On Faith

April 11, 2017

"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, 'Through Isaac shall your offspring be had.' He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead, from which, figuratively speaking he did receive him back."
Hebrews 11: 17 & 18

Faith is a word that carries a lot of meaning in the mind of the Christian. It is by faith that we became Christians. It is by faith that we attempt to live. It is something that we admire in one another and esteem pretty highly as far as virtues go.

We know people who pray about everything from parking places and food to the church around the world and concerns in the lives of people that they know. We know people whose every word of advice comes straight from Scripture. We know people whose very countenance is like a breath of fresh air. We know them and we long to be like them.

Last week, I had three different conversations about faith. As it usually goes when a theme shows up, I didn't go looking for it. Three different people brought faith up and had specific things to say about it. I listened and smiled and tucked the conversations away. Abraham came up multiple times, so I went digging for his story. We've heard it so many times and encouraged one another with it, but it was time for me to go back to look it over with fresh eyes.

Abraham's life illustrates the hand of God in the lives of His people. God tells His people to have faith and then He shows them how. He tests that faith and, if I'm honest, I don't know exactly what that testing looks like or how to recognize it. I only know that I know faith when I see it and that faith in the face of real life is absolutely beautiful.

Abraham believed. His faith prepared him to obey. Time and time again, he didn't know how it was going to work out, he only knew that it would. And that's what we need. We need to be patient. We need to believe. God will make a way, even when there doesn't seem to be any way. What is meant to be, will be.

There's more to this theme and we'll come back to it another day. For now, I just wanted to get some words on faith down. I don't know what you're going through or what you're waiting on. I don't know what God is calling you to bear or to enjoy. But, I know this: God means for His people to be men and women whose lives are marked by faith.

He may keep you waiting. He may call you to endure more than you think you can. Faith is about looking to God no matter what. It leads to obedience and peace and joy. Circumstances can really mix us up, but remembering that they are all in His hands means that we can face them with our chins up and shoulders straight. What is meant to be, will be.

May we have the faith that looks to God and to the day at hand with confidence in His good plan. May this faith stir up the kind of obedience that delights in God even when that seems hard or impossible. May our waiting and enduring and enjoying and obeying make it possible for those around us to say of us, "By faith ______, when ______, ______." It's been said of many before us and will be said of many after us. God is seeing to it. Remember that.

Whose faith do you admire? 

On Rest: Part Three

February 23, 2012

If you haven't read Part One and Part Two in this series on Rest, you may want to do that now.

Like I said before, Mark 6 isn't mainly about rest or food. It's about the Gospel. It's about learning how to respond when interruptions come. 

Today is the part where I tell you where these truths found ME. I've been to God's Word. I've journaled and prayed my way through this theme that God is bringing to my attention. And like He almost always does, He keeps bringing it up. Kaycee wrote about rest when she linked up with Renee.  Matthias Media shared a post about One-To-One ministry on their FB page. As I was cooking dinner (brats, alfredo, and salad) for my family last night, I had my iPod set to shuffle and this sermon by Carl Medearis came on. I thought I was done learning what I had to learn from Mark 6, but I was WRONG. 

I was in the mood for music, but something about Medearis's message sucked me in. I didn't hit the skip button. I listened and before I knew it, I was REALLY listening. Things are tighter than they've been in a long time. We're spending more money on gas and theatre stuff than ever before. I know it's what we came here to do, but I put a lot of pressure on myself not to waste a single cent as I keep our pantry stocked with food. It's to the point where I'm terrified that an extra mouth or two will show up for dinner because I know I've only set aside EXACTLY how much meat we need to feed the five of us. I've actually encouraged my brother and sister to plan game nights and get togethers so that people show up after any reasonable meal hour so that I don't have to figure out how or what to feed them. 

And this is me...The one who loves to feed people. The person who has always been complimented on how welcome she makes people feel. The girl who thought hospitality might be one of her gifts. I've turned into the person who can come up with at least five excuses of reasons NOT to invite people over for dinner without even trying. I've turned into the person who guards the nights we have at home to ourselves because they seem to be so few and far between. I've turned into the person who doesn't see interruptions the way Jesus taught His disciples to. And I don't like it. 

I'm beginning to see now that I am in desperate need of God's grace where hospitality is concerned. He's shown me that there will ALWAYS be strength for the work He calls me to. And I want to get this clear, I'm not talking about visiting with widows or taking care of children or feeding homeless people or preparing sermons. I'm talking about staying out at rehearsals and auditions and shows until LATE a bunch of nights in a row. I'm talking about spending anywhere from 1 to 4+ hours in a car in one day driving around in circles getting people to where they need to be. I'm talking about figuring out how to arrange my day around said taxi duties so that the laundry still gets done, the groceries get picked up, and the meals are prepared. I'm talking about being super emotional over the fact that there just doesn't seem to be any time left over to go visit my friends that live only a few hours away. He's granted me strength and shown me that every ounce of it came from Him just when I needed it. I trust that He's about to do the same thing with hospitality. 

Funny that He would choose one (a story about rest) to introduce the other (a lesson on hospitality). That's how He works, you guys. Here a little, there a little. He calls us to BE His people and then He shows us how. 

I don't have the answers. I know what Mark 6 and Medearis have made me WANT to do. I know that I want to stay in the Word. I know that I want to continue consciously basking in the light that God is to His people so that it becomes a habit. I know that I want to take time each day to quiet my soul before Him. And now, I know that I want to view interruptions the way He does and to use them the way He would, as though they are part of the plan. After all, they are. Like one of my favorite Southern Gals always says, "There is no plan B with God." 

I'm writing this on March 9 and by the time you read this, I'll be with friends in MA who are like family. I've had a lot of those over the years and each and every one of them has opened up their home, their family, and their dinner table to me on countless occasions. I've had some amazing examples of what it is to be hospitable, but somewhere along the way there was a major disconnect. 

I know it doesn't have to be perfect. I know it doesn't have to be fancy. And I know that God calls His people to imitate Him. So, ask me how it's going when I get home. 

On Rest: Part Two

May 6, 2014

If you missed Part One, you'll want to go read it now. :) If you read it, then let's pick right back up where we left off! 

So, there they are, pleading with Jesus to send these people away. And Jesus does what He always does. He is moved by compassion for the people, the work His Father is doing, and the concern He has for these men He has gathered to disciple. It's not about rest. It's not about food. It's about the Gospel. A lot is happening here. I don't want us to miss it. Jesus responds to them with a simple sentence. I can imagine the smirk on His face and the gentle tone of His voice. In Mark 6:37, Jesus answers the disciples' pleas like this, he says, "You give them something to eat."

They answer the same way we would. The place is desolate. The crowd is massive. They came here to rest and they are probably just as tired and hungry as the people Jesus has told them to feed. They answer Him accordingly and He tells them to go see how many loaves of bread they have. I think He does this because He wants them to know exactly what is about to happen. They come back with the report, "Five, and two fish." Jesus tells the crowd to sit in groups. He looks to heaven and says a blessing and then gives the food over to the disciples who pass it around to the people. We're very familiar with all of this. We know that everyone got fed and that there were leftovers. We may have even clung to verse 42 which tells us that "they all ate and were satisfied." We know about the five loaves, the two fish, and the 5,000 men.

What I missed and what you may have missed was that the people did not go there intending to teach or feed anyone. They went away to rest at the command of Jesus. They had been working and burying the man sent by God to prepare the way for Jesus. Times were tense and they were more than ready for an opportunity to recharge. What I missed all these years is that Mark 6 teaches us how to treat rest. It teaches us that it's important. It teaches us that it requires a desolate place. It teaches us that it gets interrupted. It teaches us that we need to know how to respond when interuptions come and it teaches us what can happen when we respond the way Jesus does.

They obeyed. They tried to reason their way out of one of the most famous miracles in the history of Jesus's time with them. They acquiesced and obeyed more. The crowd that had gathered was satisfied with the words of Christ and the food He gave them for their bodies. The disciples aren't done yet. We keep reading and we watch as another famous experience takes place. They get back in the boat while Jesus dismisses the crowd and stays behind to pray. The wind rises up against the men in the boat. Like so many of us, they are taking the scenic route to a lesson Jesus is trying to teach them.

It never tells us if they ever got the rest Jesus originally called them to seek. What it does do is show us what the disciples would have missed out on if they would have had their own way. If Jesus and His disciples would have sent that crowd away or hid from them or headed up onto the mountain, one of the most encouraging stories we share with one another never would have happened. The disciples would have got their rest, but those 5,000 men and whatever women and children were with them wouldn't have the testimony of the time they were taught and fed by the Messiah. The disciples would have rested and been recharged. They would have had time to pray. But, they would have missed out on an opportunity to be used by God. When Jesus calmed the wind and joined them in the boat, the chapter begins to come to its close. What follows is a sad declaration of the state of their hearts.

We can read Mark 6 and learn so many things. On my most recent read through, I've learned that:

Rest is vital. If the Son of God needed it, then we certainly need it. True rest requires peace and quiet. We have to silence the voices around us and in us and go away to a desolate place where we can be alone with God. We live in a culture that praises introversion. We are all about self-care and treating ourselves. While we can all use a lesson on what true rest is, we don't have to be taught to value rest or to seek it.

Rest is almost always interuppted. Jesus was interuppted time and time again. He couldn't ever truly get away. In Mark 6, the disciples are interuppted. We are interuppted. The phone rings, the children ask for something, the neighbor knocks on the door or calls over the back fence. Our own minds turn to other things and the rest we set out to get vanishes. Interuptions come and we've got to know how to respond. If it wasn't for Jesus, the disciples (and the 5,000 and those of us who have come after them) would have all missed out on something God was about to do.

I've got one more post to share with you in this series...Until then, would you tell me about a time your rest was interrupted as well as the good work that God allowed you to accomplish because of that interruption?

On Rest: Part One

January 11, 2017

For the last few months I've been spending time reading the Gospels. I'll give you a quick snapshot of how my time in the Word works. I choose a book to focus on and then I make why way through it reading anywhere from a few verses to a handful of chapters at a time. I begin each "session" by journaling, then I switch to reading, and then I alternate between reading, copying down key verses, making notes, and praying until I'm out of time. This usually goes on for about an hour or so.

About a week ago, I made it to Mark 6. Mark is the third gospel that I've read in the last few months, so the details of many of the stories are starting to become familiar. I've noticed that this has freed me up to focus less on the WHAT and more on the WHY of each one. When I came to Mark 6, I read about Jesus being rejected in His hometown, Jesus sending the disciples out with the clothes on their back and a staff to call anyone who was willing to listen into repentance, and then I read about the death of John the Baptist. I reached the end of verse 29 feeling the weight of the faith that these men must have had and the heaviness that must have settled onto their shoulders as they faced each of these events.

Then, in verse 31,  Jesus tells them it's time to follow His lead. He says to them, "Come away by yourselves to a desolate place and rest a while." The verses that follow tell us that they got into a boat and headed to such a place. I was marveling at this Scripture and wondering how I had missed it during the countless times I've read this book. I've studied Jesus's habit of going away by Himself to pray over and over again. I've tried to figure out how how He knew it was time and just exactly what He did while He was away. I've tried to imitate Him and cling to the Father the way that He did...Here, in Mark 6, Jesus was teaching His disciples to do the thing that I'm convinced sustained Him during His time on earth. So, I'm reading along and thanking God for finally showing me this. I'm copying down the verses and settling in to read what comes next.

Maybe you already know what comes next or maybe you've disconnected these accounts the way that I have. I'm sorry to admit that it's highly likely that I skimmed over verses 30-33 during my previous encounters with this chapter.

Jesus recognized that the disciples needed rest. He tells them to go away to a desolate place to rest for a while. They obey. They get in a boat and head out. A lot has been going on. Some of the most trying days of their early ministry have happened. They are tired and hungry and they must be looking forward to this rest. Then, comes verse 34. They make it to shore and a crowd had figured out where they were going and was gathered together waiting for them. Jesus gets out of the boat and begins to teach them. Get this. Jesus tells the disciples to rest and they are interrupted. The crowd stays gathered. The teaching goes on and on. It grows late. The men who were tired and hungry are more tired and more hungry and the desolate place Jesus told them to find would be the very place they are in except that all these people won't go away. The disciples ask Jesus to send the crowd away to find food for themselves so that the disciples can get to this "rest" they came to this place to find.

What's about to happen is the account of the time five loaves of bread and two fish fed 5,000 men until they were satisfied. Get this. The story they taught you about in Sunday school every year happened because people who were seeking rest in a desolate place were interrupted. I'm still going over all of the implications of this story. The fact that Jesus knew exactly what they were going to find when they reached that desolate place is weighing on my mind. The emotions the disciples must have been feeling are the ones I find myself relating to. The point of the whole encounter is something I do not want to miss.

And since this post is long enough already, I'm going to leave you hanging. We'll pick up part two next week. Until then, I'd love to hear about what you're reading and what God has been teaching you through it! 

An Encouraging Resolve

Today I am going to join Renee for her link-up.  There is a new theme each month and this time around the theme is encouragement. Renee is the wife of a guy who sounds like one of the good ones, the mother of two little ones, and one of THE most encouraging people I've ever crossed paths with on the internet. She is really good at fostering community, connecting with people, and being 100% honest about how things are going.

February 23, 2013

Well, I sat down to write this earlier today and ended up typing up what turned into a 9 page document that was close to 2500 words long. I think it's really good, but it needs polishing and I'm not sure that a blog is the right place to share a piece like that. So, I'm trying again.

It's Friday night and I just got back from the grocery store. I live it up, you guys. I also went to the mall today. I was hunting for a navy cardigan or a reasonably priced dress. I came back empty handed. I spotted one navy cardigan, but it was more shrug than what I had in mind. I did try on a dress, but then I realized that it looked like a cheerleading outfit from the 70s or 80s. I put it back (I know you were wondering).

There were a number of older couples shopping together. The men wandered aimlessly while the women pulled different things off of the racks in order to inspect them. The music was not only annoying, it was actually raunchy. I may have reached the point I never thought I would ever reach...I felt like every single one of those men. The clothes were ugly, cheaply made, and over priced. The music was horrible. I walked from department store to department store and found that each one seemed to have the same wares to offer.

Tonight, at the grocery store, things were different. I noticed that most of the shoppers seemed to be men and many of them had their kids in tow. There were some people who came by themselves and every single one of them was walking with the kind of slow purpose that many of us make it to the end of the week with. I made my way to from the meat counter to the dairy section and then weaved through the aisles until I made it back to the produce. While I was shopping, my friend Abigail texted me a time or two and I smiled as I typed out my replies. As I headed to the check stands, I noticed that it was starting to get dark outside and for the first time all day I felt the need to hurry up.

How does any of this connect to the theme of encouragement that Renee selected for the link up? If I'm honest...I'm kind of wondering too. Today, I passed human being after human being. I tried on a dress that some of them made. I listened to song after song that entire groups of people worked to write and record and produce. I overheard tidbits of conversation. I waited in line. I exchanged smiles and silly jokes about Route 66 and the Autobahn. The same can be said for you. You rub shoulders with so many people each day. You may be lonely. You may be so busy that you fall into bed at night. You may be sick. You may be having the time of your life.

Wherever you are, whatever the days have been holding for you, there is a resolve that can inspire your entire outlook. It's from the first verse in Psalm 34 and it says, "I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth." Just four verses later, it goes on to say, "Those who look to Him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed."

Today, I worked on a piece of writing until I ran out of time. I learned that I'm not crazy about the mall these days. I went to the grocery store dragging my feet after seeing my brother and sister off to their play.

As I reflect on the day, I realize that what made today different was that I was blessing the LORD. His praise was in mouth. I can't say for sure whether or not I looked radiant, but I can promise you that it's my deepest hope that people see His glory reflected in my very presence. I have full confidence that my hope in Him is SURE.

That's pretty encouraging. I hope you think so too.

Called to Bask

January 11, 2017

I'm struggling with how to introduce this post. I want to write about what it is to live out my word for 2017 and to be honest about how it's going.

On a superficial level, it's going WELL. I'm thinking about God, delighting in the small things, feasting on His gifts, praying over people, and using music to preach to myself. As far as having a disciplined soul goes, it's going HORRIBLY.

The whole purpose of this word is taking time out to be with God. It's about following Jesus Christ's example of slipping away and withdrawing and getting alone with God to pray. It's about going to God for the strength and grace and sustenance that comes from Him alone. If Christ needed this and devoted Himself to this and depended on this, it is something I most certainly cannot live without.

I KNOW this, but somehow, the discipline is lacking and it shows. I had to tell my friend Abigail that I hadn't been in the Word. My bad attitude proves to my family that I'm not actively submitting my spirit to God. The anxiety creeping in proves that I'm not abiding in His Spirit.

You ready for a peek into my journal? (This is for you, Mom!)

via Dec. 29, 2016 //

As I go into 2017, I want to remember that I am waiting on God. I want to BASK in the light of God. I want to bathe in the Word. I want to be one who waits on Him constantly. I want the storm to rage on while I cling to Him. I want to seek His strength and find it and show that I have it. I want to trust His will and His timing for all my hopes.

Isaiah 8:20-22 says, "To the teaching and to the testimony! If they will not speak according to this word, it is because they have no dawn. They will pass through the land, greatly distressed and hungry. And when they are hungry, they will be enraged and will speak contemptuously against their king and their God, and turn their faces upward. And they will look to the earth, but behold, distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish. And they will be thrust into thick darkness."
My attitude lately has been of one who has no dawn. One who looks around beholding distress and darkness and is hungry and in anguish and even enraged. I've felt it. I've taken it out on my family. God's light has shined into my darkness and I want to remember it. His strength came along showing me where my strength is to be found, namely, in Him. He has shown me on whom I wait, namely, on Him. He has granted me light to bask in and is ever ready with strength to endure.

At every turn I'm reminded of God's grace and strength and peace. I'm reminded that He is ruler over all (Psalm 29). That everything is in His hands. And then, waiting becomes sweet. I'm not waiting on anyone but Him. I'll say that again: I am waiting on Him. His timing is perfect and His will is best. Even if the road is slow or lonely, by it I will know Him and become like Christ and it is on that road that I've been begging Him to keep me all these years...If you're looking for me, you'll find me there.

//

And yet, here I am. I've reached the middle of February being reminded of these things and being beckoned into His strength only to disregard the call to BASK. If I'm going to keep this resolve, it's going to take effort and it's high time I do whatever it takes to get back on track.

via Dec. 31, 2016 //

I will need to learn from men like Paul and Christ and Whitefield and Washington. To set time out to be alone with God reading and praying and seeking Him. My priorities need shifting. I know that. My "defaults" need resetting.

//

I'm sharing all of this as a kick in the pants to myself, but also as an encouragement to all of you! Our resolves drive us back to God. They keep us seeking Him and depending on Him and rejoicing in Him, and praising Him.

For me, this going to look like imitating Christ's practice of going away to be with God. I struggle with this because I don't like going away. The thing is, if I'm going to receive God's strength, I've got to go to Him. If I'm going to be one who represents Christ to those around me, I've got to go to the Father just like He did.

If I'm going to bask, I have to bask. 


Let's look to Christ. Let's reset our defaults. Let's put in the effort. Let's BASK. However dark the day, the sun is out!

One Word: 2017

September 10, 2010

I am a sun chaser. My favorite place is the beach and if I disappear on a sunny day, all you need to do is to hunt for the patch of sun that I'm basking in. Come February's warmest days, you'll find me camped out in some spot of sun with sweatshirt and blanket and book, pen, and paper. It'll be cold. People will think I'm crazy, but I cannot get enough.

By the time summer rolls around, you'll find me looking for any excuse to get outside. I have quiet times out there. I garden. I go for walks. I'll do my afternoon reading or writing on the patio. I am even known to take naps out in the yard. There are few things I enjoy more than turning my face to the sun and feeling its rays warm me right to my core.

That said, my word for 2017 managed to catch me by surprise. I had a few words rolling around in my mind and the one that I ended up with was not one of them. I've been reading Andrew Murray's book "Waiting on God" along with whatever chapter(s) of Scripture he references each day. On Day 16, Murray compared waiting on God with keeping watch for the first rays of the morning light. God is a God of LIGHT and His light is always shining. I know this to be true. As I read Murray's words they resonated with me because of my love for the sun.

Psalm 130:5-6 says, "I wait for the Lord, my soul doth wait, And in his word do I hope. My soul waiteth for the Lord more than they that watch for the morning; I say, more than they that watch for the morning."

We all know what it is to watch for the morning light. It chases away darkness and doubt and fear and gloom and troubles and so many things. The morning light brings with it hope and peace and a brand new day. I'm not exactly sure what events surrounded the writing of Psalm 130, but I'm pretty confident that it was times of trouble. I've been talking with several different people about salvation lately. They've all wrestled with seasons of wondering if they were ACTUALLY saved. Two of them have made it through those times. They can't explain what happened, but they both said that God changed things. I would sum up their words by saying that the light of God shined in their souls.

Murray puts it this way, "Just as the sun shines its beautiful, life giving light on and into our earth, so God shines into our hearts the light of His glory, of His love, in Christ His son. Our heart is meant to have that light filling and gladening it all the day."

If you haven't guessed yet, my word for 2017 is BASK. By the last day of December, I had settled on it and I've already been seeing the theme pop up again and again. I need to wait on God and trust that He rules over all things. I need to believe Him and stay in His word. By His Spirit, my soul will be full of the joy and peace that come from His light. God is light. By His light do we see and live and walk.

I want 2017 to be a year of savoring these truths. I want to receive from Him and respond with praise. I want the times when darkness threaten to undo me to become times when I learn to look to Him knowing that His light IS there. I want to glow with the beauty of His presence and the proof that my hope is in Him alone. I want it to be said of me that I am nurtured by Him and the light He shines on His people. I will need to pray. I will need to reflect often on His goodness and His character.

I look forward to the cloudy days when His sun shines. I long for my soul to be nourished by His light just the way my body is nourished by the sun on my skin. As I could lay there in its warmth for hours at a time, so I long for 2017 to be the year where I am continually basking in God's warmth.

May I learn from the flowers and the trees and the grass and the animals and even my own soul. As Murray says on page 83, "They do nothing [to keep the sun shining on them], they simply bask in the sunshine when it comes."

And it always comes. As Alice likes to remind me, "The sun is always shining, even when we can't see it."

Have you picked a word for 2017?

Advent 2016

December 10, 2016

I picked Andrew Murray's "Waiting on God" back up the other day. I made it less than halfway through last year's Advent readings and wouldn't you know it...When I finally got myself together this year, it was right where I left off last year. Man plans his way, but God established his steps. It gets even better. Not only did I pick up where I left off, but the first day's reading dealt with themes that I've been wrestling with lately (faith, being taught by God, and even the balance between sin and repentance).

When I read the verse that went with the day's essay, I knew that this was exactly how it was supposed to have happened. I rarely get discouraged about not being able to finish something becaues I am a firm beleiver in the fact that I will finish it when  the time is right. This goes for silly things and important things. I'm happy to take my time.

I've been going to a new Bible study and I've got mixed feelings about it. I'll be honest. I take theology very seriously. I have come to learn that this is rare. Studying the Bible with other believers has taught me that very few people are eager or have put the time into thinking for themselves. So, I go to this Bible study which seems to be non-denominational and I've heard some pretty typical comments. Everything from the KJV only debate, to thoughts on salvation, and of course, the man-centered theology that misses the actual meaning behind every Biblical text has come up so far. Bad theology, especially from people who should know better, gets me every single time.

The last meeting was about faith and especially the faith of Gideon. I'm not going to get into what was said, because that's not the point. The point is, I was wrestling with what was said and God saw fit to clarify the matter using His Word, Murray's old booklet, and an unrest in my spirit. He also threw in a line about how He teaches His people for good measure.

What have you been wrestling with lately? 

Are there in themes that God has brought to your attention?

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?

Heart Check

August 18, 2015

"Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others." Philippians 2:3-4

I've seen these verses three or four times over the last few weeks. Everywhere I turned, they just kept popping up. Sometimes, when you see a couple of verses on a little plaque or quoted on someone's status, you read them slowly and you notice something you've never noticed before. That's exactly what happened to me when I saw it on a printable a the Wednesday before last.

I stopped my scrolling and read it. I let it sink in. "Do NOTHING from rivalry or conceit." NOTHING. Words like that can't be confused for any other word or meaning. When we read words like that, we really must listen.

Rivalry (and conceit) is one of our biggest motivators. If you don't believe me, pay attention next time there is a small child around. Listen to their taunting voice when they're really proud about something, "I can do thiiiiisssss annnnnnddddd yyyyyooouuuuuuu cannnnnnn't." "Myyyyyyyy shooooooooesssssss liiiiiiiiighhhhhht up annnnnnd yyyyyyooooooouurrrrrrsss dooooonnnnnnn't."

We love one-uping and outdoing the people around us. We love getting praise and admiration and applause. When we read verses like these, they serve as great reminders of the wickedness that dwells in our hearts. God put these words in His Bible because the fact is, that on their own, His people LOVE doing EVERYTHING out of rivalry and conceit.

The surrounding verses make it pretty clear: we're to replace our doing out of rivalry and conceit with imitating Christ and acting out of humility with the same mind for the glory of the Father that He had. The encouragement we have in Christ, comfort we have in love, participation we have in the Spirit, and affections and sympathy that are ours in Him are to be the grace that keep our hearts turned toward His example (verse 1).

I'll tell you, I have always been a lover of rules. I don't care how silly the rule is, I'm 99.9% likely to keep it and to try to help others do the same. I'm this way because a) I don't want to get in trouble and b) I want to make people happy. I'm a rule keeper out of conceit. This verse (like so many others) flips my soul upside down and makes yet another aspect of my life centered on God.

"Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure." Philippians 2: 12-13

When I do my rule keeping, I must consciously tell myself that it's about serving those around me and living in a way that will not tarnish the name of God. When my motives are pure (aka not wrapped up in ME), then even my rule keeping turns into a way for me to work out my salvation.

What is something that you do out of rivalry or conceit?

What verses have been following you around lately?

Listen

May 10, 2015

It's the last Monday in July and our life got turned upside down over the last few weeks. My dad is no longer a business owner (he sold it and we don't really know what's next). The camp that meant a week of vacation got cancelled at the last minute. Friends had car trouble and ended up spending a long weekend with us while they got it figured out (only they didn't and ended up borrowing another friend's car until this Friday - the story is long and full of God working everything out). So...God is doing all kinds of things and none of us really know what is going on!

In the midst of all of this, I'm making my way through Packer's "Keep In Step With The Spirit" and Paul's letter to the Galatians. It's what I call God's perfect timing. These books have been showing me what the Gospel is (and what it isn't) and teaching me more about the work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of God's people. Packer puts it simply by saying that the Spirit exists to mediate the presence of Christ.

Christ told us to abide with Him and then He promised that when He left He would send the Spirit. Packer's words make total sense, but somehow, I've been walking around with allll the wrong ideas about this Spirit. It's strange how you can be walking with God for so long and yet miss something so major. Understanding the Spirit is going to change things...It's already changing things. Being AWARE of the presence of Christ and the very real ministry of the Spirit happening all around me is something I can't quite describe and I haven't even experienced to the full yet.

At that conference that changed it all back in 2006, Adam said, "Ignorance is miss, not bliss." And he was so right. My ignorance in this area has had me totally missing out on being aware of this piece of God's work in my life. BUT, no more!!!

My Mom has been listening to a sermon at the kitchen table this morning. The pastor opened with this question, "What voice would you like to tune into?"

And that is my question to myself and to you this morning...What voice would you like to tune into?

This summer I've learned that the Holy Spirit is the most important communicator in my life. He has been there comforting and leading and pleading on my behalf and mediating the presence of Christ. Up until now, I've been totally unaware of it all! Christian, do your soul a favor and think about the voices that you are tuned into. Join me in really tuning into the voice of the One that Christ has sent to His people to open their ears to His voice.

And then. Listen.

Today

August 9, 2014

Yesterday morning, I wrote that post about God's people knowing His voice.

Today, I have been bombarded with the news that "love wins". Over the last few months, this issue has been something that cannot be ignored any longer....While so many people are celebrating, my soul is grieving.

I don't want this to be true of America. I don't want my children to grow up in a society like this. I want to wake up tomorrow and be told that it was all a big mistake.

But it is true, our society is following the desires of their hearts, and if tomorrow comes, it will all be the same.

This is America and she is in rebellion to God. This is the America that has forgotten who she is and what her founders designed her to be.

God said that this would happen (Romans 1:18-32). God is not surprised. God is not standing with His hands in the air.

Tonight, the grief has reached a high. My friends and family are joining in on the celebration. I hoped over to my blog to re-read the last post (I do that to edit any errors) and you know what...The words that I wrote yesterday morning were just what my soul needed to hear tonight.

We must not give up. We must not back down. The Shepherd is gathering His sheep and they'll know Him when they hear Him.

They'll Know Him When They Hear Him

March 3, 2015

"...and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice." John 10:4

This verse carries so much meaning. As sheep, it assures us that our Shepherd knows us and that we know Him and will follow Him. As people with good news to bring to the world, it assures us that when a sheep hears, they'll recognize the voice of their Shepherd echoing in the words that we bring to them.

I heard an evangelist say, "I only work with people that God has already been working with." He went on to explain that as he ministers to people, it's only the ones that have been wrestling with God for a while who come to find him or make the phone call to ask to meet with him again. He spends a lot of time bringing the Gospel to people in his town, but he doesn't expect it to appeal to everyone.

I'm always saying that God is laboring for His people. Chapters like John 10 assure me that this is really true. This particular passage jumped out at me weeks ago and I just keep coming back to it in my mind. "The know His voice" is something every Christian can relate to. 

May this verse carry us through the roughest of times and be our joy in the best of times. May this verse inform the way that we serve other people, especially as we are able to share the gospel with them. 

Don't give up. Don't back down. The Shepherd is gathering His sheep and they'll know Him when they hear Him.

Still Grateful

Knowing God is the greatest joy of my life. Spending eternity in His presence is what keeps me going. There was a time when I didn't know why I existed or why my life was so hard. I became a Christian at a VBS program when I was 9 years old. They told me to read my Bible, pray, and go to church. I did that. I tried to be even better than I was before. I had a certain sense of peace that was new, but life was still miserable and I was certain that something was missing.

Everything changed during the summer that I was 15. A man named Greg helped his son Josh and his friend Adam put on a conference. Together, along with material from John Piper and RC Sproul, these men brought me face to face with the glory of God. For the first time in my life, the Scriptures that I had been underlining in the magazine style Bible my Mom had given me began to come together. I realized that the glory of God was what was missing from my Christianity. I remember being so glad to finally SEE, but also so mad that nobody had told me this before. I wondered how I had been a Christian for six years without being told the rest of the story (or really seeing it for myself).

From that moment on, I was sure to share what I had learned with anyone who would listen. I started my first blog after returning from that conference. Any chance I was given to turn the conversation or to lead a group always had me pointing people to the "WHY"  behind everything and the answer to the "Now what?" question that I had been struggling with for so long. I was grateful to those men for defining the glory of God and helping me to see that I was made to see that glory and savor it and declare it.

Nine summers later, I'm still grateful. My life and my Christianity were changed. I recently came across this post on Desiring God that took me right back to the moment when God opened my eyes:

A lot has changed over the last nine summers. In fact, I can hardly believe everything that has happened as I look back on them all. One thing remains them same, namely, the reality of the glory of God being the end all and be all of my life. My fight against sin continues, but that summer I learned that I don't fight alone. God is fighting with me and for me. He has given me everything I need and everything I'm striving for, in Himself. As I press on in Him, His glory is displayed.

"In love He predestined us for the adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will, to the praise of His glorious grace, with which He has blessed us in the Beloved." 

Ephesians 1:5-6

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.  

 

Purpose of God

Every now and then Jay will stop by for a visit just because. It's usually in the afternoon and it almost always turns into a theology chat session. Earlier this month, I came home to find his Jeep parked in the driveway...I hoped he hadn't been here long because I didn't want to miss out on his visit! 

I wasn't disappointed. I joined the conversation happening around our table and talk quickly turned to a time years ago when Jay worked his way through parts of Chambers' book in a new way. He looked up a topic in the index and read and re-read every entry that was listed until he had his questions answered. This came up because we were talking about the purpose of God.

Jay left me with the challenge of looking up "purpose of God" in the index of "My Upmost For His Highest". I began working my way through the entries reading and re-reading them one by one. The entry from May 22 is the perfect reflection on this last Monday of 2014. The Scripture for that day comes from John 17:21. It says, "...that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us..."

If you are one of God's people, whatever is happening in your life, or has happened in your life, is working together for a purpose. John 17 tells you why and verses like Romans 8:28-29 leave you with full assurance. Chambers puts it this way, "...Jesus has prayed that you 'may be one' with the Father as He is."

As we finish up the last few days of this year and prepare our hearts for the one ahead, it is the perfect time to take stock of where we are as children of God. May we find great comfort in this great will of God! May even our troubles be viewed as blessings.

I want to leave you to consider this question from Chambers, "Are you helping God to answer that prayer, or do you have some other goal for your life?"

Join me in answering it honestly and reflecting on it often.

Just Passing Through

October 14, 2014

Today I bring you the final installment in my Contemplating Heaven series!

This series started off with an honest post written by my anxious little heart. Then we turned our attention to the joy God has set before us. And last week I tried to communicate why we need to contemplate heaven.

I think we're ready to take some time for a little HOW TO.

How to set yourself up to contemplate heaven:

*Read God's Word - This is water for your soul. It will be your biggest help in living the Christian life. You need to stay in it.

*Commune with God's people - This communion takes place through real life conversations, sermons, books, music, and  even blog posts. You need to have a chorus of voices around you reminding you of who you are as a Christian and that your hope is in God.

* Preach the glories of heaven to yourself - Use Scripture that you have memorized or are memorizing to continually bring you back around to the truth. Your mind is one of your biggest enemies and it needs all the help it can get to stay on track.

Those three things are key and with them come praying and serving and obeying, all the while remembering that heaven is our home. As Sam Storms wrote on p. 170 of his book "One Thing",

"Heaven is characterized by the [eternal] increase of joy [in God]." 

Let that sink in! Can you even imagine ANYTHING greater?

You might find it helpful to put together a list of things about heaven! Here's the list that I put together.

In heaven:

- We will be with and see God.

- Seeing God, we will be enamored with Him and His grace and His holiness and His kindness and everything about Him...Our joy in Him will be filling up and spilling over.

- We will be satisfied and yet always increasing in grace and knowledge and joy and holiness.

- We will hear the sound of perfected souls singing His praises.

- This joy in God and union with Him will go on an on for all of eternity and it will never grow old.


If you're like me, you have a serious tendency to focus on the here and now. It makes you anxious and afraid and downright sinful. Being reminded that my soul needs to set itself up to hope in God and more specifically, the promise of eternity with Him has really helped.

Taking the time to consider why I should contemplate heaven and then how to even begin going about it has been crucial. I hope that you have found this series both helpful and inspiring.

This earth is quite the place. The good news is, we're just passing through!

Contemplating Heaven Series:

pt. 1 The Problem

pt. 2 The Remedy

pt. 3  Why 

pt. 4 How 

The Joy Made Clear

October 12, 2014

I'll admit, the idea of purposefully contemplating heaven was a brand new thing to me until August 2014. I've never been very interested in studying heaven. I have been content to know that it is the place that God dwells and because of Jesus Christ's blood poured out for my sins, I will go there. Then I read a little blue book by Sam Storms and chapter 9 made me stop in my tracks.

Storms argued that "the consistent witness of Scripture is that we should make heaven and its beauty the object of our contemplating energy, not for the purpose of fueling theological speculation but to equip us for life here and now."

Such Scriptures as 2 Corinthians 4:16-18, Colossians 3:1-4, and 1 Peter 1: 3-9 come to mind.

Jesus Christ died and rose again so that when we die, we can be raised into the presence of God forever. He gave us the Holy Spirit so that we can get ready for life in heaven.

There is a lot here on this earth to enjoy and it is all meant to turn our attention to the one who granted it to us, namely God Himself. 

Storms also shared these words, "To whatever degree we relish and rejoice in the beauty of God now, it is but a faint foretaste of the eternal feast we will enjoy in heaven in the age to come..."

"Our only hope for satisfaction of soul and joy of heart in this life comes from looking intently at what we can't see. Therefore, we must take steps to cultivate and intensify in our souls an ache for the beauty of the age to come." 

Christian, this is why you must be about the business of contemplating heaven. Until we begin to eagerly anticipate being with God forever and being comforted and satisfied and kept by Him now, we will find ourselves far too attached and bedazzled by the good things on this earth. A quiet Sunday will be devastating to us when really, it shouldn't.

"The essence of heaven is the vision of God and the eternal increase of joy in Him. Heaven might well be summed up in the declaration: 'They will see His face' (Rev. 22:4)!" Storms gave these five "immediate and practical implications of the soul's intense longing for it [heaven]."

1. A contemplative focus on the beauty of heaven frees us from excessive dependence upon earthly wealth and comfort. 

2. A contemplative focus on heaven enables us to respond appropriately to the injustices of this life. 

3. A contemplative focus on heaven produces the fruit of endurance and perseverance now.

4. Nothing exerts such purifying power on the heart as the contemplative focus on heaven. 

5.Concentrating on the glory of heaven teaches us about the essence of true religion, namely, the holy affections with which we will find ourselves captivated by God in heaven. 

Christian, the joy awaiting you in heaven is clear. Jesus Christ's sacrifice made it yours. Be convinced of the power of looking forward to it! 

Catch these posts if you missed them:

pt. 1 When a Quiet Sunday Doesn't Help

 pt. 2 They Will See His Face 

They Will See His Face

September 5, 2010

I enjoy chocolate, good literature, candles, holidays, and games, but what I enjoy most on this earth are the people that God has filled it with. And as much as I love them and dream of a day when we will all be together in one place, there's something even better for me to look forward to, namely, heaven.

I look forward to heaven not because of the people that will be there with me, but because, it is in heaven when I will be in the perfect presence of God with the ability to see and savor Him forever.

When a quiet Sunday hits, I need to have a week full of busy Mondays spent contemplating heaven to look back on. When a quiet Sunday hits, my soul needs to have been dwelling on the time when I will be in the presence of God forever. That is my reward and the essence of every hunger in my heart.

As Jonathan Edwards put it:

 "Labor to get a sense of the vanity of this world...

Labor to be much acquainted with heaven."

Times haven't changed. Our souls need to be continually about the work of being glad that the vanity of this life thrusts us into the eager anticipation of the inheritance that God is keeping for us in heaven.

Christian, live each day knowing that you will see His face. Remember that His very presence is so much more than anything you've ever longed for.  Spend all of the days, especially the best ones, contemplating heaven and eagerly anticipating being there. THAT helps when a quiet Sunday doesn't.

Stay In The Word

September 22, 2014

To become you must behold...

I want to be a Christian whose joy in God is real and deep. Being that kind of Christian means that I know Him and that I am becoming like His Son who trusted and obeyed Him with all that He was.

In order to know Him, I must behold Him in His Word. The miracle of sanctification (becoming like him) happens as I come into contact with that Word.

Over and over again I've been hearing:

beholding is becoming

study your Bible

God makes Himself known through His Word

And slowly but surely, I watch and see that this is true. Our problem is sin. Sin enslaves and blinds and lies. God is the only one who can beat sin. Unless we are submitting ourselves to God and His Word, our supposed "fight" against sin is a vain one.

Oh, we may overcome it, but only in our own strength. Our strength fails eventually....But God's strength never fails. The strength we get from Him is a strength we can always count on.

"The source of your fire is God and He is always burning." Dr. Paul Jehle

Warm yourself by that fire, Christian. Behold your God in His Word and join Him in burning with the fire that is fueled by His glory. If you do one thing this fall, let it be this: stay in the Word. 

What are you studying in the Bible right now? 

What "one thing" has God been teaching you about over and over again lately? 

 

Go link up with Susannah!