Making the Most of Every Opportunity

I LOVE the post Dane Ortlund wrote showing grace throughout the Bible. I think we tend to miss how grace-filled His Word is (we especially miss it in the Old Testament). Go read the full list of every book  and be encouraged at how unified (not uniform) the Bible is! Here are some highlights... Genesis shows God’s grace to a universally wicked world as he enters into relationship with a sinful family line (Abraham) and promises to bless the world through him. Exodus shows God’s grace to his enslaved people in bringing them out of Egyptian bondage. Leviticus shows God’s grace in providing his people with a sacrificial system to atone for their sins. Numbers shows God’s grace in patiently sustaining his grumbling people in the wilderness and bringing them to the border of the promised land not because of them but in spite of them.... Esther shows God’s grace in protecting his people from a Persian plot to eradicate them through a string of 'fortuitous' events. Job ...

“ 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...

I have never understood the book of Revelation well and have often been discouraged as I study it. The hardest part of using guides and sermons is that people often make it about numbers/signs/end time prophecy and not about Jesus. It's the revelation of Jesus Christ! I wanted a guide that showed the centrality of Christ throughout all of Scripture and here in the book of Revelation from a trustworthy teacher.  Check out  my favorite sermon series showing how this book is truly the revelation of JESUS Christ. It’s amazing!!!! Thank you Art Azurdia.  It's a lot of sermons, but if you want a quick overview, just listen to the first 4. You'll experience God's Word in incredible ways. 

  Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying,  “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?”  that is,  “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”Matthew 27:46 There are some sufferings that are just impossible to stand up under. Some losses go beyond grief and into despair. I have felt very few of these, but when they came, I could barely breathe, let alone preach the gospel to others watching. But God was faithful to draw me to Himself in it and show Himself to be so real as I clung to His promises. Today, I find myself drawn to others who suffer, many suffering in far worse way than I'll ever know. I pray for them as they grieve, or endure hard seasons, and while they are dying. I pray that they will know our God of Comfort deeper because they are experiencing it. I pray that He will be real and near to them in it. I pray that He'll strengthen them in His strength to endure and to trust in Him through their suffering and enjoy the rewards in heaven later through it. Some peop...

Last week, I read through comments (on an old post) from a friend’s blog about 1950’s wives. I was struck by how much of a controversy there is about wives roles. I think what struck me as sad was how much emphasis there is on “me” in the debate. But really, marriage, like any relationship, isn’t about me. And when we focus on “me”, even on how “I” serve my husband, we miss Jesus completely. If I had to choose, I fell on the 1950s side of the debate (though in reality, I’m basing my daily life on a waaay earlier time period than the 50s!) But I'm also aware that serving my husband is not natural to me. Without the Holy Spirit working in me, I'd rather sit around and be served. If I'm honest, there are more times like that than times of serving others. Just Married- 2002 But I want to serve Andy. I want to because God wants me to and because He already did it for me. Christ was mocked, beaten, rejected, and killed. He willingly laid down His life out of a great love ...

"Then Jesus, calling out with a loud voice, said, ' Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!'  And having said this he breathed his last. " (Luke 23:46) I was reminded as I read through Jesus' dying moments that He really was in control the entire time He was dying. This wasn't a weak gasp to God, he cried out in a loud  voice as He committed Himself fully to God beyond death. He willingly took on this suffering, cried out purposefully in it, and ended by committing His spirit fully to his Heavenly Father. And all to save us from our rightful punishment (2 Corinthians 5:21).Wow! There is sweet comfort in knowing He was in control, but also a model for how to live well, suffer well, and die to God's glory. Jesus taught from His early temptation, through his teachings, and by His miracles that we live to God's glory by knowing His Word and clinging to it. Here at the cross, He showed us what to do and where to cling in suffering and death: still t...

I shared part of my journey in Psalm 131 by sharing the sin snares (Pride, comparison/judgement, and anxiety) that rob me all of us from a calm and quiet soul in God. So what should I seek? "O  Lord , my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the  Lord from this time forth and forevermore." "I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child..." Many of you know very well the difference between a baby still breastfeeding vs. a weaned child. When Mommy walks in the room, the baby still feeding from Mommy may cry, scream, and lunge at Mommy. Even as Mommy settles in, the baby may thrash panicky until latched on. This is often how I feel I run to God. It's in a slight panic, but knowing He is the source I need. Yet,  here  the Psa...

I'm encouraged by this quote from John Piper on Psalm 19:7 ... “Even on days when every cinder in our soul feels cold, if we crawl to the Word of God and cry out for ears to hear, the cold ashes will be lifted and the tiny spark of life will be fanned. For ‘the law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.’"

My reflection on Psalm 131 after reading an article by David Powlison... "O  Lord , my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high; I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me. O Israel, hope in the  Lord from this time forth and forevermore." "My heart is not lifted up" - Oh how I constantly battle pride. Not even  just  pride, but I have a constant sin of looking at me and missing Christ. It's a daily stumbling block to seek Christ and His glory and lay down my life and I see here that the Psalmist wisely knows seeking ourselves will only lead us away from God and rob us of any peace in Christ. "My eyes are not raised too high" - Am I comparing myself to others? David Powlison says this is when I make  ME  big and  you  small. I hate that I might miss some great fellowship with other...

I shared in the last post how God has sustained me daily to open His Word and seek His face in prayer each morning before my family rises. It was NOT easy to start and only by His grace that I continue. But be encouraged if you want to grow through this with me that fruit has come! FRUIT IN OUR LIVES We cannot have sustaining fruit apart from Christ (John 15:5) and Christ himself said to abide/remain in His Word (that’s continual). But He also promises that we will grow more and more like Him as we are in His Word, because we are sanctified through His Word! What an incredible promise. FRUIT IN OUR MARRIAGE "Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap.  For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.   And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up " Galatians 6:7-9  If we want ...

“Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do what I tell you? Everyone who comes to me and hears my words and does them, I will show you what he is like:   he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid the foundation on the rock. And when a flood arose, the stream broke against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who hears and does not do them is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. When the stream broke against it, immediately it fell, and the ruin of that house was great.” - Luke 6:46-49 Trials will come and do come. Where I’m planted is how I’m prepped for them. The foundation of the house is built before the house. Before marriage and kids, Jesus planted and rooted Himself in me, but now how can I apply that?  I believe it’s to start my day BEFORE they are awake, planting my self in the Word and prayer so that by the time anyone else is awake, I’m firmly rooted in Christ’s love for me...

"this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit  and trembles at my word " -Isaiah 66:2 Oh how I want to be the one He looks upon!!! 1) To be humble-  I'm terrible at this. Even when I clean the toilet, I refuse to use it until Andy comes home, just to be sure he'll notice how clean the room smells and looks and be impressed by how great a homemaker I am. Seriously? I even have a pride battle in how well clean my bathroom? That's awful. I LONG to joyfully see my absolute need for Jesus (real humility) and rejoice in him fully because of that. Only humility allows the right and good picture of Him. 2) To be fully repentant and disgusted by my sin (contrite in spirit). Not just "guilty feelings" because that is really just a pretty term we put on our sinful desire to stay in our sin and not repent and turn away. 3) and to tremble  at His Word . His Word is key. With a word, God created out of nothing (Gen. 1). With a w...

I've had a rough re-adjustment home. I'm not sure if it's just exhaustion from traveling with 2 kids in a car all over the country for a month or more than that, but it's been a season of clinging to the cross and trusting that the small act of "sowing" will be multiplied by the Holy Spirit into fruit that explodes out and lasts. One encouragement for me in this has been to look back on what God's taught me in my journals. As I've looked back and prayed and just rested in Him, I'm seeing the height from which I've fallen... I am right back to looking at me, desiring my comfort and ease,  and missing Him. But OH WOW...to look at Him again all new is amazing! He is sooooo good.  Here's a journal entry from August as I went through Hebrews that brought Him flooding back central in me. Yes, JESUS! : "Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people through His own blood, suffered outside the gate. So, let us go out to Him outsid...

Do you ever follow the links people post on their blogs? I did this week (thanks Justin Taylor!) and I read a really cool sermon series by John Stott that drew out 2 Timothy in new ways to me. He shows each Chapter as a call to the gospel.  A call to:  1) Guard the Gospel (Ch. 1) 2) Suffer for the gospel (Ch. 2) 3) Continue in the gospel (Ch. 3) 4) Preach the gospel (Ch. 4) Here's one glimpse that stood out to me from his 4th sermon: "the Bible is the handbook of salvation; it is simply full of Jesus Christ. The Old Testament foretold and foreshadowed him. The Gospels told the story of his birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension. The book of Acts described how Christ through his apostles continued to work to preach the gospel of salvation and to found the church. The Epistles displayed the full glory of the divine-human person of Jesus and of his saving work. The book of Revelation portrayed Christ sharing the throne of God and promised us his final vict...