT is His will in all that He has ever done. 

A Motto

April 30, 2014

We have seen that Jesus' purpose and sustenance was doing the Father's will.

From our own lives we know that it takes more than purposing to do something in order to continue doing it. 

Isaiah 50:4-5 tell us what that something more was in Jesus' life...Jesus stayed faithful to His purpose of doing the Father's will and clung to it as to food because morning by morning He was awakened by the Father to be taught by Him. 

John Snyder summed it up quite well with these words, "His food was to do the will of the Father, and He understood that a life of obedience could only be sustained by having an open ear to all that the Father was saying."

The Father's will and the Father's words kept Jesus. 

In Luke 2:49, Jesus says, "...Did you not know that I must be about my Father's business?"

In Psalm 40:8 we see His heart, "I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart." 

Again John Snyder writes, "Here the whole service of Jesus is described: I must. I delight."

April 28, 2014

The Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, "What is the chief end of man?" The answer is this: "The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever."

As children of God, we too are here to do the Father's will.

Like Jesus, we need to have an open ear to all that the Father is saying.

We too can live by the motto: I must. I delight. 

It is true. We ARE here because we MUST glorify God and we HAVE been made alive to the DELIGHT that is enjoying Him forever.

Christian, delighting in God and doing His will are your calling. The Holy Spirit is with you to help you and to lead you in that Word of truth that will preserve you in this purpose that is yours in Christ.

You have the purpose, you have the treasure, you have the Helper. Open your ears to be taught by God by setting your eyes on His Word.

Why...

May 14, 2014

I have a question for you... Why did you wake up today? Why did you get up and get dressed? What is your goal for this weekend?

Now let me ask you another question...Why was Jesus on earth? Why did He get up and get ready each day? 

The best answers for these questions will be found in the Bible. 

In John 4:32-34, we read,  "But He said to them, 'I have food to eat that you do not know about.' So the disciples said to one another, 'Has anyone brought Him something to eat?' Jesus said to them, 'My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work." 

Food is that essential element that gives us both strength and determination. Without it we are weak and pretty much have one goal, which is, to get food NOW. 

In John 6:38 Jesus says these words, "For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of Him who sent me." 

DOING the Father's will was EVERYTHING to Jesus. 

Jesus was on earth to do the Father's will.

Jesus woke up and got ready each day to do the Father's will. 

May 14, 2014

Actually, the same is true for you! Once we have been made alive in Him we can see that just like Him, our life is to do the Father's will.

Think about your unrest as a call to eat the food that is doing the Father's will.

Think about each day and getting ready and even weekends as wrapped up in doing the Father's will. 

That's all for today but I'll be writing about WHAT the Father's will is as well as HOW we are to continually accomplish it soon. 

The Strength

April 25, 2014

Was it helpful to stop and realize that as Christians, we are what God guaranteed Jesus?

Does it change things when you see that as you live by God's strength with your hope set in Him that you are proof - even to Jesus - of God's faithfulness?

I hope so!

It changed things for Jesus. He did all that He did for His Father's glory and He was able to do it because He was convinced that His Father was faithful.

In Isaiah 50, we see exactly what got Jesus through His ministry on this earth.

In Isaiah 50:4-5 Jesus says, "The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious; I turned not backward."

Jesus is saying that He was taught by God .  Jesus says that He is always listening to the Father who opened His ear.

In Isaiah 50:6 Jesus says, "I gave my back to those who strike, and my cheeks to those who pull out the beard; I hid not my face from disgrace and spitting."

That's just SOME of the torment He endured...He knew it was coming and He knew that it was going to take His cooperation.

Jesus tells us about what it was that gave Him the ability to go through with it...By now He has been assured that God is faithful and guaranteed that His work will not be in vain. It was not you and I that got Him through...Isaiah 50:7 says, "But the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced; therefore I have set my face like a flint, and I know that I shall not be put to shame." 

Jesus lived and was killed and rose again and ascended because He was driven by these words: "but the Lord God helps me; therefore I have not been disgraced"! 

Disgraced and put through terrifying things, He wasn't really disgraced. The Lord God helps Him, the one who is faithful would make everything right.

Christian, piece of living proof, your Savior pressed on with His "face set like a flint" because He knew that God was His strength!

At the heart of Jesus' faithfulness was the Father - His glory, His Word, His strength, His plan, and His faithfulness. 

He is YOUR guarantee and you are His guarantee.

God is faithful.

P.S. Remember that these words were recorded about 700 years

 before Jesus Christ was born to the virgin Mary! 

Living Proof

May 6, 2014

In Isaiah 49 we get a closer look at the relationship between God the Father and Jesus Christ. In this chapter, we learn exactly what it was that gave Jesus the wherewithal to be obedient to God, even to death, and that death on a cross!

This morning out on the patio as the sky was blue and the birds were singing, something HUGE happened.

Isaiah 49:4 says, "But I said, 'I have labored in vain; I have spent my strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely my right is with the LORD, and my recompense with my God."

Did you see that? Jesus was "worried" (if you can call it that) that everything He did was for NOTHING, for VANITY, and it was done all in VAIN.

Do you know what the Father's answer is?

In Isaiah 49: 6 He says, "It is too light a thing that you should be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob and to bring back the preserved of Israel; I will make you as a light for the nations, that my salvation may reach to the end of the earth." 

He goes on at the end of verse 7, "...Kings shall see and arise; princes, and they shall prostrate themselves; because of the LORD, who is faithful, the Holy One of Israel, who has chosen you." 

April 30, 2014

Of these verses, John Snyder wrote "He has guaranteed His Son that countless multitudes from every nation will love and worship Him! With this before us, we can continue serving. Duties are ours; results are the Lord's."

I realized something...

We are what God guaranteed Jesus! 

Do you understand what that means?

Your salvation, your life, your suffering, your joy...They make you part of what God guaranteed to Jesus as He assured Him that His strength was NOT poured out for nothing. 

Christian, as you live and love and serve in THIS hope that is yours because of Christ, knowing that God is working, you are PROOF - even to Jesus- that God is faithful! 

I hope this encourages your soul like it did mine.

Go read Isaiah 49. While you're at it check out 42, 50, and 53...I've always said Ephesians was my favorite book, but over the last few years Isaiah is catching up.

Thoughts for Your Weekend: Emptied Souls

I just finished another assignment in "Behold Your God". Today's lesson turned my mind to the pattern of evangelism that John the Baptist, Jesus, and Paul all had in common.

Like God before them, each of these men labored to show people the glory of God, the wickedness of sin, and the truth that their souls need one thing: to know God and hope in Him.

So often we begin there, with the end. We tell people that God has a plan for them and that He is worthy of their hope and trust.

God has been showing me that that is not the way He does it. God begins by emptying. He shows people that they are sinners, that their hopes are false, and their their treasures are actually trash. 

That is devastating.

That fit of anger you had this morning? The cost is hell because in that moment you denied God of His place on the throne.

That church you go to? That mentor you have? Those 30 years of service? Yep, they're not enough.

That beautiful family you're raising? Those investments you've successfully made? That garden you're growing? It's passing away. It won't leave you satisfied.

You fill in your own blanks...The point is, you can't fix yourself and your circumstances will never ever satisfy you. 

Once God empties a soul, He fills it.

He fills it with the blood of Jesus Christ, the work of the Holy Spirit, and the fullness of who He is.

Today is Friday. Your soul is going to be hunting this weekend. Hunting for quiet and fun and relaxation.

May we be emptied of ourselves. May we be emptied of our false hopes and our treasures that are actually trash.

May this emptiness be devastating.

May the emptying lead to be filled to overflowing with God. 

Come to the Light

The other day, Emily Freeman posted these words:

"...may I not be surprised by my own ability to mess things up. 

May I refuse to be shocked by my own, jealousy, stubbornness, impatience and indifference..."

She went on to talk about being surprised by God's grace and delighted in His presence instead. 

Couple that post with the Bible study time happening with "Behold Your God: Rethinking God Biblically" by John Snyder where I'm currently studying how my own sin makes knowing God impossible without His help and you've got a recipe for something GOOD.

James 4:8 says something we're all familiar with:

"Draw near to God and He will draw near to you..."

What we may not be familiar with are the rest of the words that follow, that same verse ends like this:

"Cleanse your hands, you sinners and purify your hearts, you double-minded."

When God looks at humans, He assumes sin. He knows it's there and He does not ignore it. 

Why is it that when we look at ourselves we assume goodness? Why is it that we are consumed with being surprised when sin bubbles up and then quick to shift any attention it's receiving away from it? 

Talk about DUMB. 

God is in the business of exposing sin. From there He may dole out consequences. From there, He may clean or punish...That part is really up to Him. 

As Christians, we know that exposed sin ALWAYS leads to forgiveness! Sure, we'll have to deal with consequences, but what are consequences in light of the LIFE that we have in Christ?

Why do we act surprised? Why do we hide? Forgiveness is OURS! 

Ladies...You are SINNERS. You are going to mess things up with your jealousy, stubbornness, impatience, indifference, and a million other things that are all coming from that wicked heart inside of you. That's truth. The rest of the truth is this:

"Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he had not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgement: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their deeds were evil. Fore everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his deeds have been carried out in God." 

When sin comes and you're tempted to be surprised and then to make light of it, remember the light that Jesus' life, death, resurrection, and ascension have shed on it! 

Remember that because of Him and the work that God has done in making Himself known to you, that sin does not condemn you! Thank God for making a way for your hands to be cleansed and your heart to be purified and join Him in seeing to it that you are walking in the light that is His presence. 

Lately I have been captivated with the fact that the God who made ALL that exists invites His people to KNOW Him and to WALK with Him....He knows His people and leads them to become more like the Son whose name they have taken as their own. 

Christian, your life here will be over before you know it, won't you spend it in pursuit God, the very fountain of Living Water?