Lessons From King Solomon

The rapid strep test last week was negative, but today they called to say that, yes, Peter has strep.

Stress.

The culture is more accurate than the rapid test. The rest of us have a 24% chance of contracting it, but still, I was in a hurry to get that antibiotic going, though Peter's body had healed on its own, as is usual for strep. In 24 hours the antibiotic takes care of contagious bacteria and keeps strep from spreading in the body and causing dangerous complications.

If my husband and I contract this illness, that's $50 out the window for doctor visits, plus the money for the medicine.

Stress.

Out we go to the van, headed for the pharmacy, to find the battery dead for the second time in a month.

Stress.

Peter's tics and OCD are causing him great stress, and in turn he's behaving poorly. I never know what causes these flares in symptoms, but I try very hard to keep the schedule routine. Maybe illness causes flares? Strep can cause a flare called PANDAS, which worsens mental disorders like tics and OCD. A flare is simplifying it, but you get the idea. This probably hasn't happened, but my son is sure miserable.

Stress.

Beth's speech is still not up to par, despite a year of speech therapy. My father, visiting yesterday, said he couldn't understand her. We understand everything, and no one complains at church or AWANA, but still, the idea that she's progressing so slowly?

Stress.

When things snowball like this, what can we do?

My first instinct is...stop everything and write a gratitude list. I know God will take care of all these stressful issues, and a gratitude list reminds me of His love and faithfulness. Yes, today is a bad day, but spiritual blessings spill over in my life and my heart is full. With the Lord, I am never alone and the answers never depend on my wisdom, but on His.

We finished the book of Matthew and are now reading 1 Kings for our morning devotions, and the boys are reading it additionally for school. I read the commentary aloud on the verses as well, which they don't have the discipline to do yet.

We learned how pleased God was when Solomon asked for wisdom.

1 Kings 3:7-14

⁷ “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. ⁸ Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. ⁹ So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?”
¹⁰ The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. ¹¹ So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, ¹² I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. ¹³ Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. ¹⁴ And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.”

I know that instead of spending a long time researching batteries and the problem of Ford Winstar batteries going dead frequently, and reading countless hours about my son's mental disorders or about strep, or about speech articulation issues, I should first and foremost, ask God for wisdom. After God hears my prayer for wisdom, I can proceed freely through my day, knowing that my prayer was the most effective response to my day.

As my children's principal discipler (husband works 54 hours a week), I need to get this right. They need to see a healthy, knee-jerk, Solomon-inspired response to every stress incident.

Have stress? Pray.

Have stress, pray.

Have stress, pray. 

Have stress, pray.

Have stress, pray.

Prayer Time: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the abundant spiritual blessings in my life. Thank you for your sacrifice on the cross, for the open relationship it gives us with our Heavenly Father. Thank you for 1 Kings, and for Solomon's request for wisdom and what it teaches us about appropriate responses to life. We desire to please you and be instruments of your glory. Thank you for the stressful days and how they become object lessons in my discipleship efforts with my children. Thank you for Peter's mental disorders, and Paul's ever developing OCD, and Beth's arthritis and speech issues. Thank you that life is not easy. Thank you that I need you, desperately.We ask for wisdom and comfort, Lord.

In Jesus' name, Amen

Gratitude List:

~ residing in America where we can have devotions and worship the Lord in our home without fear

~ that my children love the Lord

~ that medicine has progressed enough to prevent dangerous complications

~ that God has a plan for every day, and a purpose for every issue in our lives, though he didn't cause them

~ prayer and how it softens children's hearts, and our hearts

~ a working washer and dryer, furnace, water heater, refrigerator

~ Compassion International

~ going to the consignment shop for snow boots for Paul, and finding a holiday sale, allowing two for one outfits. Beth now has 4 new Lands' End winter dresses, which are our favorites.

From the children

~ shelter and warmth

~ our clothes

~ our beds

~ siblings and parents

~ games (marbles, Rummikub, tiddly winks, Trouble, our Geography game)

~ our birthdays

~ pretty dresses

~ cakes (Beth's birthday is this Sunday)

~ food

~ friends

~  a good Momma who takes good care of me and loves me (from Mary--I promise I didn't bribe her to say this :)

What are you thankful for?

Cross references:

1. 1 Kings 3:7 : Nu 27:17; 1Ch 22:5; 29:1; Jer 1:6
2. 1 Kings 3:8 : S Dt 7:6
3. 1 Kings 3:8 : S Ge 12:2; 15:5; S 1Ch 27:23
4. 1 Kings 3:9 : S 2Sa 14:17; Jas 1:5
5. 1 Kings 3:9 : S Dt 1:16
6. 1 Kings 3:9 : 2Co 2:16
7. 1 Kings 3:11 : Jas 4:3
8. 1 Kings 3:11 : 1Ch 22:12
9. 1 Kings 3:12 : 1Jn 5:14-15
10. 1 Kings 3:12 : S 2Sa 14:20; 1Ki 4:29, 30, 31; 5:12; 10:23; Ecc 1:16
11. 1 Kings 3:13 : Mt 6:33; Eph 3:20
12. 1 Kings 3:13 : Pr 3:1-2, 16; 8:18
13. 1 Kings 3:13 : 1Ki 10:23; 2Ch 9:22; Ne 13:26
14. 1 Kings 3:14 : 1Ki 9:4; Ps 25:13; 101:2; 128:1; Pr 3:1-2, 16
15. 1 Kings 3:14 : Ps 61:6

A Prayer for Monday

2 Chronicles 15:7
But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.

A prayer for Monday:

Dear Heavenly Father, 

We thank you for Mondays and for all new beginnings. Thank you for your graciousness in loving us and counseling and comforting us through your Holy Spirit. You are all we need, Father. May we be strong and not give up. May we be consistent in our Bible reading and prayer. May we live for you today, making your purpose our own. May we face challenges head on with you by our side. Give us your wisdom and mercy...your continued grace and favor. May our hearts be glad and grateful, looking for your gifts everywhere. Keep us from temptation; may the world not stain our hearts or weaken our resolve. May we keep our eyes on Heaven, on you, and on our reward. 

In Jesus name I pray, Amen

Joshua 1:9
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.

Giving Thanks...and a Psalm

In the mornings after breakfast we clear away the dishes and have a devotional time--just the four kids and Momma, since Daddy leaves while we're still asleep. We have another devotional at dinner with Daddy, but the morning session is to dedicate the day to the Lord, asking him to order our steps. We read Scripture and pray in turn, including prayer about our attitudes toward each other and toward our work. It really sets a nice tone for our school day.

Today we read Psalm 1 and it filled me with such peace!

Psalm 1

Blessed is the one

who does not walk in step with the wicked
or stand in the way that sinners take
or sit in the company of mockers,

 

Oh, Dear Lord, thank you. Thank you for saving us and taking us off the wicked path. Day by day you make our hearts new, never leaving nor forsaking us.

 

but whose delight is in the law of the Lord,
and who meditates on his law day and night.

Lord, we delight in you. May we wake each day and dedicate the day to you, meditating on your Scriptures day and night, letting you fill us with your Holy Spirit.

That person is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither—

You, God, will complete your work in us; you promise us that and we thank you for your faithfulness and graciousness. Thank you that our lives will bear fruit and our spirits will not wither.

whatever they do prospers.

From Matthew Henry's Commentary:
Of the promised blessing; he is blessed of the Lord, and therefore he shall be like a tree. The divine blessing produces real effects. It is the happiness of a godly man, [1.] That he is planted by the grace of God. These trees were by nature wild olives, and will continue so till they are grafted anew, and so planted by a power from above. Never any good tree grew of itself; it is the planting of the Lord, and therefore he must in it be glorified. Isa. 61:3; The trees of the Lord are full of sap. [2.] That he is placed by the means of grace, here called the rivers of water, those rivers which make glad the city of our God (Ps. 46:4); from these a good man receives supplies of strength and vigour, but in secret undiscerned ways. [3.] That his practices shall be fruit, abounding to a good account, Phil. 4:17.

Not so the wicked!
They are like chaff
that the wind blows away.

Matthew Henry's Commentary:
In general, they are the reverse of the righteous, both in character and condition: They are not so. The LXX. emphatically repeats this: Not so the ungodly; they are not so; they are led by the counsel of the wicked, in the way of sinners, to the seat of the scornful; they have no delight in the law of God, nor ever think of it; they bring forth no fruit but grapes of Sodom; they cumber the ground. 2. In particular, whereas the righteous are like valuable, useful, fruitful trees, they are like the chaff which the wind drives away, the very lightest of the chaff, the dust which the owner of the floor desires to have driven away, as not capable of being put to any use.

Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment,
nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous.

Matthew Henry's Commentary: that is, they shall be found guilty, shall hang down the head with shame and confusion, and all their pleas and excuses will be overruled as frivolous. There is a judgment to come, in which every man’s present character and work, though ever so artfully concealed and disguised, shall be truly and perfectly discovered, and appear in their own colours, and accordingly every man’s future state will be, by an irreversible sentence, determined for eternity.

For the Lord watches over the way of the righteous,
but the way of the wicked leads to destruction.

Oh, Lord, it is because of you we are called righteous. Thank you for your grace and for imputing your righteousness to us. In you, we have enough. We have everything. May we live each day in thanksgiving and thanksliving.

Giving Thanks Today:

~ God is helping me work the kinks out of our daily school/chore schedule. Thanks be to God for that.

~ A very imaginative, delightful four year old in my midst, bringing so much joy and blessing each day. Okay, and messes too. But I'll take them with the smiles and hugs.

~ My Mary reading on her own more and more, praise be to God. It's so exciting for both of us.

~ Fall weather...a million thanks Dear Lord.

~ He keeps our paths straight and our hearts full.

~ Beth's arthritis is still in a flare, but praise God she doesn't seem miserable. Her new AWANA Cubbies teacher said she was so cute...so delightful and full of joy. That is grace, because her joints are still swelling.

~ Christian radio

~ Switching from a Wednesday night AWANA to a Sunday night AWANA. Oh, Lord, thank you for a lighter Wednesday. It wasn't easy to do, but I see blessings from it already. They changed the structure of our old AWANA and it didn't allow for much one-on-one mentoring with individual handbook leaders for each of my children. Though they studied and knew their verses, it was still a special time with the handbook leader every week.

Because we have too little support and so few Christian relatives, they really need another special person speaking Christ into their lives once a week. Since some of that got lost in the new structure, and since Wednesday was always so hard for us anyway (with physical therapy and speech on the same day), it seemed like a good time to make a switch, although saying goodbye about broke our hearts.

But, we can now have 7 family dinners a week (AWANA now ends at 6:16 PM rather than 8 PM.) and Momma won't ever wake up and dread a Wednesday again. They made for some long days.

~ Husband and I filled out volunteer forms to be handbook (verse) leaders at the new church, but until they process those and do background checks, we can actually have a date or two from 4:30 - 6:15 on Sundays. It's been years, people. Though we don't have any money for dates, we'll think of something (hot chocolate maybe?). Part of me fears we might just sit there and stare at each other, wondering where the noise went, not knowing what to say.

~ A Christian husband, gentle and good, to do life with.

~ My Paul's sincere, righteous heart.

~ God provided nice verse teachers for my children at the new AWANA church. It did my Momma heart good to see them so excited.

~ Some flowers still blooming and tomatoes still ripening.

~ My 90-year-old father-in-law is not out of rehab yet, but his arm is out of the sling and he can walk with a walker. Praise God!

What are you thankful for today?

Prayer Request: Father-in-law is overwhelmed about the decision concerning where to live. Please pray? He doesn't seem to want to live with us, and if he chooses an assisted-living establishment, it's better that he chooses here in our town, rather than in Florida. These establishments treat you better when you have frequent visitors. We think he has about 3 more weeks in the rehabiliation center, barring any health problems that might crop up. The travel up here seems overwhelming to him, for one. Thank you for your prayers.

Cross references:

1. Psalm 1:1 : S Dt 33:29; Ps 40:4; 128:4
2. Psalm 1:1 : Ps 89:15
3. Psalm 1:1 : S Job 21:16; Ps 10:2-11
4. Psalm 1:1 : S Ge 49:6
5. Psalm 1:1 : Ps 26:9; 37:38; 51:13; 104:35
6. Psalm 1:1 : Ps 26:4
7. Psalm 1:1 : S Job 11:3; Pr 1:22; Isa 28:14; Hos 7:5
8. Psalm 1:2 : Ps 112:1; 119:16, 35; Ro 7:22
9. Psalm 1:2 : Ps 19:7; 119:1; Eze 11:20; 18:17
10. Psalm 1:2 : S Ge 24:63
11. Psalm 1:3 : Ps 52:8; 92:12; 128:3; Jer 11:16; Zec 4:3
12. Psalm 1:3 : Ps 46:4; 65:9; Isa 33:21; Jer 31:9
13. Psalm 1:3 : S Nu 24:6; S Job 14:9; S Eze 17:5
14. Psalm 1:3 : Ps 92:14; Eze 47:12
15. Psalm 1:3 : Isa 1:30; 64:6
16. Psalm 1:3 : S Ge 39:3
17. Psalm 1:4 : S Job 13:25; Isa 40:24; Jer 13:24
18. Psalm 1:5 : Ps 5:5
19. Psalm 1:5 : S Job 19:29
20. Psalm 1:5 : Ps 26:12; 35:18; 82:1; 89:5; 107:32; 111:1; 149:1
21. Psalm 1:6 : Ps 37:18; 121:5; 145:20; Na 1:7
22. Psalm 1:6 : S Lev 26:38; Ps 9:6

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Enoch Walked With God

In my quiet time I've been studying the great men of the Bible and guess what I've discovered? It wasn't the men themselves who were great. It was their relationship with God. They lived for God; they walked with Him.

Genesis 5:22-24  And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years: And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him. 

This sounds strange, doesn't it? He suddenly ceased to exist? Just like that? "And he was not; for God took him." This means God translated Enoch; he didn't die, and he may be one of the witnesses, along with Elijah, during the end times. 

Elijah, one of the greatest men in the Bible, was just like us. He was subject to like passions (James 5:17 AV). One of Elijah's greatest miracles was the altar fire on Mt. Carmel in 1 Kings 18: 

And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, that this people may know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you have turned their hearts back.” Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt offering and the wood and the stones and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

Jezebel, Ahab's evil wife, was angry that all her false prophets were killed after this Mt. Carmel incident. She reacts wildly and threatens Elijah’s life. Fearful, Elijah runs down to Beersheba in the desert. Leaving his servant, he continues his journey further and finally, under a tree in deep depression, he asks God to let him die. "It is enough! Now, LORD, take my life, for I am no better than my fathers!"

How could Elijah experience so little faith, after all the miracles he'd performed in his life? Essentially, he was just like us--subject to our same passions. He was flawed.

But he walked with God, enabling God to do great things through Elijah. 

Elijah, like Enoch, didn't die. This is how God took Elijah:

2 Kings 2:11-12 As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elisha saw this and cried out, “My father! My father! The chariots and horsemen of Israel!” And Elisha saw him no more. Then he took hold of his garment and tore it in two.

Enoch and Elijah were obviously very special to God, but why? 

Just this: They walked with him. They lived the truth of these scriptures:

Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 2:1). 

Be filled with the spirit (Ephesians 5:18). 

He may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being (Ephesians 3:16). 

God is able to make all grace abound toward you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work (2 Corinthians 9:8).

And lastly, Noah? He also walked with God. Genesis 6:9 This is the account of Noah and his family. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God.

These stories aren't new to you or to me, but have you ever thought about these special relationships? This walking with God? Here's the beautiful thing: We can all be like Enoch, Elijah and Noah. We can walk with God. We can make our lives about Him and live in obedience to His will. We can! 

Did you see what Ann Voskamp wrote today?

Breathe in: Lord, I receive what you give.Breathe out: Lord, I give thanks for what you give.
It’s the syllables of sanctuary, a surrender to His sovereignty.

To walk with God means to surrender to His sovereignty and to live by faith in His love. We merely have to k e e p  on  w a l k i n g, giving thanks, staying right there with Him, enabling Him to do great things through us.

When our time is up we probably won't be "translated". But let it be said on our headstone: She walked with God.

Prayer Time: Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for the examples of Enoch, Elijah, Noah, Daniel, and Paul the Apostle. You've made it clear, God: their greatness was in their relationship with you, not in themselves. Help us to remember how they walked with you, God, so we too, can walk faithfully with you all of our days. We want to live in the strength of your love and grace, and be filled with the Spirit. We want to do big and small miracles in your name, everyday. And we can. Thank you that we can, Lord. 

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.

Giving Thanks:

~ For a wonderful Vacation Bible School week.

~ For a house newly clean after 14 days of busy.

~ For little Beth's healed tonsils and adenoids. Deep breath there; she's way too skinny again, but time will heal that.

~ For no arthritis flare resulting from her Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis medication break (20 days off for surgery). Yeah, joints look good!

~ For grace during ADHD flare-ups.

~ For new friendships through children's ministry at church.

~ For Elijah and Enoch and Noah, teaching us we only have to make our lives about Him, instead of about us.

~ For morning glories climbing the fence.

~ For a pumpkin in the garden.

~ For the will to keep going when God asks something new.

What are you thankful for today, my friend?

A Goat, Some Pigs, and a Devotional

How would we feel if the President of the United States needed our help or expertise with something? What if he called on the phone and said, "We really need your help and we'll provide you with everything you need. Consider your resources endless."

No matter our political party, we would be amazed, along with our family and friends.  Beyond excited.
 
The most powerful person in the world needs my help!

We might even consider it the most significant experience of our lives.

Well...guess what? It's already happened to every Christian!
 
Someone even more famous has asked you to work for Him.

The Lord Jesus Christ.

And friends, we should be ecstatic! We get to work for Jesus. Hallelujah! We get to love in His name. We get to.

When He says FOLLOW ME, he means serve with me. Come alongside and learn of me. Do what I do. Feel what I feel. Love like I love. Weep for what I weep for.

Mark 9:35

And he sat down and called the twelve. And he said to them, “If anyone would be first, he must be last of all and servant of all.”

1 Peter 4:10

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace: 

Philippians 2:6-7

who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 

Let's empty ourselves of us. Let's get excited about the work God has before us. We get to work with the Lord Jesus Christ, the most significant person in all history.

 

And later, we get to reign with Him!

How can we ever be melancholy when we have an eye for eternity? When we remember our lineage, our coming reign? What's there to be frustrated about when we get to wake up each day and work for God? We get to!

If we haven't thought about eternity in the last week, we need a spiritual remake. Our mindset should not be here and now, but there. Not comfort and beautiful things all around us here, but the rewards and treasures waiting for us there.

In the meantime, we get to work for God. How glorious is that?

Prayer Time:

Dear Heavenly Father, You are an awesome God. Your gifts are infinitely more than we could ever ask for, and certainly more than we deserve. You are a gracious, faithful God. You knew us before we were born. You have plans to prosper us and not harm us, to give us a hope and a future. You give us the privilege of working for you...loving through you, showing mercy and grace through you, being your hands and feet to those who have no hope. Thank you for these privileges. Help us to remember how blessed we are, and what a miracle it is that you would even want our help...help you don't even need. You want us by your side, like the father who asks his son to hold the screwdriver, and the mother who asks her children to put in the flour and sugar. You really want our fellowship, our presence. You love us tenderly and what a wondrous gift that is. Help us to be faithful servants, learning of you, Our Master. Helps us to live for you. May we never stop being excited about that privilege. Help us to live with an eternity mindset, remembering that this life and its difficulties are but a vapor. You have prepared glorious rooms for us in Your House. and we will be there soon!Thank you, Father! Helps us to practice thanksliving, knowing you have already conquered all.

In Jesus' name I pray, Amen

Giving Thanks Today

 

Thank you, Father, for these blessings and graces:

 

~ That often when my ADHD son has one of those downward-spiral emotional outbreaks, a goldfinch appears at the feeder next to the window, or a cardinal lands on the fence near our sunroom/dining room, or a chipmunk comes out of hiding. The lights go on in our hearts, and my son smiles, or I smile and we look at each other. We know it was a gift, a grace, from the Lord. The Lord saying, "I know of your difficulties and I am present with you. Loving you."

 

~ A pleasant visit with pigs and goats at our friend's parents' house.

 ~ I'm thankful for an object lesson for my kids that I couldn't have put together myself, re money management. For three years we had a sturdy kiddy pool with a small slide but at the end of last summer it began leaking. We considered replacing it to help the kids fight the heat and humidity, but then the water bill came. $147! (Why was our California water bill under $70 even during daily summer watering, and here in Ohio where the rain waters for us, it's always well over $100? I don't get it.)

 

We told the kids water play wouldn't be a regular thing here this summer, and we wouldn't be replacing the kiddy pool. For days they've been grumbling. And then the neighbors, the ones with only a part-time job, no vehicle, and on food stamps and section 8 rent help, couldn't pay their electric bill and their electricity got turned off. (I called my church to seek help from the benevolence fund for them, for the sake of their four kids, and also to possibly get financial counseling from one of our deacons for them).

 

It was hard explaining to my children that if we mismanaged our money, something would get turned off or the mortgage wouldn't get paid. This wasn't the first time a utility was turned off for these neighbors, who have yet to drop their cable TV, their fancy phones, their dogs or their cigarettes. This time their kids were pretty stressed...it's one thing after another over there. 

For a few years I was without a vehicle during the day, but never without one entirely. Maybe they consider the TV part of their sanity? Since I haven't walked in their shoes I'm trying not to judge, but it's hard. They come here about 4 times a week for sugar, milk, or something. Their food help doesn't last long enough because they don't know how to budget grocery money and they don't cook from scratch. Lots of needs and our heart is to help, slowly, as they learn to trust us. Our own humility and lack of judgement is crucial in our being able to help, so please pray for the whole situation? I'm concerned the kids aren't getting enough milk, for one. Thank you.)

As much as my kids are still grumbling about the kiddy pool and water play, they understand better, being exposed to the neighbor's difficulties, that management of money is key to keeping stress at a minimum.

 Don't feel sorry for my kids. I don't, because now, the few times a month I will say yes, they will appreciate the sprinkler play more, and doing without will help them better understand our Compassion children's circumstances. If we can't put ourselves in another's shoes, we can't manage adequate mercy, and without denying ourselves it's hard to see any of this at all.

 

Low-income or modest-income American kids can grow up wanting everything they didn't have as children, and they might spoil their own children to keep them from feeling "poor". I don't want that for my kids. If they do better than us financially I want them to give it away, not clutch it or use it like the culture does. It's a tall order for us to hope for as parents, but with God all things are possible.

 

Incidentally, Compassion children have a history of giving back to their Child Development Centers, to their own families, and to their communities. They often work with the poor, in fact, after graduating. Though many of them experience success after their tenure with Compassion International, there's no me-centered mentality afterwards. There's just gratitude and thanksliving.

 

The more we have the more we feel entitled to, and entitlement is a mindset straight from Satan himself. In the Lord we have enough. When Jesus conquered this world He made us rich!

 

This goat was so sweet, letting me pet him and hug him time and again. I was in heaven! I'm surprised my husband took this picture because he doesn't share mine or Peter's love for farm animals, and I secretly think he dreads Peter's daily prayers for farmland. (I'm not a pet person. I dislike cats and I've rarely met a dog I felt the need to pet, but I'm partial to farm animals for some reason)
 

 

 

 

 How was your weekend, friends? What are you thankful for today?

Multitude Monday: The Lens by Which We See

In the middle of the night, she blessed me.

He blessed me.

I'd gotten up, remembering that the wet towels needed a dryer. 

Out she comes, my sleepy-headed Beth struggling in the dark, too tired for words. When she found me, she simply put up her arms and I knew what she wanted.

I brought her to bed with me; as I adjusted the covers, her body squirmed and experimented, trying to nuzzle as close as possible.

She arranged herself just right, driven by the desire to fully enter into my essense. She wanted to be utterly connected until we felt like one. Until she felt wholly warmed, wholly protected, wholly blessed by my love.

No hesititation exists in her, for she fully trusts my arms and my heart. She's never been turned away.

It's like that with our Heavenly Father too. He's never turned us away and we can wholly trust him. We can nuzzle in close, until we are one. Until we feel wholly warmed, wholly protected, wholly blessed by His love.

And yet, do we look for Him in the dark?

So often we look at the clock and wonder if we'll possibly find the time to read our Bibles. And to pray. There aren't enough hours in the day, we lament.

Here's what I imagine God thinks of that:

"How will you raise your children? How will you do your daily work? How will you wake up and keep going, and go to bed and face the next day? How will you face tomorrow?"

He wants us to remember: "All for My glory. Everything you do, every day, is for my glory. I am your reason for waking up and taking your next breath. It's all about Me. So how can you not find the time? I am the lens you see through, the strength you live in, the food you need to consume. Without me, you're dead."

Cuddle up. Snuggle in. Squirm as close to Him as possible, until you are one in Spirit. Until you don't know where He ends and you begin.

Psalm 16:2 I said to the Lord, "Thou art my Lord; I have no good besides Thee."

 

Psalm 16:11 Thou wilt make known to me the path of life; In Thy presence is fullness of joy; In

Thy right hand there are pleasures forever.

Giving Thanks Today:

~ For my sweet Beth, who reminds me to pursue Him with my whole heart.

~ For my husband, who says I'm beautiful and seems to see the 47-year-old me from the same lens he used when I was 33...taut and toned and minimally-lined, with maybe two white hairs gracing my whole head. Bless his 54-year-old, tender heart.

~ For the Bible being His essense and being so easy to enter into; always accessible.

~ For my friend's OCD son passing his nursing final. He needed a 78% and he got it, exactly. It was as if God said, "Yes, your brain goes wild during exams, but my grace is sufficient for you. He started his preceptorship (practicum) and is loving each 12-hour nursing shift. Praise the Lord!

~ For 18-year-old Chelsea's depression improving.

~ For my 71-year-old uncle making it through a stroke, still alive and able to walk and talk, abeit with a walker for now.

~ Spending time on the couch a few times a day with my girls, a stack of books on my lap to read.

~ My Mary memorizing all her favorites and "reading" them back to me. How a child can memorize every precise word of a book always amazes me. I don't think I could do it...but she can, even with complicated plots.

~ For Mary giving us such spiritually mature answers during dinner-time conversations. I recently asked her what she loved best about being a child of God. Her answer immediately brought tears of gratitude.

~ That gratitude is the answer for so many daily human ailments. Gratitude is simple, yes? Just look for the beauty and acknowledge it before God, thanking Him.

What's beautiful in your world today, my friend?

 

Multitude Monday: Faith As Power



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As we try, especially this week, to grasp the magnitude of the Cross, it helps to look at the Bible as one, whole, cohesive message. Reading the accounts of Jesus' humiliation and pain go far to put gratitude in our hearts, but the Bible as a whole gives us rich context for this defining event of our Christian faith.

That's what I love about the Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones. It captures what God is trying to say throughout scripture, as He leads up to His Son's suffering and resurrection in the New Testament. This last Saturday at our Children's Bible Study we taught "The Present" from page 62. It's the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice his son Isaac as a burnt offering.

 

It's also the story of what each one of us has to reckon with every day of our lives.  

Faith.

My son Peter still has trouble with the OCD, and as I converse with another Christian mother who deals with this, I'm shocked and dismayed at the five medications her son needs to reasonably control the condition. Still, he's quirky and lonely, stressed and struggling. When he has violent thoughts he must keep them inside because friends don't understand.

 

OCD people are not violent or dangerous, but they have horrible thoughts that eat up precious hours of their lives and keep them isolated. This thorn in their flesh costs them greatly. They must daily remember and try to live God's response to the Apostle Paul about the thorn in his flesh:

 

 2 Corinthians 12:9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

The future is uncertain and every day, I have to remind myself of God's promises, especially as nine-year-old Paul develops serious anxieties of his own. I wonder about all my children. We don't have much history of cancer or heart disease in our genes. My family and my husband's tend to live long lives, but we have mental issues galore and it's scary.

Your circumstances? They're surely different, but I'm willing to guess you have at least one situation that seriously worries you, that carries risk and uncertainty and possibly staggering implications.

Every day we have to think about what Jesus calls his people to.  A life of faith.

Every quality that Jesus displayed throughout his 3-year earthly ministry, he wants us to display. Sacrifice, love, gentleness, humility, peace...the whole list. He want us to become like him and only through faith--deep, abiding faith, are we transformed.

When I read the story of Abraham and Issac, I see clearly the one thing we all need to follow Jesus well. Yes, it's faith. We can't give our resources to the poor without faith. We can't deny ourselves without faith. We can't respond in gentleness and humility without faith. We are nothing and can do nothing, without faith. God's promises and His faithfulness to fulfill them, are what keep us alive spiritually on a daily basis. They feed, build, sustain and renew our faith.

Abraham's response here in Genesis 22:1-14 is staggering. Read this account and be amazed, and understand what is needed in your daily life. Our faith is not only credited to us as righteousness, it's also the key to perfect peace. It's the key to finding blessing in each hour. It's the key to a soul that soars in the heavens, while residing on earth.

Genesis 22:1-14

After these things God tested Abraham and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 2 He said, “Take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” 3 So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and his son Isaac. And he cut the wood for the burnt offering and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. 4 On the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes and saw the place from afar. 5 Then Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; I and the boy will go over there and worship and come again to you.” 6 And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering and laid it on Isaac his son. And he took in his hand the fire and the knife. So they went both of them together. 7 And Isaac said to his father Abraham, “My father!” And he said, “Here I am, my son.” He said, “Behold, the fire and the wood, but where is the lamb for a burnt offering?” 8 Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son.” So they went both of them together.  

9 When they came to the place of which God had told him, Abraham built the altar there and laid the wood in order and bound Isaac his son and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. 10 Then Abraham reached out his hand and took the knife to slaughter his son. 11 But the angel of the Lord called to him from heaven and said, “Abraham, Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” 12 He said, “Do not lay your hand on the boy or do anything to him, for now I know that you fear God, seeing you have not withheld your son, your only son, from me.” 13 And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, behind him was a ram, caught in a thicket by his horns. And Abraham went and took the ram and offered it up as a burnt offering instead of his son. 14 So Abraham called the name of that place, “The Lord will provide”; as it is said to this day, “On the mount of the Lord it shall be provided.”

Giving Thanks Today:

Dear Father, thank you for these examples and blessings:

~ Abraham having the faith to say to his son Issac, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." Abraham was surely worried for his son, like I am for mine, but he believed God and I will too...that He works all things for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. (Romans 8:28) Like Abraham, I can have this kind of confidence in my Lord. Every day of my life.

 ~ A faithful, loving husband.

~ Being with my girls as I helped in their Sunday school class. I was so proud of them and so happy about the wonderful curriculum our church uses.

 ~ Sharing my thoughts about the Lord and His Holy Word with my children.

~ Teaching my children and others with the wonderful Jesus Storybook curriculum.

~ That our faith is a gift God's renews and feeds through his Holy Word and his Holy Spirit.

~ That God provided the sacrifice and that our faith saves us...not just that first time we believe, but every day.

~ For other mothers who share their faith and their burdens with me, and help carry mine.

~ For my daughters and the gift of their love, and the enjoyment of seeing them blossom.

 ~ For my sons and the gift of their love, and the enjoyment of seeing their faith grow.


What are you thankful for today?

 

Multitude Monday: Our Purpose

Galatians 6:2

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

I think it no accident that I receive the greatest rush of purpose in my life, when I am bearing another's burdens.

These burdens, they bring tears and despair and my heart breaks as I bear them. But along with that grief comes Life Abundant. When Perfect Purpose is lived out, Perfect Peace settles in.

Bearing burdens is the life that Christ modeled through his ministry and at the end, on the Cross itself. He bore it all.

This is the life He called us to...Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. 

The burdens take on many different forms, from chronic disease and pain, to grief and loss, to poverty and loneliness, to the consequences of sin. 

As the Redeemed, this makes up our daily work. We don't live for ourselves, but for others. We live to bear pain sacrificially as He did, and in doing so, our hearts grow to resemble His. Our hearts deliver mercy and grace; they bring healing to the suffering, deliverance to the oppressed.

My inward peace and joy are never greater than when I live out this Purpose. It used to be, before Christ redeemed and discipled me, that my purpose was to maximize my leisure time with my family. Leisure time is where life is lived, and the rest is all just work, right? 

Wrong. 

My soul and your soul ache to do two things. 1. Fellowship with God; 2. Bear one another's burdens.

Matthew 22:37-40 source here

³⁷ Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ ³⁸ This is the first and greatest commandment. ³⁹ And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ⁴⁰ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

As I've committed more and more to intercessory prayer and to being there for others, I've felt an inner peace rise to heights I've not known before. This is no accident. This is what God intended as the author of my soul. 

Side note: I'm not called to bear burdens in an unhealthy way, allowing myself to be taken advantage of as I allow someone else to remain in sin and bondage. Enabling sin is participating in the sin. Bearing a burden is not the same as enabling an addict (whatever their addiction may be), and we should always pray that God gives us discernment as we serve others.

Giving thanks today, on this Multitude Monday:

I have just one today and it stands alone beautifully! My friend Tesha is pregnant! My soul rejoices! He is faithful! There is joy in the morning, a time when mourning turns into dancing, a time to laugh and a time to cry. Let the dancing and laughing and rejoicing start now! Praise the Lord, oh my soul.

Congratulations, Tesha, my friend.