What You Can Learn from Sarah Edwards

I love observing older women and learning how to act  from them (and how not to act!). I was recently chatting with another pastor’s wife and was thanking her for being such a good example to me. Her life is characterized by a walk that fears God: humility, kindness, goodness and a life free from evil speaking and malice of any sort.

Actions always speak louder than words.  Palladius, an early church historian , wrote to a friend these words:

“Words and syllables do not constitute teaching, for some teachers possess great words but live disreputable in the extreme.”

Sadly, many Christians know and profess all the right things, but live devilish lives.

So today, I want to share with you a glimpse into the character of Sarah Edwards,(1709-1758) wife of Jonathan Edwards. Her husband is the well-known preacher of the  Great Awakening and is famous for his sermon, “Sinner In The Hands of an Angry God.”

These are excerpts taken from the book Memoirs of Jonathan Edwards: 

On being a suitable helper to her husband:

She proved, also, an invaluable [support] to Mr. Edwards, in the duties of his profession, not only by her excellent example, but by her active efforts in doing good.

“She was,” says Dr. Hopkins, “eminent for her piety…religious conversation was her delight; and, as far as propriety permitted, she promoted it in all companies. Her religious conversation showed at once her clear comprehension of spiritual and divine things, and the deep impression which they had made upon her mind.”

It was not merely conversation about religion—about its truths, or duties, or its actual state—its doctrines or triumphs—or the character and conduct of its friends and ministers: it was religion itself;—that supreme love to God, to his kingdom and his glory, which, abounding in the heart, flows forth spontaneously, in the daily conversation and the daily life.

Her thought life:

Her mind appeared to attend to spiritual and divine things constantly, on all occasions, and in every condition and business of life. Secret prayer was her uniform practice, and appeared to be the source of daily enjoyment.

Her words:

“She made it her rule to speak well of all, so far as she could with truth and justice to herself and others. She was not wont to dwell with delight on the imperfections and failings of any; and when she heard persons speaking ill of others, she would say what she thought she could with truth and justice in their excuse, or divert the obloquy, by mentioning those things that were commend-able in them. Thus she was tender of every one’s character, even of those who injured and spoke evil of her; and carefully guarded against the too common vice of evil speaking and backbiting.”

Treatment of those who mistreated her:

She could bear injuries and reproach with great calmness, without any disposition to render evil for evil; but, on the contrary, was ready to pity and forgive those who appeared to be her enemies.”

How she dealt with her children:

She had an excellent way of governing her children: she knew how to make them regard and obey her cheerfully, without loud angry words, much less, heavy blows. She seldom punished them; and in speaking to them used gentle and pleasant words.

 If any correction was necessary, she did not administer it in a passion; and when she had occasion to reprove and rebuke, she would do it in few words and with all calmness and gentleness of mind.

In her directions and reproofs in matters of importance, she would address herself to the reason of her children, that they might not only know her inclination and will, but at the same time be convinced of the reasonableness of it. She had need to speak but once; she was cheerfully obeyed; murmuring and answering again were not known among them.

Her system of discipline was begun at a very early age, and it was her rule to resist the first, as well as every subsequent, exhibition of temper or disobedience in the child, however young, until its will was brought into submission to the will of its parents; wisely reflecting, that until a child will obey his parents, he can never be brought to obey God.

Letter to her daughter three days after the death of her husband, Jonathan, showing her trust in God.

“My very dear child,

What shall I say? A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud. O that we may kiss the rod, and lay our hands on our mouths! The Lord has done it. He has made me adore his goodness, that we had him so long. But my God lives: and he has my heart. O what a legacy my husband, and your father, has left us! We are all given to God; and there I am, and love to be.

Your ever affectionate mother,

SARAH EDWARDS”

Sarah’s marriage was anything but perfect. Her husband had severe bouts of depression, and they lived in a time of civil unrest and spiritual warfare. Although they had their “highs” in life, they survived their “lows” by anchoring their soul on the only ONE who never changes, and who is always faithful. Sarah kept her home pleasant. She was known to walk through town singing and humming quietly to herself and had the testimony of being a joyful Christian. Adjectives used for her in the memoirs included: joyful, pious, godly, holy, appropriate, kind.

I am thankful that I can read her testimony ALL these years later and still be blessed by her good life. That tells me that MY life and my testimony, if lived in a way that pleases God, can also be an encouragement for women who follow after me.

But lives lived like Sarah’s do not just happen. They require a desire for the Holy One. They are focused and  God-fearing. Not easily distracted.

 May God give us the grace to follow Him as we should.

Read Full Post »

Hospital-ity

When you think about hospitality, don’t think entertaining. Don’t think about impressing or killing yourself making a five course meal.

Think hospital. Think healing. Think soul care.

Every day we cross paths with people who simply need kindness. And yet, kindness is so very rare in our rush-about, fast paced, production oriented culture. We are “producers”, and caring takes time, which slows.us. down.and.hinders.production.

Our husbands need a safe place. A kind word from a kind wife. Our kids need our time and attention. A look in the eye that shows that we are listening and really care.  And that lady at church–the one with all the little kids who always looks exhausted–she needs to hear that she is doing a good job, and that her life matters. She needs someone to care for her exhausted body and mind.

When you open your heart and home to others by caring–soul care, if you will– you are meeting a variety of needs–physical, emotional and spiritual. And like a skilled physician, you must decipher which is needed and then set about to administer the proper remedy.

Weary souls make their way to someone who loves enough to care. It is an inroad for the gospel.  It is amazing to think that the treatment for so many maladies can be had over a cup of warm tea, or a cold diet coke.

And, you never know the private pain that someone is enduring on the inside. My mother used to tell us that sometimes people are smiling on the outside, but on the inside, they might be crying.

I love this example of hospitality lived out in the life of Sarah Edwards, wife of the famous preacher, Jonathan Edwards, of the Great Awakening:

Familiar from childhood with the rules of decorum and good breeding, affable and easy in her manners, and governed by the feelings of liberality and benevolence, she [Sarah] was remarkable for her kindness to her friends, and to the visitants who resorted to Mr. Edwards;

sparing no pains to make them welcome, and to provide for their convenience and comfort. She was also peculiarly kind to strangers who came to her house. By her sweet and winning manners and ready conversation, she soon became acquainted with them, and brought them to feel acquainted with herself; and showed such concern for their comfort, and so kindly offered what she thought they needed, that while her friendly attentions discovered at once that she knew the feelings of a stranger, they also made their way directly to his heart, and gaining his confidence, led him im-mediately to feel as if he were at home, in the midst of near and affectionate friends.  Memoirs of Jonathan Edwards, pg. 71

Like Sarah Edwards, we must win the heart to be effective for Christ.

We can’t be a “love on Sunday” kinda Christian. We need to go about doing good seven days a week, starting in our own home.

Linked to Darlene at Time Warp Wife and The Better Mom (as in, I want to be a better mom. ) and Courtney

Read Full Post »

Saved By Grace, Only to Live To Ourselves?

Yesterday, I said it. I told you I was tired of the misuse of the word grace.

We looked at an example of a mother giving her children instruction before she went out. Her little pharisee responded one way and her little prodigal responded another. here. Both responses were wrong. In our example, neither knew the heart of the mother.

As believers in Jesus Christ, we are the grateful recipients of grace. God’s grace.  Scripture teaches that we are saved by grace. The vehicle to receive this gift is not works, but simply faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. He took our sin upon himself and paid our penalty. The cross shows us what God really thinks of our sin. Our sin did not go unpunished. But God’s wrath was poured out on Jesus instead of on Sarah Beals or on you. THAT is Amazing Grace.

The little pharisee reject this because they like feeling good. They want to revel in their right-ness and look down their self righteous noses at the little prodigals across the kitchen table from them. The prodigal feels that they are not good enough. They can never measure up or be as “good” as the little pharisee…so they stop trying.

One can be addicted to either lawlessness or lawfulness. Theologically there is no difference since both break relationship with God, the giver. Gerhard O. Forde

Neither lawfulness nor lawlessness is acceptable to God. Both will send a person to hell. The only thing we can do is believe what has already been done.

Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.

He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit,whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy, he saved us.

Martin Luther said

” The law says, “do this” and it is never done. Grace says “believe in this,” and everything is already done.”

But after we are saved by grace,  how are we to live?

Modern Christians seem to lean toward pleasing ourselves in gray areas.  The attitude seems to be, “Oh, don’t worry about it. We are under grace.”

We value our independence and although we love to tout the words “community” we don’t actually want any norms of a community. We want all the benefits without any of the responsibilities. Don’t try to set church norms, standards or even institutional rules. You will be labeled a legalist.

Here is my problem with this outlook.

Just because we are saved by grace does not mean that we can live to ourselves. We do not set the terms for our lives.  

No, when you are saved by grace you are compelled to want to make the Father smile. You want to please Him. This is the norm of Biblical Christianity is the example given to us by Christ. “I do the will of the Father who sent me.”

As GRATEFUL RECIPIENTS of such undeserved love, it is only normal that the Savior, the Giver of the GRACE sets the terms for our lives.

God claims ownership of our lives when we receive his mercy. He has laws. Yes, laws. Not suggestions or helpful hints for living. They are his commands. And he tells us that we will try to live holy lives and  keep His commands if we are His. I am not talking about works for salvation. But works to show that we do have faith and love for Christ. “Faith without works is dead.” Even Jesus did the will of his father and so should we.

It is not about us or what we want. It is about the Father’s will.

Titus 2: 11,12  speaks of God’s grace helping us to say no to our self.

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age.

Quite a different picture than the picture of grace that is painted today. God’s grace helps us to live as God would have us live.

This is not an unhappy, rigid life although getting rid of sin is a hard process. Sanctification is what keeps you clinging to God’s grace. If you want to know God’s grace, just start saying no to your flesh. You will HAVE to cling to Christ and his grace for help.

And sometimes in a “community” we are called to something higher than our own rights. We are called to consider one another. It is the law of love. 1 Cor. 13 tells us that is the most excellent way of living our Christian lives. We sometimes set aside our own liberties for the love of others.

This is virtually undone today.

More to follow.

Read Full Post »

Do You Ever Tire of the Word “Grace”?

Do you ever tire of the word grace? I have to admit, I do. I tire of people telling me that we should give our kids grace, or that we are free to do as we please because we are all under grace. I hesitate to write this, because grace in the Biblical sense is a beautiful word.  The beauty of the cross and the love of the Savior. It compells me. It draws me in  and breaks my foolish tendency to want to go my own way.

But  nowadays, the word grace seems synonymous with “license.” You know–the “don’t tell me what to do” kind of attitude prominent in our culture. We are scared into thinking that telling your kids to do something will make them rebel.  The natural man hates authority of any kind. We crave self-rule and hate to be told the littlest thing. I got a chuckle at my friend’s Facebook status yesterday. She wrote, “I am brushing my teeth…even though the scripture didn’t tell me to.” Thanks, Kaitlyn, for the laugh.

“Grace does not forbid giving directions, promises, corrections and warnings. Only cruelty would forbid such help.” Bryan Chapell

Imagine this scenario.

As a mother, I go out to run errands and I give my kids some instructions.

“Don’t turn on the stove while I am gone and don’t go near the pond outback. I will be home in two hours.”

After I leave, the legalist child begins compiling a list for all the other children entitled “Twenty  Activities Both Dangerous and Detrimental To Avoid Whilst Mom is Away.”

1. You must not answer the door.

2. We must avoid using the Microwave, toaster and iron.

3. All electrical outlets must be capped…

The lawkeeper/legalist child starts then policing the other children for not abiding by his set of twenty laws.

The licensious child may exclaim “I am going to run around the kitchen with scissors and play ball in the road. Mom never mentioned that!”

They post as their FB status: “Running with Scissors.” They just can’t help themselves. They want to flaunt their independence.

Neither child is right. In their own eyes, and in their own ways, they are making life work the way they want it to. Inside they are either lawbreakers or lawkeepers. Neither one has really considered the heart of what I was telling them I wanted.

Continued tomorrow.

Read Full Post »

“Excuse Me? What Have You Done For Christ?”

I often wonder what God thinks about  us, the modern American church, His professing followers.

As modern Americans, we live in a time of  relative ease compared to other times in world history. We enjoy political freedom, unprecedented wealth, access to vast amounts of knowledge, and priveledges that were unheard of in previous generations. I have more free time than women who lived 100 years before me.

And yet, instead of receiving all these blessings and using them to make a difference, we are a sad lot as Christians. (I am speaking first and foremost of myself. )

I have a beautiful home compared to this worlds standards, and yet I sometimes fail to use it for Christ,  to benefit others because I want my privacy or because it is not enough “this or that” excuse.

I have enough money to care for our needs. My children have never gone to bed hungry or cold. They do not know what being “starved” really is, although they say that they are when they want a snack.

We have never gone without clothing or shoes. My kids each have multiple pairs. Rediculous amounts, really.

We have never suffered for Christ. Not really suffered. Maybe laughed at by family or sneered at…but never suffered. I shield myself from the pain of this world. I really would rather not know it. I subscribe to the Voice of the Martyrs, yet throw it away when it comes in the door. I cannot bear the images.

And I am wondering… when I get to heaven, will saints of two thousand years ago stand there, mouth gaping wide when I tell how little I have done for the cause of Christ and just how many resources I truly had to work with?

Can I relate with the verse “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.” ?  No, I really have never experienced it, and yet scripture says that all who live godly will suffer persecution.

I think of the widow who gave her last meal to the prophet. Another widow who gave her very last coins,. Those who left all for Christ.

In my American way of thinking, I think that I have rights. I think we subconsciously believe that when I stand before the judgement,  I will be judged differently. God will wink at all my complacency, waste, indulgence.

Why am I not like Betsie Ten Boom, who, as a prisoner in a German concentration camp gave her thin blanket to other women who were cold, and during roll calls would stand on the outside of the formation, though deathly ill, so that other women could be warm in the middle? She lived it. I get irritated if my coffee isn’t made right at the drive thru.

Betsy ten Boom

I am pampered. I do what is easy for myself. I think of myself first and others last. What a shame. Because I know better. I have read the scripture. I have been raised to do the opposite. Yet, the struggle with self and flesh is real and constant. It seems to never go away.

The Spirit filled life is what I need. The Spirit filled life looks like Jesus. It responds with kindness when wronged. With self-less-ness instead of selfishness. It seeks to meet the needs of others, instead of looking out for yourself. It forgives when by all earthly standards you might have every reason to hate.

Jesus came to show us the light.  So we wouldn’t grovel in the darkness of  our own sin and hate.

“THE PEOPLE WHO WERE SITTING IN DARKNESS SAW A GREAT LIGHT, AND THOSE WHO WERE SITTING IN THE LAND AND SHADOW OF DEATH, UPON THEM A LIGHT DAWNED. From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” ” Matthew 4:16,17

How can I lead my children, when I stumble so often myself?

In my weakness, I can point them to the cross for forgiveness, help and grace.

That is what I can do.

Read Full Post »

Do You Want Perfect Happiness?

Do you want to be happy in world of stress, strife, anxiety and depression?  Here’s how.

Matthew chapter  5, the famous sermon on the mount, covers it -living a truly blessed and fulfilled life, that is. It may seem upside down to most. It doesn’t include fame, fortune, ease, luxury or self promotion. Quite the opposite, in fact.

When Jesus used the word “blessed” the word  carried the meaning of “divine joy and perfect happiness.”

Wiersbe explains,

The word was not used for humans; it describes the kind of joy experienced only by the gods or the dead. It implied an inner satisfaction and sufficiency and did not depend on outward circumstances for happiness. This is what the Lord offers those who trust Him!

God tells us how we can have this joy and perfect happiness, and I love this because it shows that our happiness is not dependent on our circumstances.  Happiness is not the absence of life’s trials and storms. We can be perfectly at peace in the midst of the biggest storms in life, KNOWING that it is Christ who is with us, allowing the storm, and the very one who will see us through the storm and all the while, will use the storm for our benefit, if we trust Him and hold on to Him through it all.

If you want divine joy and perfect happiness:

• you  will be poor in spirit, or humble enough to see yourself before God as you really are.
• you will mourn over your sin. You’ll see it as God sees it, and agree that it needs to go.(mortify, put off the flesh) When we do mess up,  we seek to make it right, not only with God, but with the one we sinned against. (you cannot be right with God if you refuse to make things right when you have wronged others!)
• you are meek, which means that you are not easily disturbed by the sin committed against you. It  means that even though you could, by right, avenge yourself, you don’t.
• you hunger for God’s word, and are satisfied. You read it, study it, meditate on it, and let it renew your mind.
• you are merciful, and willing to extend mercy, because you have received mercy.
• you are pure in heart. Pure verses unpure, stained, tainted. Motives are checked against God’s word.
• you are a peacemaker, verses a trouble maker. Having experienced God’s peace, you ARE at peace and have a sweetness of spirit, so you can act as an instrument of God’s peace. Huge mood swings,  irrational fears, emotions or outbursts all indicate that there is a lack of peace in your spirit.
• you are persecuted for your righteousness.  This verse is talking about those who are doing the right things, with the right motives, and still you are being persecuted for their good testimony. Many people believe that they have a good testimony. A testimony is what you say about yourself. But, what about your reputation? That is what other people say about you and your life.

Would they say you are characterized by these things?

Humility, sorrow over sin, meekness, a hunger for God’s word, mercy, being a peacemaking woman verses someone who offends and causes divisions among women, sweetness of spirit, righteous in word and deed.

This is a tall order, isn’t it? Yet, it is what leads to a charmed, blessed life in Christ.

Read Full Post »

Liberty and Self Denial Walk Hand in Hand.

It’s hard to do the right thing. That is because my flesh is very much alive and well when, in fact, it should be dead. A dead thing does not move much, or rise up to proclaim its rights, or fight for itself. It is just still.

This is going to be a rambling post, I am afraid, but I am working through some thoughts and hope this all makes sense.

Liberty in Christ and Self Denial MUST go hand in hand.  Self denial is like a giant rope that holds a happily bobbing  boat from floating too far away from the solid footing of the dock.

One of my favorite hymns includes this verse:

Oh, to grace how great a debtor
Daily I’m constrained to be;
Let that grace now like a fetter
Bind my wandering heart to Thee:

But for some reason, today we don’t hear the terms grace and debtor talked about in mainstream Christianity. We have more of a “I’m saved by grace and now I can do what I want to do” mindset today. We hear a lot about liberty and how grace =liberty in Christ.

I appreciate the word grace and am thankful for God’s grace. But grace, and a knowledge of what was done for you should have a certain effect on you. It should drive you to obedience to the scripture. In Christ, you are free (liberty) from the bondage of your former sin. That is where the liberty comes in.

For some reason, this younger generation seems to think that if you are saved by grace then you really have no constraints. If  they come across any restraint that is not spelled out in scripture, they cry “Legalism.”  (Legalism is really the historical believing that in order to be right with God you need to do good works. Good works= God’s favor= Salvation.  Legalism is a  works-righteousness position. If you grew up as a Roman Catholic, like my mother did, you were taught that by doing works, or keeping certain laws, you may receive eternal life after a brief time in pergatory.  Scripture teaches differently, and I have to believe the scripture. It says faith in Jesus Christ’s work on the cross plus nothing. Jesus Christ did it all. see here  and here)

“Oh to grace how great a debtor, DAILY I’m constrained to be.”  Because of grace, we are contrained to do all that the Lord commands and live by the spirit of the law, not just the letter. This does not mean that you must live as robots, all doing the same thing, wearing the same thing. It does not mean “uniformity.”  It means that  you don’t use your  “liberty” to just live the way that you want to without regard for scripture or other people. If you read throught the entire Bible, you see that God does care about how we live, about how we regard His law and his precepts. In the OT, the Israealites had certain restraints, just so that the watching world would see that they were different and belonged to God.

I am afraid that in areas that are  truly “indifferent” our kids have not been taught to think Biblically, because we don’t always think Biblically.

Liberty in Christ should always be balanced with denying the flesh. We are never to indulge the flesh, but are to “mortify” and “crucify” our carnal desires. So, it is NEVER okay to indulge in what would be sinful for you. And what may be an area of liberty for you and perfectly fine, might actually be an area of “self indulgence” or flesh feeding for me.

For instance, you go to a church where the pastor loves sports. All of the members then assume that since the pastor watches sports, that this is perfectly acceptable for all believers and can be done without any thought. A deacon’s wife is an avid antique collector, and another a “chocoholic”and therefore these must too be acceptable. And yet another deacon is an outdoorsman. All these things become “norms”  in the church. No thought to these things is ever given.

A newcomber enters and unless otherwise taught, he believes that watching sports, collecting antiques, eating chocolate and outdoor pursuits can be done without thought and to his hearts content. These are all good and acceptable things.

So, soay Joe Shmoe turns to Christ, but before Christ he neglected his families needs by watching endless hours of sports on cable.  He must be taught to listen to the prompting of the Holy Spirit and to abstain from the desire to watch too much cable agian, because for him it is not a matter of liberty…it would bring him back into a form of bondage and self indugence.

Say Suzy enters the church and is struggling because she is overweight. She cannot asssume that indulging in more chocolate would be okay, just becuase it is okay for the deacons wife. She needs to examine her own heart and understand the balance between what is lawful on one side and what would be self indulgent on the other side.

Does this make sense?

What is lawful must be balanced with self denial. Mkay?

In my experience, I hate to deny the flesh. I always want what I want, when I want it. I think this is human nature. As we pursue Christ, lets not look for the absolute minimum that we need to do. Let’s strive to do what is right and to find that out through careful study of the the Scripture. As John Owen said, “Be killing sin or it will be killing you.” All of this is a matter of the heart and a matter of our first love.

Read Full Post »

What Does God Want You To Do?

Today I just want to encourage you to follow God in whatever way He is leading. This might mean;

• stepping out in faith to obey something He has been prompting  you to do,
• responding to the Spirit in a favorable way instead of procrastinating or asking “Why me? Can’t someone else do that?”
• or it may be by responding to the Spirit by repenting of some sin you are holding on to.

For me this morning, in my devotions, it was the latter.

I was in Psalm 50, where God calls His people together to expose their sin and this is what I read:

“…What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips?”–Why are you paying me lip service?  Why are you quoting my law? You aren’t doing my will or my law.

“For you hate discipline and you cast my words behind you.”– You have no respect for God’s word. You hear and reject.

“You give your mouth free reign for evil and your tongue frames deceit.”–A sinful tongue is not okay. Gossip, lying, boasting, complaining…they all have to go. (ouch! see yesterdays post about complaining in trials)

“These things you have done and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like  yourself.”– your view of God determines your actions. Newsflash! God is not like us. He is holy.

“But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. Mark this, you who FORGET God.”–God says that He is not okay with our sin. Living lawlessly is forgetting Him and His word.

“The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; the one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!”–The heart is what God wants…not solely your actions,word or deeds. He wants your heart and your devotion. And a life lived “rightly” is one that remembers God’s will and word.

When we come to God’s word, it should be in order to change. We need to be willing to say no to our flesh and yes to what God desires. And it is hard, because our flesh looooves to hold on. We love to indulge ourselves and hate self denial( I am speaking of myself here, anyway.)

So, how about you?  Is God prompting you to change something in your life? Whether it is controlling your tongue to being consistent teaching your kids God’s ways, just do it.

It is hard, I know. But just do it. Don’t hang on to things that are harmful to you in the end. God will help you to overcome.

Read Full Post »

Do you have a Pilgrim Mindset?

As we enter the month of November, my mind automatically turns to the Pilgrims.

I live 20 minutes north of Plymouth, MA and am surrounded by their history.

I admire many things about them. Their hard work, persistence, convictions and thankfulness with so little. But there is one attitude that I admire the most and desire more and more for myself.  That is a “pilgrim mindset.”

A pilgrim mindset is “other worldly.” It does not set its hope and dreams on the earthly and flash-in-the-pan temporary. It sets it mind on things above.  It realizes that this world is just a lay over to a final destination.

I think women today, myself included, are prone to be caught up in the things right in front of them, instead of holding those things loosely and realizing they come from God’s hand. Our homes, our belongings, our children–we grasp and don’t want to let go. We forget the giver and crave the given. We make them our little gods.

Hebrews 11, the faith chapter tells us that the great men and women of faith were

“looking for a city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God,” and that they “acknowledged that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland…they desire a better country, that is a heavenly one.”

They had faith in God. They sought God and left all for Him.

Todays Christian woman does not do this.  She wants God plus ________–  You fill in the blank– (hint- you’ll know it in your own life by what you will sin to get. It may be respect, love, popularity, food, material good, etc. Whenever you are manipulating to make life work your way, you can be sure you are not resting in the sovereignty of God.)

Don’t get bogged down in this world. You should not feel comfortable here if you are a citizen elsewhere. And the sooner we realize that our identity is in Christ, and not in our homes, children,  social standing, peoples good opinion, or anything else, the sooner we will get serious about bearing His image. Instead of thinking selfishly and materially, we will, as my mother would say, “Look for what God is doing.”

So, whatever your situation is today, let me leave you with some “pilgrim mindset” quotes to help you:

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their heart on pilgrimage.”

“He must increase; I must decrease.”

“Jesus occupying more space in my life and me taking up less space means dying to self and living to righteousness: repentance and faith. There is no way around it. And dying to self is the hard part. We cannot die to what we have not recognized and our hearts are “deceitful above all things.” – Susan Hunt

“If there is one maverick molecule in all the universe, then God is not sovereign. And if God is not sovereign, He is not God.”  R.C. Sproul

“God’s works of providence are his most holy, wise and powerful preserving and governing of all his creatures and all their actions.” – Westminster Shorter Catechism.

“He had surely benefitted greatly who has so learned to meditate upon God’s providence that he can always recall his mind to this point: the Lord has willed it; therefore it must be borne, not only because one may not contend against it, but also because he wills nothing but what is just and expedient. “ -Calvin

Read Full Post »

Go Love.

Love.

It is the distinguishing mark of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.

By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. John 13:35

Your ministry to others should be marked by it.  If it is not there, your ministry (can it be called a ministry, devoid of love?) is worthless. You may excel in your speaking, preaching, giving, faith and ultimately in your death (martyrdom) and in God’s eyes, without love it is all for nothing. Worthless.

L O V E  is the more excellent way, spoken of in 1 Cor. 13.

When the Pharisees, famous for their law keeping, asked Jesus to tell them which of the  613 commandments was the greatest,  he narrowed it down for them: Love the Lord with all your being…, and did you want to know the second greatest? (because I know that you really want to know how to keep these laws in the correct order, you Pharisees.) Love your neighbor as yourself.

It is sad that the church is not know by its love. We  are  known for many things. It could be by our stand on this activity or that  standard. It could even be for our vocal stand against abortion or promiscuous, sexual lifestyles…but where is the outrage when Christians don’t pursue God and love one another? When they fail to edify each other in love? If Jesus taught that this was primary, shouldn’t it stand to reason that we should also think it a big deal when other Christians lack love?

What is the Greatest Transgression? 

This is the question that Martin Luther asked himself.

“Luther examined the Great Commandment, ” ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27). Then he asked himself, “What  is the Great Transgression?” Some answer this  question by saying that the great sin is murder, adultery, blasphemy, or unbelief. Luther disagreed. He concluded that if the Great Commandment was to love God with all your heart, then the Great Transgression was to fail to love God with all the heart.” – R.C. Sproul,  The Holiness of God

{And I might add, that the second great transgression is a failure to love others.}

Are you characterized by your love for God and others? How about your service for Christ? Would people describe you as loving, or are you one of those people who picks and chooses who will receive your love today, and who won’t. Are there those who get your smiles and friendship, and others, your cold shoulder and snide remarks?

Are you a safe haven for others, or are you needlessly offensive to other women in ministry? Check your love.

Do your relationships look like 1 Cor. 13?  Are you characterized by kindness and thinking the best of others? Or are you characterized by impatience, envy , irritableness or a resentful (sour, bitter) disposition. Of does it just depend on the day?  Even in ministry, we can be selfish. We can do things without love, for our own benefit. And in the end people react to your ministry the same way that I use to  react when my toddlers used to clang my pot lids like cymbals. Yuck.

So, what’s it like in your house today? Your workplace? Your church? 

Is the spiritual climate a loving one,  or are you all crazy, caught up in problems  and irritable? Stop, regroup, re-calibrate your life with scripture, and go love. 

Read Full Post »