Currently pt. 2

 

June 2, 2014

June is already off to a great start! I spent the weekend at Heidi's after having her daughter stay with me last week. My gardens are starting to look great. I could just go on and on! 

Currently I am...
 
cooking: breakfast foods (sausage gravy and biscuits, pancakes, waffles, etc.) and sandwiches (grilled cheese, blt, tuna fish) and fruit (so far just strawberries, bananas, pineapples, and grapes...I'm looking forward to the first watermelon).

watching: O=n Sunday I started a movie on Netflix called "Last Love".  I've watched it in like five 20 minute increments (weird, I know) and I'm looking forward to finishing it!

 planning: some fun day trips throughout the course of the summer. Living history exhibits are my favorite but I'm up for just about anything.

 reading: Mary Higgins Clark's new release "I've Got You Under My Skin", Elyse Fitzpatrick's "Idols of the Heart", Katherine Paterson's "Jacob Have I Loved", and John Gardner's "The Art of Fiction".

wearing: I've transitioned into all of my comfortable shorts whenever I'm home with nowhere to go. I've been wearing them since junior high and they're faded and a little ratty but they're my summer uniform for working around the house.

Go see what Jenna and Anne are up to and link up with your own currently post!

Summer Time in a Glass

Yesterday I decided that it officially feels like summer is really, really here! I am so excited about so many things...

Today I'm guest posting over at Amy's blog Lovely Does It.

Be sure to check out my post where I share the RECIPE for my very favorite Lemonade! 


When you pop over there, be sure to tell me about your favorite summer time drink.

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.

The Circle: Goals

May 8, 2014

Kiki and Samantha are hosting this month's "The Circle" link up. They've decided that the theme this month is GOALS. I don't think I've set any real goals since last fall. I did very well at keeping them and I think I'm ready to start "working" on some more again.

* Learn more about growing green beans. Over the last few weeks I've planted cucumbers, sweat peas, green beans, and morning glories from seeds. I came home yesterday to find so many sprouts coming up and that makes me pretty excited!

* Continue reading through the books on my list. Goodreads is so much fun. Not only do I keep track of what I've read and what I want to read, but I also get to find out about new books and the books that my friends are reading.

* Keep writing in concentrated sessions. I started really writing this spring and I've kept it up. College was full of writing, writing, and more writing and I've missed it.

* Begin the Bible memory program that I just learned about over the weekend. It involves an index card for each book of the Bible. You write the outline of the book on one side and references to the verses you've memorized with key word prompts on the other. You go over one card every day and read a Psalm or a Proverb. At the end of the year you've gone over the whole Bible like 12 times and you've read through the Psalms and Proverbs twice (I think). This would happen alongside of whatever other study you are doing and will give you a functioning timeline of the Bible. You can add geography and dates eventually and then you'll really have a better grasp on what God's been up to over the years!

*Host a giveaway on this little space. Keep your eyes open, because I've got a couple of things up my sleeve for this summer!

* I'd love to throw at least one cook out a month over the summer. It depends on PLANS, but I love gathering people together and filling them up with good food!

What are YOUR goals right now?