Faith...

...is God's gift to us that enables us to trust Him in the present; hope is faith that enables us to trust God for what is to come.  God's faithfulness in the past makes our hope of His promises of the glories to come in the future an absolutely sure hope.  Saints live in a settled hope and it is this settled hope that enables us to endure through and rejoice in the midst of suffering and trials.

1 Peter 1:13b - "Fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." 

Honesty: Silence is Not Always Golden

Today at Bible Study we were in the Honesty chapter of "Seeking Him - Experiencing the Joy of Personal Revival."  Below are more self-assessment questions that were given to us.  We were asked to prayerfully respond to the questions, allowing the Holy Spirit to examine our hearts. 

Honesty with God 
 
"Behold, You desire truth in the inward parts" - Psalm 51:6

• Do I often participate in corporate praise and prayer while my heart is cold, indifferent, or resistant to the Lord?
• Are my prayers honest?  Do I say words that I think will impress God, or do I honestly communicate my real feelings and desires to Him?
• Do I honor Him with my lips when my mind and heart are far away?  What am I really thinking about when I pray?
• When called upon to pray in public, am I more aware of God's presence or the fact that others are listening to what I say?
• Do I serve God out of a heart of genuine love and devotion, or do I have a subtle, secret desire to be noticed and applauded?
• Do I volunteer for service and good works to glorify God or impress others? 
• Am I quick to agree with God when His Spirit convicts me of sin, or do I tend to rationalize, justify, and defend myself?
• Do I see my sin as God sees it, or do I tend to think in terms of "weaknesses," "problems," "slip-ups," or "personality quirks?"
• Do I love the truth so much that I actively and regularly ask God to search my heart and to reveal anything that is displeasing to Him?

Honesty with Myself 

"But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves" - James 1:22
"If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us" - 1 Jn. 1:8
"If anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself" - Galatians 6:3

• Are there truths in God's Word that I know in my head or that I "preach" to others but am not practicing in my own life?
• Do I ignore, resist, or deny the conviction of God's Spirit or His Word in relation to my sin?
• Do I think more highly of myself than what God knows me to be?  Do I have an inflated view of my gifts and my value to God and others?

Honesty with Others

"Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor; for we are members one of another" - Ephesians 4:25

• Do I sometimes see to create a better impression of myself than is honestly true?
• Do I often leave others with the impression that I am more spiritually mature and committed than is actually true?
• Am I allowing my mate to believe that I am morally pure and faithful when I have failed morally?
• Am I covering up sins of my past rather than dealing with them biblically?
• Am I hiding specific sins or failures from my mate, a parent, a teacher, or an employer?
• Am I guilty of speaking graciously to others while harboring hatred or bitterness in my heart toward them?
• Do I put walls up to keep people from seeing the "real me"?  Am I willing to let others into my life-to be honest about my spiritual needs, to ask for prayer about those needs, and to be accountable to others for areas where I need to grow or change?

Daniel

Hard to believe he will be eight months old on Friday.  Picture by Tim...

 

Potpourri

Sorry it's been awhile since I posted.  I think I have been battling the plain, old flu.  Started out with a sore throat on Thursday and then a cough developed.  I spent most of the day on the couch.  Felt much better Friday.  Saturday was fine.  Sunday I stayed home from church because of my cough, then that evening a fever hit and I felt like I'd been run over by a truck!  Yesterday I was back on the couch again for most of the day.  Read some, napped mostly, and watched a Tom Selleck Western.   Today is Tuesday.   I am up.  I have to be because it is a Daniel day.  So far so good!

The biggest news for our family since I last posted is that my son is now married.  A small ceremony took place on a beach in Viet Nam on Monday.  Mai Huong is not only my spiritual daughter, she is now also my daughter-in-law!  What a tremendous joy and blessing!    As soon as Ben sends pictures I will post a couple.  They rented traditional Vietnamese wedding attire so I can't wait to receive the pictures!

One last thing for you.  I love the word chosen.  I am chosen, by God.  If you are a follower of Christ you are chosen, you are chosen by God to be a royal priest, a holy nation, to be God's very own possession.  We are told in scripture that everything belongs to God.  "The earth is the Lord's and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it." - Psalm 24:1. But God's chosen are His in a very special sense.  He wants to spend eternity with His chosen.  I had no merit that would make Him want to choose me, to want to spend eternity with me.  It was simply because He loved me.  There is a reason why He chooses, why He makes royal priests, why He has called out a holy, set apart nation, and why He makes His chosen His own, special possession.  It's so that we can proclaim His excellencies.  So we can make His glories known.  (1 Peter 2:9)  That is our calling as His chosen.  Salvation is so much more than being saved from the horrors of eternal punishment.  It's all about making much of Him with our lives!  Tell someone today why God is so amazing.  Do something kind for your husband.  Pray for someone you know who is hurting.  Call them and tell them you love them.  There are so many opportunities in our day to exalt and magnify the Lord.  But, I am plum tuckered out now and Daniel just went down for his morning nap so I'm going to go back and lay down on the couch, and I'm going to give thanks for all the wonderful blessings it means to be His chosen. 

Such a wonderful word!

Psalm 147:3

"He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."
 
I'm going to go straight to Spurgeon's notes on this verse...they are so good...I've italicized my favorite part.

"...Few will associate with the despondent, but Jehovah chooses their company, and abides with them till he has healed them by his comforts. He deigns to handle and heal broken hearts: he himself lays on the ointment of grace, and the soft bandages of love, and thus binds up the bleeding wounds...This is compassion like a God. Well may those praise him to whom he has acted o gracious a part. The Lord is always healing and binding: this is no new work to him, he has done it of old; and it is not a thing of the past of which he is now weary, for he is still healing and still binding, as the original hath it. Come, broken hearts, come to the Physician who never fails to heal: uncover your wounds to him who so tenderly binds them up!"

Worship

How do you define worship?

I have this definition written on the inside cover of one of my Bibles..."response to God's displayed excellence."

Now I think this is a fine definition but I think it is more comprehensive than that. 

I heard this definition just recently that I really like..."setting your will aside for God's will."  I like it because in recognizing that God is sovereign, it also moves us to set aside our desires for His.  This truly is acknowledging Him as Lord.   I believe worship is not only what is taking place in your mind as you come face to face with the majesty and glory of God, but worship occurs when our hearts and actions are in the right place as well.  Worship is submission as well as homage.

Let me throw out one more definition to you.  This one is from William Temple’s (1881-1944) Readings in St. John’s Gospel.

"Worship is the submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by His holiness; the nourishment of mind with His truth; the purifying of imagination by His Beauty; the opening of the heart to His love; the surrender of will to His purpose - and all of this gathered up in adoration, the most selfless emotion of which our nature is capable and therefore the chief remedy for that self-centeredness which is our original sin and the source of all actual sin".

Amen!

30 Years Ago Today...

...I said, "Yes."  Thirty years ago today my husband proposed to me.  He took me out to my favorite restaurant tonight and we shared a steak, some good conversation, and later, a Choco Cherry Lover's Blizzard from Dairy Queen!  (For those of you who know I'm dieting, I let Tim eat most of it...)  Right after we were seated by the waitress Tim excused himself.  I sat looking out over the water of the Puget Sound, it was glassy and peaceful.  When he returned he had a beautiful red rose for me and two cards.  It's always his tradition to give me two cards, whether it's my birthday, anniversary, or something special like today.  One is funny, one is serious.  This time both were serious, and very sweet.  Another couple approximately our age was sitting at the window seat next to us.  The wife smiled and asked, "How many years?"  Tim told her we were celebrating our engagement anniversary, 30 years.  Our actual 30th anniversary will fall on July 5th.  The gal told us that she and her husband had been married for 28 years.  Their friends tell them that they are an "odd lot because couples just don't stay married that long any more."  Sadly, this is true.

What is it that makes a marriage last?

Like all marriages, we've had our bumps, or as John Piper calls them, "cow pies."  But we've learned that marriage is not about our own perceived needs being met, it's about living for what is pleasing to the Lord.  When a husband and wife set aside their will for God's will, when they live the "you before me" definition of love, marriage is vibrant and wonderful.

Thank you Lord for blessing me with such a wonderful, godly, tender-hearted, patient, kind, loving, and thoughtful husband.