Scripture Sunday

My Mary, age 5, enjoying a nature center presentation on amphibians and reptiles.

But ask the animals, and they will teach you;

the birds of the air, and they will tell you;

ask the plants of the earth, and they will teach you;

and the fish of the sea will declare to you.

Who among all these does not know

that the hand of the Lord has done this?

In his hand is the life of every living thing

and the breath of every human being.

- Job 12, 7 - 10

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Saturday Devotions 5/5

Morning Prayers
Peter Jackson

Saturday Devotions

Today's Text: James 3:13-18

Two Kinds of Wisdom

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let them show it by their good life, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. ¹⁵ Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. ¹⁶ For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

What I love about this? The knitting together of humility and wisdom. We cannot live rightly without knowing our position before God. Christ's blood is the only reason we can talk to God, and be heard, at all. Our faith in Christ's blood inputs righteousness to us, but we still fall. We still sin and live for ourselves. We are still nothing without Him. So when we think of our position, we must think low. Once we have that mindset, we're open to the Holy Spirit's leading, which brings true wisdom. 

Want a visual picture of this concept? The Christian on her knees before God. Worshiping, thanking, asking. If you're in prayer and in the Word, you've already arrived at something crucial. I am nothing without Him. Feel that in your bones. Breathe it with every rise and fall of your chest. Understanding that one sentence changes everything: I am nothing without Him.

Carve out that time and you'll fall in love with your Heavenly Father. Your devotional time won't be a chore. It'll be a meeting with your beloved. You'll become humble in His presence. You'll want more and more of  Him. Less and less of you.

A touchy subject comes to mind as I read these verses. Please don't be offended. I don't judge with these words. They speak of a general cultural trend that I find very concerning. All of us who use social media need to be aware of this phenomena. No one is immune.

In line at the grocery store this week, I stood behind an early twenties man who checked his high-tech phone twice in ten minutes. Was it a Facebook or Twitter contact, or a text, he was hoping for? 

He's not the only one. Everywhere I go...libraries, stores, post offices...people check their phones. I recently read about a woman who was playing on Facebook and accidentally let her baby drown. What have we become? As addicted as the worst drug addict, wanting to be acknowledged, validated. "For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice."

We want more followers, more exposure, more likes than the next guy. Envy and selfish ambition? Yeah, that's us. The social media generation.

No, it's not evil to check stats. But are you addicted? Here's how to know: When your phone or Internet is down and you can't check your numbers, you become anxious, angry, depressed. You can't concentrate on anything else. You never go far from your phone.

Addiction of any kind is ugly, destructive. It's bondage. 

Do you want to be free? Understand what's happening to you. Checking your numbers may give you a temporary high. That's why your brain continually does it. Know this: There isn't a single person who can give you worth. Your worth comes from God, and your relationship with Him. 

Go offline for as long as it takes. Learn what freedom from bondage feels like. If you run a business and need the Internet and social networking, set time limits. Get some accountability from a trusted person. Increase your Bible and prayer time. Pray for deliverance each time you're tempted to do a frivolous check. Involve yourself in useful tasks. Get out into nature and experience the beauty of God's splendor.

This addiction talk may sound ridiculous. So many people do the same thing. If everyone is doing it, can it be wrong? Yes! Addiction is always wrong. The thing you're addicted to becomes your god...your focus.  "Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic"

God has a focus for you...serving Him in all you do. Bringing Him glory. 

A person continually humbled by being in the presence of God doesn't need followers to validate her. She's validated by her relationship with God. God created us with a spiritual thirst. And only He can quench it. When we try to quench our thirst any other way, "there you find disorder and every evil practice."

Prayer Time:  Dear Father, thank you for having a grip on my heart and life. Thank you for your faithfulness. Give me a powerful desire to be in your presence. Humble me each day and give me true wisdom. Holy Spirit, redirect me when I fall prey to envy or selfish ambition. Give me a pure heart. Deliver me from any bondages I may have.

In your name, Amen.

¹⁷ But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving,considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. ¹⁸ Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Prayer Time:  Dear Father, how beautiful are these words. Make me pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. I want to reap a harvest of righteousness. Change me, Father. Help me to hunger and thirst for only you. These aren't empty words, Father. I know your transforming power. Make me responsive to the Holy Spirit, always.

In your name I pray, Amen.

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When You Need Joy

Five Children Playing in the Forest
George Elgar Hicks

Flashing before me all day now? A slideshow of family photos dating back to 2008. My boys, they made it our screen saver and broke my heart.


Seeing pictures of my Beth as a baby, and my Mary with her early, abundant curls, it shatters me. My husband, an outstanding father, wants them to grow up so things are easier. But me? I want them in my lap, little. 


I love children...everything about them. The funny things they say, the way they love, the things they do for fun, the way their hair smells after a bath, the way the chocolate covers their mouths. 


I'm in heaven here on earth, with these four. 


I wanted more than four, though I didn't know it until I had three. But my birthing years? Over. My husband made that decision three years ago, and due to my age, I'd reluctantly come to accept it. 


But these old photos of the children. What an ache.


How can I bare them growing up so fast? How do I put my heart back together, when each season I give more clothes to Goodwill? Clothes that once flattered and fit and brought out their eyes, or their hair. Clothes I remember seeing on them when they were smaller and got into things constantly and drove me crazy. Gone. Just like the years.


Each Goodwill box reminds me. One day, this house will empty.


How soon can they have their own children for me to love? If we raise them strong in the Lord, will they get married at twenty, ready to love for a lifetime? Can I be a grandmom in thirteen years?


I ask the Lord these things. And his answer? It's always the same when I wonder..."How can I endure, Lord?"


Give thanks for today...for now. Joy isn't a large family. It's thanks-giving. It's knowing that eternity is enough and everything else? Bonus. Icing.


Let your photos become your screen saver. You might mourn, but you'll also live in the moment with your children.


Thank you, Father, for...


...a loving and dedicated husband.


...Peter, Paul, Mary, Beth, Isaac, and one more.


...Mrs. Piggle Wiggle books in the mail and Peter getting lost in them right away.


...putting winter clothes away on an 80 degree day.


...more room in the closets.


...summer clothing =  less laundry.


...girls playing with their dolls more.


...girls having dolly tea parties with their new dishes.


...the hamster acquired in December 2011, Jack The Black, still lives and delights Peter.


...my Mary wanting to be a mommy with her whole heart.


...Mary's and Beth's sweet, mutually-nurturing relationship.


...that girls and boys are so different, yet so individual, still.


...a good visit with a relative.


...Beth's flare gone...she's eating and sleeping better. Thank you for praying!


...a quiet house while I give thanks to God.


...God loves me and forgives me and remakes me.


...God himself...He brings joy. 

Thursday Devotions 5/3

Morning prayers
Peter Jackson

Thursday Devotions

Today's Text:  James 1:19-27

Listening and Doing

¹⁹ My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. 

So, as I mentioned, we had a relative visit Ohio for two weeks. We hosted her about every other day for several hours. If you have babies and toddlers or more than a couple children, you know the damage children do to a house. I'm not normally a neat nick, but my visitor needed a place to sit down, see. We normally picked her up about 10:00 AM, so things had to be put away and hopefully swept and vacuumed much earlier than usual. If relatives see crumbs or dirt on your floor, they offer to sweep or vacuum for you. Or maybe that's just my relatives? Or my floors? I wanted her to concentrate on spending time with the children--whom she sees only once every two years--so I tried to maintain a non-distracting environment.

Only--and here's how the verse comes in--maintaining that environment transformed me. Not into an efficient neat nick, but into a wretched soul who shouted angry at her children. They sometimes stuffed things into holes and drawers to clean their playroom, or they did poor jobs making their beds, or they got distracted and took too long for simple tasks. 

Or, the most irritating, they made messes as fast as I cleaned them. 

But they helped too. Ten-year-old Peter vacuums like a champ. Eight-year-old Paul folds clothes well and even remembers to put them away. 

I'm grieved to say, my nagging prevailed over my praises.

The van ride over to the next township to pick her up? It calmed all of us and the visits went exceedingly well. God, loving my visitor mightily and wanting her saved, transformed the spiritual environment here from messy to glorious, no thanks to me.

My heart aches remembering my shouting...my careless words. Yes, the Holy Spirit chastised me. He did his job. I held their sweet faces in my hands each time, looked them in they eyes, and spilled tearful apologies:: "I am so sorry! I shouldn't have shouted at you. Mommy is stressed about cleaning on a deadline. Can you forgive me?"

And my children? They smiled knowingly. "That's okay, Mommy.  I forgive you."

I don't know that letting the house go was the answer. She would have felt sorry for me, trying to help me catch up each time. And the children wouldn't have the memories of her they do now...of reading stories, playing Tiddly Winks and Backgammon, of exploring the backyard, and cuddling on the couch watching Gordy The Pig (which she hated, I came to find out. No, it's not a masterpiece; the acting is atrocious. But we love icky sweet movies). 

Peter cries at the end as the pig family reunites. And I feel like crying. We're pitiful that way about pigs...we'd rather live on a farm than in a neighborhood (though not my Paul, who thinks farm animals stink). The visitor hates hillbilly anything, including pigs and cows and country love songs...a fact I'd forgotten from my childhood.

My long-winded point here? The Holy Spirit holds us accountable for Scripture. We don't have to be perfect. He knew this verse was already planted in my heart. He brought it to my mind the instant my shouting hit tender ears. And my apologies? They took all of eight minutes to spill out.

Your spiritual growth and obedience? It's in Holy hands. Read the Word. Plant it in your heart and pray it. Let the Holy Spirit do the rest. 

Prayer time:  Dear Lord, thank you for the work you've done in my heart and life. I love you. I want to shine your light and truth and grace, as pleasing fragrances in my home. Help me, Father. Make me long-suffering, slow to speak and slow to become angry. May I live to bring you glory. In Jesus' name, Amen.

²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you.

Prayer time:  Dear Lord, search my heart and cleanse it. Help me to humbly accept your teaching and plant it in my heart. You alone can transform me. I'm too weak to change myself. Your Word, your blood, your Holy Spirit, they have all the power. Help me to submit, Father. In Jesus' name, Amen.

²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵ But whoever looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues in it—not forgetting what they have heard, but doing it—they will be blessed in what they do.

Prayer time:  Dear Lord, I want to do what your Word says. Hold me accountable. Make my heart sensitive to the Holy Spirit's moment-to-moment leading. When I look in the mirror, help me to really see. I'm a sinner in need of grace and transformation. Keep me humble in heart. Transform me, day by day. Help me to experience the freedom your Word brings. Help me, my family, to be blessed in what we do, as your Word promises. I love you. Thank you for your love and faithfulness. In Jesus' name, Amen.

²⁶ Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

Prayer time:  Dear Lord, my walk is worthless if I don't let you transform me. If I don't humble myself daily and read your Word with a desperate thirst...if I don't pray every day to receive your heart. If I'm not desperate for you, then I'm not humble enough. For without you, I'm nothing. Don't let me deceive myself, Father. Change me and make me worthy. Cleanse me from all unrighteousness...from the world's stain. Help me to serve others with your heart. Help me to love the least with my time and my resources.

In Jesus' name, Amen.

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Linking with Emily today @ imperfect prose