A Prayer in Spring

"Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfill."

-Robert Frost

I have had my hands in the dirt again and I couldn't be more thrilled! I've been weeding my garden and planting seeds. I even added a couple varieties of irises and poppies to the array of perennials surrounding our swimming pool.
One afternoon this week, I was pleasantly surprised as I looked out my window to see daffodil sprouts shooting up throughout my garden. When I went out to inspect, I also noticed almost all of my perennials plants reemerging through the soil.
I'm definitely an amateur at this gardening thing, and I wasn't sure if my plants would come back again. The stems and leaves that remained after their winter pruning were terribly brown and lifeless looking. At the sight of the bright green leaves at the base of each plant, I couldn't help but think of the new life God creates in our hearts when He regenerates our souls from death to life. What a beautiful picture to see!
I'm so grateful spring is finally here! (I was starting to think it would never come!) What a glorious season to enjoy!

Whom Shall I Fear?

I am a wallflower.
John and Maggie think it's pretty funny that I think that about myself. But it's true! I've always been quiet and reserved, more shy than outgoing. Although I'd totally prefer to stay at home and hang out with my family all-the-time... on occasion society calls. Now that the boys are in school those occasions are becoming more frequent. Just yesterday, I had a meeting with Spencer's teacher. And the day before, he had a school performance. When in public, as silly as it seems, I often wonder if I don't look at other people, maybe they won't speak to me. But it's inevitable my eyes wander, and someone says "hello" and introduces his or herself.
I called my sister on the way home from Spencer's performance to see if she also feels awkward in those situations. (I was happy to hear she does). I'm not sure why, but in a roomful of women relatively the same age as me, I still feel like I'm fifteen. Even when meeting with Spencer's teacher I came away thinking I sounded like a big doofus. John and I talked about how I scrutinize the way I come across to people and the pride it reveals in my heart. I want to sound good. I want people to respect me.
This morning, I was reminded of my true position in this world as I listened to Casting Crowns in the car. Although I am not crazy about the tune, the words are perfect:

"I am a flower quickly fading
Here today and gone tomorrow
A wave tossed in the ocean
A vapor in the wind
Still You hear me when I'm calling
Lord, You catch me when I'm falling
And You've told me who I am
I am Yours, I am Yours"

Praise God, He doesn't give up on me... but chooses to use me in spite of my sinfulness. Even if I am a big doofus. ;)

Faith and Trust

Challenged by this quote today:
Piper says, "Ordinarily faith would mean trust or confidence you put in someone who has given good evidence of his reliability and willingness and ability to provide what you need. But when Jesus Christ is the object of faith there is a twist. He himself is what we need. If we only trust Christ to give us gifts and not himself as the all-satisfying gift, then we do not trust him in a way that honors him as our treasure. We simply honor the gifts. They are what we really want, not him. So biblical faith in Jesus must mean that we trust him to give us what we need most–namely, himself. That means that faith itself must include at its essence a treasuring of Christ above all things."
-John Piper, Don't Waste Your LIfe

Praying for Our Children

I read this fabulous reminder this morning from Praying the Scriptures for Your Children by Jodie Berndt. (Thanks, Jamie!)

"Before I started writing this book, I polled more than one hundred mothers to see what they wanted most for their children. My informal surveys, tucked into our family's Christmas cards and randomly distributed to friends and neighbors, listed everything from health and safety to academic success and strong family ties. I asked folks to check their top five desires or prayer requests, and I eventually used this feedback to shape the book's table of contents.
On the survey I also included an "other" category, where folks could comment on the topics or add their own thoughts. My friend Troy Lee shared this story of how God answered her prayers for her children:

"Before each of my children was born I prayed that they would be first a Christian and second healthy. I prayed that as long as we would be allowed to enjoy our children on earth, it would be long enough for them to accept Christ as their Savior. In other words, please let them live to be saved- however old or however young.
This prayer has been answered for two of my children so far, but very significantly in Abner IV's life. You may know that he died at age seven and a half. Seven months prior to his unexpected death, Abner prayed with his father to accept Christ and was baptized the next week. God let him live long enough to be saved.
This is even more interesting as we found out exactly what Abner died of (it took nine weeks to determine). Endocardial fibroelastosis is very rare. We were told that Abner's case would be published in a medical journal because in the last forty years, only two other people in the world had ever lived past age one with this condition.
And I keep thinking, God let him live long enough to be saved. Praise Him!"

Isn't this an amazing story? Where others might see only pain and loss, Troy Lee recognized the hand of God and the answer to her prayers. But, you might ask, shouldn't she have asked God to make her children healthy-no matter what? And if she had, would she have been spared the anguish of losing a child?
I can't answer these questions, but I know that in placing her children's salvation at the top of her prayer list-and in praying for them even before they were born-Troy Lee demonstrated an incredible maturity and depth of insight. She recognized what so many of us miss: that a relationship with the Savior is more important than anything else. A child can be blessed with a healthy body, good grades, an outstanding character, a wealth of friends, and an athletic scholarship to the college of his or her choice-but without a relationship with Jesus, it all counts for nothing."

"Praying for your children's salvation is asking God to give them the only gift that lasts forever."

Beautiful

Albert Mohler's Post

Americans head for the voting precincts today as the 2008 election is now at hand. Already, some 20 million citizens have voted through early voting options. Some expect a record turn-out for today's election. In any event, millions of citizens will participate in the first duty of freedom -- the freedom to vote.

There is so much at stake. We hear every election cycle that the stakes have never been higher. In one sense, this is usually also true. There is always the sense that there is more at stake this year than last, and, given the way issues unfold, that perception often seems validated by the times.

Christians face the responsibility to vote, not only as citizens, but as Christians who seek to honor and follow Christ in all things. But, beyond the vote, we also bear responsibility to pray for our nation.

First, we should pray that God will bless America with leaders better than we deserve. Democratic systems inevitably reflect the electorate's decisions, and these decisions reveal underlying worldviews. And, truth be told, all we can expect from democracy is the government we deserve. We must pray for a government and for leaders better than we deserve. May God grant us mercy as he reigns and rules over all things, including this election.

Second, we should pray that Americans will be motivated to fulfill the responsibilities of citizenship, yet also that we will be stripped of an unhealthy and idolatrous confidence in the power of government to save us. God has given us the gift of rulers and governments in order to restrain evil, uphold righteousness, and provide for civil order. No human ruler can save. No government official or office holder can heal the human heart, solve the sin problem, or accomplish final justice. These powers belong to God and God alone.

Third, we must pray that Americans will vote by conscience, not merely on the basis of celebrity or emotion. Christian citizens must vote to uphold righteousness and contend for righteous and just laws. But, at the same time, we must repent of moralism and the tacit assumption that better laws would produce better people.

Fourth, we must pray that Americans will vote to defend the least among us -- and especially those who have no vote. This starts, but does not end, with concern for the unborn and for the recovery of respect for the dignity and sanctity of every single human life at every stage of development, from conception until natural death.

Fifth, we should pray that God will prick the conscience of the nation on issues of morality, righteousness, and respect for marriage as the central institution of human civilization. So much ground appears to have been lost on these issues. We need to pray that much ground can be regained.

Sixth, we should pray that God will protect these candidates and their families. They have been through an arduous ordeal and now face the deadline of the vote. They are physically exhausted and now face the judgment of the people. They are public figures, but they are also flesh and blood human beings, who are fathers, mothers, sisters, brothers, sons, and daughters. Their families have withstood much. We should pray for their marriages and their children. May God protect them.

Seventh, we should pray that the election is conducted with honor, civility, respect, and justice. We must pray that we do not face another round of litigation after an election. This brings democracy into disrepute. May there be a clear winner, not a contested result.

Eighth, we must pray that Americans will be prepared to accept the results of the election with respect and kindness. This will be no time for rancor, condemnations, and conspiracy theories. Instead, we must pray that God will settle the hearts of the people. May Christians be ready to respond with prayer, respect for office, and a gentle spirit. Others will be watching.

Ninth, we should pray that this election would lead to even greater opportunities to preach the Gospel, and that the freedom of the church will be respected, honored, and protected.

Tenth, we must pray for the church, praying that the church of the Lord Jesus Christ would be strengthened in the truth, grounded in the faith, and empowered for witness and ministry. May the church, the sign of the coming kingdom, be faithful to declare the Gospel -- knowing that this is the only message that will save.

May God grant us mercy and grace as we seek to fulfill our responsibilities as citizens -- and our responsibilities as Christians. This world is not our home, but we do bear responsibilities as followers of Christ as we are living here.

May God bless America, not because this nation deserves to be blessed, but because He is a God of grace and mercy. Oh God . . . save us from ourselves."

Amen! Read more from Mr. Mohler at www.AlbertMohler.com.

Gets Me Every Time

Forgetting I'm called to serve, John sent me this sweet, piercing reminder by none other than Spurgeon himself:

"Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." (Ecclesiastes 9:10)

"This is what thou art here for. Thou art here for a certain purpose. Suppose, now, the duty which lies against our door to be a very disagreeable one. A sad thing that any duty should be disagreeable to the man who has been saved by Christ, but so it is.

There are some duties, which while we are nothing but poor flesh and blood will always be less agreeable than certain others; yet, mark you, though the duties seem to you to be degrading and disagreeable, contrary to your taste, yet the exhortation hath it, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might." Whether
it be the visitation of the poorest of the poor or the teaching of the most ignorant, whether the hewing of wood or the drawing of water, the very lowest work in the Lord's house, if thy hand findeth it to
do it.

Christ Jesus might say to us, "Oh, you don't like teaching the poor;
it is beneath your dignity; then let your commander-in-chief do it; he can teach the poor, he can wash the feet of the saints, he can visit the sick and afflicted—he came from heaven to do this, and he will set you the example."

Surely we should each be ashamed of ourselves, and declare from this time forward whatever it is, be it great or little, if it comes to our hand, and if God will but give us help and give us grace, we will do it with all our might."

Oh me.

Heaven Bound...

"Christians often want to die when they have any trouble. Ask them why, and they tell you, "because we would be with the Lord." We fear it is not so much because they are longing to be with the Lord as because they desire to get rid of their troubles." -C.H. Spurgeon

No, I'm not depressed (or suicidal!). We are not going through any MAJOR trials right now, but I definitely can relate to this quote by my favorite dead guy.
I remember especially feeling this way after my Mother passed away. I came to the stark realization that Life is Hard. Losing people you love the most will do that to you. When I am faced with difficult situations: mortifying sin, dying to myself, watching loved ones struggle, seeing the results of this fallen world... I cannot help but look forward to heaven. Can anyone relate?
I'm challenged by this reminder to take a deeper look at my motives.
Lord, help us to love you more!

A Quest for More

I've been reading a fabulously challenging book by Paul David Tripp. Here's an excerpt:

"We are all capable of fighting for what has little value while forgetting things of transcendent value.
In a flash of irritation, a mom will treat the condition of her son's bedroom as being more valuable than the community she is to have with her son, which is so essential to what God wants to do for this boy through her. After months of frustration, a believer will get into a heated argument over garden boundaries with his neighbor, forgetting how much more important it is to be salt and light in the man's life than how many flowers were planted over the property line. For a moment, a man will get more of a sense of well-being from the look and smell of his brand new car than he does from the condition of his heart. For a season, the affection and appreciation of another human being will become more functionally important to us than the gracious, forgiving, and adopting love of our heavenly Father. For a moment, a succulent steak becomes more important to us than a soul that has been satisfied by the Living Bread. In the flash of one look, the beauty and shape of a woman's body can become more important than the long-term marital community and a heart that is pure. And in a car on a given night, being right in the eyes of your spouse can become more important than living right before your Lord."

Wow. We live in a much smaller world than what God created us for, a world centered around ourselves. I'm so convicted.

Katie and the World Race

Please pray for my beautiful niece as she follows Jesus around the world. Katie has joined The World Race, a missions opportunity traveling through eleven countries in eleven months. Never heard of it? Watch this:




When asked why she wanted to go on the World Race, Katie replied,

I'm going around the world in 11 months, because...

I believe in love.

Call me a romantic, call me an idealist, call me naive...but it's the truth. I believe in the love of God and His Son Jesus Christ, because it is a love has changed my heart forever. I'm indelibly marked with the love that put Jesus on the cross. Like skin tattooed, my heart is stained with the love of Christ. I cannot get rid of it--nor do I want to--and nothing I will ever do can separate me from it. The love of Jesus washes over me when I seek His face, and I am drowned in the glory of it...but rather than earthly drowning, which is a nightmare, this drowning is a welcome overpowering of my life; this love is eclipsing my humanity and my sinfulness, creating a new Spirit where once the death of sin reigned, and calling me ever deeper into the presence of my Creator.

Oh yes, I believe in love. And because I've seen the power of the love of Jesus in my own life, I believe Jesus just wants me to show others that love.

Katie is still raising support for this trip. If you are interested in joining her support team, go here. Also, you can follow her adventures through her blog at: http://katierowland.theworldrace.org/.

A Bit of Conviction for the Day

“There is no other way in which one’s life will be so surely, so quickly transfigured, as in the faithful, happy, cheerful doing of every-day tasks. We need to remember that this world is not so much a place for doing things as for making character. Right in the midst of what some people call drudgery is the very best place to get the transfigured life. The doing of common tasks patiently, promptly, faithfully, cheerfully, makes the character beautiful and bright. But we must take heed always that we do our tasks, whatever they are, with love in our heart. Doing any kind of work unwillingly, with complaint and murmuring, hurts the life.”

–JR Miller

Salvation is the Free Gift of God

I needed to read this today. Hope it encourages you, too...

"It is plain that if man's sins needed a sacrifice, he did not deserve that a sacrifice should be found for him. The fact of his need proves his lack of merit and his guiltiness. He deserves to die. He may be rescued by another dying for him, but he certainly cannot claim that the eternal God should take from His bosom His only-begotten, well-beloved Son and put Him to death. The more you look that thought in the face, the more you will reject the idea that, by any possible sorrow, or by any possible labor, or by any possible promise, a man could put himself into the position of deserving to have Christ to die for him. If Christ came to save sinners, it must have been as a gift, a free gift of God. The argument to me is conclusive."

The Joy in Praising God by C.H. Spurgeon

Wow.

You may be interested in reading what Carolyn McCulley has to say about this video, here.

CJ has a Blog!

Due to a mass number of requests, CJ Mahaney
(Sovereign Grace Ministries) has finally acquiesced and
will join the rest of us here in Cyberland. His purpose?
Read for yourself:

"So here would be my hope for this blog, and for the handful of you that will join my family in reading it. If I can somehow draw your attention each week to the hill called Calvary and remind you of the Savior’s substitutionary sacrifice on the cross for our sins, if I can draw your attention away from yourself and direct your affections to him, then this blog will have served your soul and made some small difference for the glory of God. I pray it does."

Hope you'll join me in visiting this sure-to-be means of grace available to us all!
Go there!

God Incarnate

In light of the recent Christmas celebrations,
I came across a rather lengthy, yet favorite quote
by J.I. Packer:
"It is no wonder that thoughtful people find the gospel of Jesus Christ hard to believe, for the realities with which it deals pass our understanding. But it is sad that so many make faith harder than it need be, by finding difficulties in the wrong places.
Take the atonement, for instance. Many feel difficulty there. How, they ask, can we believe that the death of Jesus of Nazareth–one man, expiring on a Roman gibbet–put away a world's sins? How can that death have any bearing on God's forgiveness of our sins today?
Or take the resurrection, which seems to many a stumbling block. How, they ask, can we believe that Jesus rose physically from the dead? Granted, it is hard to deny that the tomb was empty–but surely the difficulty of believing that Jesus emerged from it into unending bodily life is even greater? Is not any form of the theory of temporary resuscitation after a faint, or of the stealing of the body, easier to credit than the Christian doctrine of the resurrection?
Or again, take the virgin birth, which has been widely denied among protestants in this century. How, people ask, can one possibly believe in such a biological anomaly?
Or take the Gospel miracles; many find a source of difficulty here. Granted, they say, that Jesus healed (it is hard, on the evidence, to doubt that he did, and in any case history has known other healers); how can one believe that he walked on the water, or fed the five thousand, or raised the dead? Stories like that are surely quite incredible. With these and similar problems many minds on the fringes of faith are deeply perplexed today.
But in fact the real difficulty, the supreme mystery with which the gospel confronts us, does not lie here at all. It lies not in the Good Friday message of atonement, nor in the Easter message of resurrection, but in the Christmas message of Incarnation. The really staggering Christian claim is that Jesus of Nazareth was God made man–that the second person of the Godhead became the "second man" (1 Cor. 12:47), determining human destiny, the second representative head of the race, and that he took humanity without loss of deity, so that Jesus of Nazareth was as truly and fully divine as he was human.
Here are two mysteries for the price of one–the plurality of persons within the unity of God, and the union of Godhead and manhood in the person of Jesus. It is here, in the thing that happened at the first Christmas, that the profoundest and most unfathomable depths of the Christian revelation lie. "The Word became flesh" (Jn 1:14); God became man; the divine Son became a Jew; the Almighty appeared on earth as a helpless human baby, unable to do more than lie and stare and wriggle and make noises, needing to be fed and changed and taught to talk like any other child. And there was no illusion or deception in this: the babyhood of the Son of God was a reality. The more you think about it, the more staggering it gets. Nothing in fiction is so fantastic as is this truth of the Incarnation.
This is the real stumbling block in Christianity. It is here that Jews, Muslims, Unitarians, Jehovah's Witnesses, and many of those who feel the difficulties concerning the virgin birth, the miracles, the atonement, and the resurrection have come to grief. It is from misbelief, or at least inadequate belief, about the Incarnation that difficulties at other points in the gospel story usually spring. But once the Incarnation is grasped as a reality, these other difficulties dissolve.
If Jesus had been no more than a very remarkable, godly man, the difficulties in believing what the New Testament tells us about his life and work would be truly mountainous. But if Jesus was the same person as the eternal Word, the Father's agent in creation, "through whom also he made the worlds" (Heb 1:2), it is no wonder if fresh acts of creative power marked his coming into this world, and his life in it, and his exit from it. It is not strange that he, the Author of life, should rise from the dead. If he was truly God the Son, it is much more startling that he should die than that he should rise again.
"'Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies," wrote Wesley; but there is no comparable mystery in the Immortal's resurrection. And if the immortal Son of God did really submit to taste death, it is not strange that such a death should have saving significance for a doomed race. Once we grant that Jesus was divine, it becomes unreasonable to find difficulty in any of this; it is all of a piece and hangs together completely. The Incarnation is in itself an unfathomable mystery, but it makes sense of everything else that the New Testament contains."

God as Father: Understanding the Doctrine of Adoption

Whether you download this sermon, or listen to it on my blog, please take time to hear this message.

12/23/07 CJ Mahaney, Covenant Life Church, Gaithersburg, MD

A Thankful Heart

"Let us take the pure gold of thankfulness and the jewels of praise and make them into another crown for the head of Jesus." -Spurgeon

Lord You Have My Heart

Lord you have my heart
And I will search for yours
Jesus take my life and lead me on.

Lord you have my heart
And I will search for yours
Let me be to you a sacrifice.

(men) And I will praise you Lord
(ladies) I will praise you Lord
(men) And I will sing of love come down
(ladies) I will sing of love come down
(men) And as you show your face
(ladies) Show your face
(together) We'll see your glory here.

Written by Martin Smith ©1994 Curious? Music UK

Jesus Loves Me

I was reading this morning in Essential Truths of the Christian Faith by R.C. Sproul. He begins the chapter on the "Incomprehensibility of God" with this: "The Swiss theologian Karl Barth was asked by a student during a seminar in the United States, "Dr. Barth, what is the most profound thing you have ever learned in your study of theology?" Barth thought for a moment and then replied, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so." The students giggled at his simplistic answer, but their laughter was of a nervous sort as they slowly realized Barth was serious.
Barth gave a simple answer to a question of profundity. In doing so he was calling attention to at least two vitally important notions. (1) That in the simplest Christian truth there resides a profundity that can occupy the minds of the most brilliant people for a lifetime. (2) That even in learned theological sophistication, we never really rise above a child's level of understanding the mysterious depths and riches of the character of God."
So true, eh?!

Gideon and the book of Judges

We are going through several books in the Old Testament right now in church, and I have been reading ahead of time, during my quiet times at home. The other day I read the story of Gideon and the fleece. My favorite part is when Gideon says, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request."... Have you ever been hesitant to ask for one-more-thing from God? Perhaps it's unbelief (as it seems it was for Gideon), or maybe you just don't feel like you deserve it. I know I'm hesitant to ask sometimes!

Gideon said to God, "If you will save Israel by my hand as you have promised- look, I will place a wool fleece on the threshing floor. If there is dew only on the fleece and all the ground is dry, then I will know that you will save Israel by my hand, as you said." And that is what happened. Gideon rose early the next day; he squeezed the fleece and wrung out the dew—a bowlful of water.
Then Gideon said to God, "Do not be angry with me. Let me make just one more request. Allow me one more test with the fleece. This time make the fleece dry and the ground covered with dew." That night God did so. Only the fleece was dry; all the ground was covered with dew." Judges 6:36-40

Such a beautiful reminder of the patience and mercy of God. He proves His faithfulness to us, over and over again.
"O great and powerful God, whose name is the LORD Almighty, great are your purposes and mighty are your deeds." Jere. 32:18b-19

Hope you all have a restful day today.
: ) J