It’s Birthday time!

Happy Birthday Josh! Today is my boyfriends birthday and I am so blessed to have him in my life. We spent the day at Bernheim and then off to dinner with my family! I will add some pictures of our time on here later! Couldn’t think of a better person I could spend my day with. Blessings – my life is filled with so many!

God’s blessing and the service of others

 

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction so that we will be able to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For just as the sufferings of Christ are ours in abundance, so also our comfort is abundant through Christ.

2 Corinthians 1:3-5

I guess I can only post once a month and at that on the “7th!” Life right now is very full and I am so blessed by it all. A short list of things I am “blessed” to have:

• It has been eight weeks from my shoulder surgery and it is doing extremely well! I was blessed by all my family, Josh and my friends who rallied around and help me get through this time!
• I started grad school in June. It was a quick decision, but it allowed me to be hired by a local school system and be guaranteed a job as a teacher for the Fall!
• Have I mentioned my boyfriend Josh and my family have continued to support me during a time of school, work, physical therapy and everything else!

Today, I was reading the girltalk blog that Carolyn Mahaney and her daughters write. The article discussed the struggle mothers have with being told they are “only” a mom. What a horrible statement! To be a mother is a great blessing – one given by God! On the other end of the spectrum they encouraged single women to find opportunities of selfless service to those they encounter on a daily basis. I might not be a wife and mother, but I have my family, Josh, friends, church members, coworkers, neighbors and many other people I encounter on a regular basis that I need to find ways to serve. You can go read this article here.

Don’t let the little foxes ruin your relationships…

I read the book Morning and Evening each day. A few weeks ago the verse was this:

Catch the foxes for us, The little foxes that are ruining the vineyards, while our vineyards are in blossom. – Song of Solomon 2:15

In the Song of Solomon this verse would refer to the little things that impede a husband and wife from getting along all the time. In the book today, Spurgeon relates it to the relationship we have with Christ. It can happen where little foxes or little sins will get into the way of our face to face relationship with Christ.

I liked how it said that if we were in a relationship with somebody we wouldn’t desire to be apart, so should our desire be for Christ and a daily encounter through the word and prayer.  I think we sometimes forget that little things can cause big problems and so we push them under the mat. As a child I would do something I shouldn’t have done or ask my mom a question and when she knew that the answer was not hers to give she would say ,”Take it to the Lord in prayer.” I believe that the verse of Song of Solomon deals with that and helps us to remember to not be satisfied with sins in our lives, even little sins, but instead to ask forgiveness and move forward in a closer walk with Christ. This is  face-to-face relationship, a daily desire to serve Him with our whole hearts.

 

Hannah’s Hymn of Thanksgiving

Hannah, Samuel’s mother knew how to praise the Lord in all circumstances. She sings a hymn of thanksgiving also called a paean. And Hannah prayed in 2 Samuel 2:1-10 and said:

Then Hannah prayed and said,
“My heart exults in the LORD;
My horn is exalted in the LORD,
My mouth speaks boldly against my enemies,
Because I rejoice in Your salvation.
2 “There is no one holy like the LORD,
Indeed, there is no one besides You,
Nor is there any rock like our God.
3 “Boast no more so very proudly,
Do not let arrogance come out of your mouth;
For the LORD is a God of knowledge,
And with Him actions are weighed.
4 “The bows of the mighty are shattered,
But the feeble gird on strength.
5 “Those who were full hire themselves out for bread,
But those who were hungry cease to hunger.
Even the barren gives birth to seven,
But she who has many children languishes.
6 “The LORD kills and makes alive;
He brings down to Sheol and raises up.
7 “The LORD makes poor and rich;
He brings low, He also exalts.
8 “He raises the poor from the dust,
He lifts the needy from the ash heap
To make them sit with nobles,
And inherit a seat of honor;
For the pillars of the earth are the LORD’S,
And He set the world on them.
9 “He keeps the feet of His godly ones,
But the wicked ones are silenced in darkness;
For not by might shall a man prevail.
10 “Those who contend with the LORD will be shattered;
Against them He will thunder in the heavens,
The LORD will judge the ends of the earth;
And He will give strength to His king,
And will exalt the horn of His anointed.”

Taking a quote from the book I am reading, 12 Extraordinary Women by John Piper, page 102-103:

“She acknowledged, for example, God’s holiness, His goodness, His sovereignty, His power and His wisdom. She worshiped Him as Savior, Creator, and as sovereign judge. She acknowledged the fallenness and depravity of human nature, as well as the folly of unbelief and rebellion. In short, her few stanzas were a masterpiece of theological understanding.

But this was not a mere academic theology. Hannah spoke about God from her own intimate knowledge of Him. Her words of praise were filled with love and wonder. That love for God, and a love for all things heavenly, was one of the keys to Hannah’s lasting influences as a mother.”

Oh, to so humbly remember to enter into Christ’s presence with the above thoughts. She willingly gave her son to the Lord as she had promised in all her prayers.

Abide in Christ

I am reading 1 John as part of a woman’s biblestudy at Ninth & O Baptist Church. Due to having surgery I am doing it like an “independent study” this time around. The book of 1 John is very filled with references to “light” and “love.” It was written to believers in a time of many false teachers who needed to be reminded of the truths found In Christ alone. In the first chapter in verse 5

This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. (emphasis added)

I love the absoluteness of this statement, “no darkness AT ALL.” When we abide in Christ we are walking in the light, therefore our lives should radiate with the light of Christ.

The first chapter ends with very familiar verses, verse 9-10

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.

In this verse we see the power of our confession of sins to Christ. It frees us to fellowship with Christ.

He is FAITHFUL and He will FORGIVE and He will CLEANSE us!

 Because Christ chose us before the foundation of the world and died for our sins on the cross we are graciously and so undeservedly given a FAITHFUL, FORGIVING, and CLEANSING Savior!

Be in prayer for Steven Curtis Chapman’s family…

A very sad event occured at SCC’s house yesterday evening. Their youngest daughter Maria was struck by an SUV driven by one of their sons and was killed. My heart is very heavy for this family who experienced really an unimaginable level of grief because it was caused by one of their other children. No blame should be placed and much prayer is needed:

• For the son who was driving the car to know that he is loved and not to lose sight of who Christ is and His sovereignty and healing grace.
• For Steve and Mary Beth to be beacons of light and wisdom during this extremely hard time and to trust in the Lord’s providences over their lives and those of their children’s
• For their local church body and all of us to rally around them and cover then in prayer for healing and comfort for the long road they face.

The website for SCC can be found here and you can leave a comment for the family here.

My hope is You…show me Your ways

My freetime is in great abundance and will be for the next month or so while I am recovering from shoulder surgery. Today, is day three and cabin fever is settling in and bringing with it the nudging to be discontent. I refuse to be ruled by my fleshly desires and instead focus on the greater purpose of God during this time.  I was reminded of what this focus should look like today while listening to my Third Day Offerings cd.  The song is titled My Hope is You:

 

To you, O Lord, I lift my soul
In you, O God, I place my trust
Do not let me be put to shame
Nor let my enemies triumph over me

 

My hope is you
Show me your ways
Guide me in Truth
In all my days
My hope is you

 

 

 

I am, O Lord, filled with your love
You are, O God, my salvation
Guard my life and rescue me
My broken spirit shouts
My mended heart cries out…

 

So as my body physically mends, I am going to use this time to read and study the word so that I will trust like Proverbs 3:5-6

 

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.

*Probably will not be many posts here because typing with one hand takes a great deal longer

 

 

 

 

Joshua – Yahweh Delivered…Be strong and courageous

I had the great opportunity to witness my Dad being ordained as an elder at North Oldham Baptist Church last Sunday. The pastor, Rob Gibson preached on a verse in Joshua 24:31

Israel served the LORD all the days of Joshua and all the days of the elders who survived Joshua, and had known all the deeds of the LORD which He had done for Israel.

The congregation was encouraged to read through Joshua and to see the great promises of God and the outcome seen in this book. The first thirteen chapters you see the continued conquering of the nations around Israel’s promise land with the capture and killing of the people. Once in Chapter 13 you see the people are finally in the promised land and it is being divided among the nations. From chapter 1:6-10:25 you see the phrase Be strong and courageous used five times. This is God’s reminder to His CHOSEN people that they have not been forgotten and the land will be theirs. In chapter 21:43-45 you see expressly God’s covenantal promise come to pass:

So the LORD gave Israel all the land which He had sworn to give to their fathers, and they possessed and lived in it. And the LORD gave rest on every side, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers, and no one of all of their enemies stood before them; the LORD gave all their enemies into their hand. Not one of the good promises which the LORD had made to the house of Israel failed; all came to pass.

I do not know how a Christian can overlook this simple statement  “all came to pass” without realizing the awe and reverance we are to give to our PERFECT Savior. I was curious to know what the word Joshua meant, Yahweh Delivered…He most certainly did and still does!

Part A is marrying Part B…replacing the words Bride and Groom on marriage licenses

I need to publish some of my own stuff here sometime soon. I will get back around to writing more. I finished the book, The Sovereignty of God today! It only took me five months to read and intake the book. Dr. Albert Mohler, President of the Southern Baptist Seminary posted a great article today on his blog. It is written in response to an article that can be found on the New York Times website. It discusses the availability of gay marriage in Massachusetts and how it has changed the ways that gays view “commitment.” I strongly urge you to go read Dr. Mohler’s article and the one at the NYT. I will warn you that Mohler’s is a much quicker read than the other – one page to the other’s ten. I didn’t realize how many gay couples had gotten married since marriage was legalized there. Some 700 couples have tied the knot.

Modesty…more really is better!

It is nearing the time of year that I most dislike and love at the same time. The reason: women in general think that spring/summer is a time to wear a whole lot less clothes and that it is not a problem. It is very disheartening to walk around and see what clothes people have on or lack of clothes. It is an outward symbol of an inward need – to be loved and respected! Unfortunately, they are lacking the truth about “how” to get that love and respect in a God honoring way. I personally strive and know many other godly woman do as well to wear things that are modest. The task is not the easiest with the fashions set forward by society, but it is doable and important.

Mary Mohler has an article on the SBTS website discussing the reasons why modesty is so crucial to a young girl and how that impacts the way she chooses to dress and carry herself once into adulthood. Too often parents do not invoke any rules for their daughters about dress from a young age and a battle can occur into the teenage years. It is about twelve pages long, but the type is large and the read is easy.

Girltalk also has a blog post about the importance of modesty. Included is a heart check that seeks out the motives of “why” you wear what you wear. This year’s post also has a few shopping ideas as well!

The Rebelution website written by two men Alex and Brett Harris, put out an interesting “modesty survey.” It is interesting if you have the time to look and read what men had to say about different things that woman wear. They surveyed many young men about all kinds of dress of young woman from t-shirts to bathing suits.

In saying all of this being fashionable is OK. I like clothes and fashion like the rest of us, BUT it needs to be tasteful and not the NUMBER ONE priority of our lives.  God has called us to live our lives to glorify Him in all that we do…that includes our dress!

1 Timothy 2:9 -10

 in like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.