Making the Most of Every Opportunity

This week, David Platt shared with our Cru staff. God used him to revive us in such cool ways. He encouraged us as we faced harsh and untrue criticism from media, he reminded us where our hope and worth are- Jesus/the gospel, and then he charged us to leave and GO and continue to preach Jesus to the nations. What a sweet and timely gift from God to us. I hope to blog on all God's teaching me and Andy, but today, let me just post a few notes I took: Isaiah 6   1. We serve an incomprehensible great God! I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train   of his robe filled the temple.   Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smo...

Have you ever read a passage of Scripture and had a "new" truth just jump out at you? I read a  post on Titus 2 , from The Resurgence blog that is exactly that. We are taught Titus 2 as an incredible list of things to live out our faith in Christ as women throughout our many seasons of life: teach what is good, be reverent, love our husbands and children, work hard at home, etc. That is right and good, but it's not the full focus of Titus 2 at all . Look further and see a sweet truth: verses 11-14 are all about Jesus. He is the gift. And salvation in Him because of the work He did for us will produce the fruit of the first 3 verses in our life. I become a woman who lives out these beautiful fruits solely because of His great love for me. Who He is, what He's done, and who I am in Him are incredible truths worth dwelling on over and over. How good is God? "For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodlines...

"what if criticism is our Lord in disguise?... It might be God using a critic to get you to be sharper or less dependent on the opinion of men and more dependent on him." This has been a crazy month in my little world. Earlier this month, our family of churches went public with some hard sin issues that came out from our leader *you can read what I've learned through that here *. But this week, Campus Crusade for Christ,  the organization we work for (and adore) is receiving harsh and untrue judgements because we changed our name to Cru. God lead me to a post on "The Resurgence" blog about critics and what we can learn through them. I'm seeing as I process and pray that God wants me to live a life that pleases Him and brings glory to His name. People will judge and criticize. I've missed a truth there:  this is a great opportunity for me to weigh my heart and ask if I've valued the opinion of man over God .   “Fear of man will prove to be a snar...

I watched a 52 minute amazing   sermon by Tim Keller that has taught me SO much. I learned that: 1) Exodus 14, "the parting of the Red Sea" is a picture of Christ's salvation to come.  This passage is not just one way God worked once for his people. It's a picture of God's redemption. That's why it's mentioned over and over again in both Old and New Testaments. It's that important. God saves His people through a Mediator ( Moses, the mediator, is a picture of the true Mediator to come, Jesus -see Luke 9 and Hebrews 3 &4) and God's people cross over by grace out of their bondage. What a picture of our great Savior and our own salvation. Beautiful! 2) Water is really a pivotal symbol of God's redemptive plan . In Genesis 1, the Spirit of the Lord hovers over the water and then things happen... creation from water. Then, when everyone falls away, God sends a great flood to "de-create"... In Exodus 14, the Egyptians are "de-...

“ What a heart knows by heart is what a heart really knows, ” Dennis Lennon I read a  blog post by Ann Voskamp , author of One Thousand Gifts . She has spurred in me a desire to go deeper than I have before in knowing God's Word and start really memorizing it. Not just a verse here and there, but really knowing His Word, meditating on it, and memorizing it. It seems awkward to admit, but  I've never tried to memorize a book of the Bible before. I love God and want to know Him more and more. I want a heart and mind stayed on Him and delighting in Him. I want to dream His Word and live His Word. And that starts by knowing His Word. And knowing Him deeper through His Word. I'm thankful for her gentle reminder of how important it is. It feels doable now, somehow. I think I'm going to start with memorizing the book of Ephesians. If you're considering going deeper and knowing His Word, you should read her full blog pos t. She gives great links to resources to help me...

"When we face opposition, the temptation is to fix our attention on ourselves—justifying ​ ourselves, proving ourselves and defending ourselves.The other temptation is to become obsessed with our opponents, allowing their words and their scorn to ring in our ears. Instead, we need our ears ringing with the Word of God. Our eyes need to be fixed on Jesus. Our goal needs to be his glory. When we know the God who is great and awesome, we know that the battle belongs to the Lord." I'm recognizing how little I "overlook" offenses. I often sit in judgement over "the offender" or plan my defense.When I do that, I am missing grace. This quote is such a sweet rebuke to me. A reminder to go back and fix my eyes on Jesus (Hebrews 12:2). Look to Him and His grace and forgiveness. Pray, reflect on His Word, and seek Him in those moments when I'm tempted to replay "the offense" in my mind. I need to confess my own sin in it and receive His sweet grace....

CJ Mahaney steps down as SGM President... I'm still midprocess, but wanted to share thoughts on what God is teaching me. This week, I read that the President of our family of churches was voluntarily stepping down for a season of discipline and restoration because of sins of pride, sinful judgement, lack of submission to accountability, and even spiritual blackmail. We were assured this has been a year and 1/2 long process and he had already been restored to many he had wounded in his sin, but is stepping down to help healing personally and in Sovereign Grace Ministries as a whole. One (godly) man compiled 600 pages of documents of accusations and emails that he sent to CJ and that were posted online. I read through much of it as I grieved and wondered what this means for the church we've loved these past 6 months and our family. Andy and I prayed. I cried. And then I poured over websites of hurt former members and the official documents. They were written personally to ...

I shared about a post I read about motherhood that has really set my eyes straight on my mission as Mommy. I want to share some more thoughts I had and encourage you to read Rachel's post . Giving up what you cannot keep does not mean giving up your home, or your job so you can go serve somewhere else. It is giving up yourself.  Lay yourself down. Sacrifice yourself here, now . Cheerfully wipe the nose for the fiftieth time today. Make dinner again for the people who don’t like the green beans. Laugh when your plans are thwarted by a vomiting child. Lay yourself down for the people here with you... Rejoice in them. Sacrifice for them. Gain that which you cannot lose  in them . It is easy to think you have a heart for orphans on the other side of the world, but if you spend your time at home resenting the imposition your children are on you, you do not. You cannot have a heart for the gospel and a fussiness about your life at the same time. You will never make any difference...

I read a blog a few weeks ago and it has spurred me on in daily life so much. I encourage you to read the entire post, written fromRachel Jankovic on desiring.org, but I'll share a few quotes and my thoughts... When you are a mother at home with your children, the church is not clamoring for monthly ministry updates. When you talk to other believers, there is not any kind of awe about what you are sacrificing for the gospel. People are not pressing you for needs you might have, how they can pray for you. It does not feel intriguing, or glamorous. Your work is normal, because it is as close to home as you can possibly be. You have actually gone so far as to  become  home. This rung so true to me, because we are missionaries and we often are asked about "requests from the field" and how others can pray. And the work done worldwide is SO important to us. We desire that everyone everywhere will see and hear Jesus. That's our heart. And it is equally my heart in my hom...