July 30, 2011

"In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6

"Take one step at a time, every step under Divine warrant and direction. Ever plan for yourself in simple dependence on God. It is nothing less than self-idolatry to conceive that we can carry on even the ordinary matters of the day without his counsel. He loves to be consulted...Consider no circumstances too clear to need his direction. In all thy ways, small as well as great; in all thy concerns, personal or relative, temporal or eternal, let him be supreme. Who of us has not found the unspeakable 'peace' of bringing to God matters too minute or individual to be entrusted to the most confidential ear?... If in true poverty of spirit we go every morning to our Lord, as knowing not how to guide ourselves for this day; our eye constantly looking upward for direction, the light will come down. He shall direct thy paths…. Let the will be kept in a quiet, subdued, cheerful, readiness, to move, stay, retreat, turn to the right hand or to the left, at the Lord’s bidding; always remembering that is best which is least our own doing, and that a pliable spirit ever secures the needful guidance…. No step well prayed over will bring ultimate regret.” --Charles Bridges

July 27, 2011

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right, and stopping the leaks in the roof, and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably, and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of–-throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity



July 25, 2011

To the Brotherhood:

“…Then I met the Perfect One, and He changed my life. He changed what I thought about myself. He showed me I was worth more than my body’s value. He showed me I was worth dying for; that I could be loved like that. It took me a long time to believe that. To believe that I could be a real woman. To believe that I was worthy of a love so real.

And when I put my Bible down and looked out my window, I tried to find a man after His heart; I saw it then. I saw the temptations that dance in front of you every day. I saw the industry that strives every day to steal your heart and mind. I saw those who had given up trying. I saw the women, the advertisements, the assaults on your own worth. I saw it. And it broke my heart. I hope you know that I see it, I get it, and while I can’t fix it all, I will do my best to fix what is in my control.

You were made for more, and I hope you know that. I hope you know that you have a calling to a love that could change the world. I know you are drawn to beauty. God, in all His wisdom, made you that way. But I hope you know that beauty is more than a body’s value and that the most beautiful are the ones who don’t display it.

We are both learning. We are all learning. We are trying to follow the heart of God in a world that despises that heart. We are trying to take a stand for a truth that the world continually mocks. We are under constant assault, and I know because I am too. They keep telling me to change my values, to lower my standards, to just give in and join the crowd, but I don’t want to join the crowd. There is no life in the crowd. I’ve stood at the corner of the crowd and know the emptiness and loneliness of standing there. I don’t want to be there, but they tell me that outside of that, there is no hope.

I keep hoping they are wrong. I keep trying to find men who believe in the value of women, who truly cherish a woman and not just her body. I need you to stand. I need you to be strong. For the sake of my own life, I need to find them. I need to know that these men exist and that I don’t have to be like that. For my sake, I need you to prove them wrong.

On behalf of countless sisters in Christ, consider this your dragon. Be a man. Stand strong, and don’t lose courage. Fight as the knights of old. Pursue and conquer and triumph. Come and rescue us.”


-- Excerpt from Jillian Harris



The magic button — Make Everything OK

The magic button — Make Everything OK




July 24, 2011

crazy love

In the context of God’s strength, our problems are small, indeed. Why are we so quick to forget God? Who do we think we are? I find myself relearning this lesson often. Even though I glimpse God’s holiness, I am still dumb enough to forget that life is all about God and not about me at all.
It sort of goes like this…suppose you are an extra in an upcoming movie. You will probably scrutinize that one scene where hundreds of people are milling around, just waiting for that two-fifths of a second when you can see the back of your head. Maybe your mom and your closest friend get excited about that two-fifths of a second with you…maybe. But no one else will realize it is you. Even if you tell them, they won’t care. Let’s take it a step further. What if you rent out the theater on opening night and invite all your friends and family to come see the new movie about you? People will say, “You’re an idiot! How could you think this movie is about you?” Many Christians are even more delusional than the person I’ve been describing. So many of us think and live like the movie of life is all about us. Now consider the movie of life…
God creates the world. (Were you alive then? Was God talking to you when He proclaimed “It is good” about all He had just made?) Then people rebel against God (who, if you haven’t realized it yet, is the main character in this movie), and God floods the earth to rid it of the mess people made of it. Several generations later, God singles out a ninety-nine-year-old man called Abram and makes him the father of a nation (did you have anything to do with this?). Later, along come Joseph and Moses and many other ordinary and inadequate people that the movie is also not about. God is the one who picks them and directs them and works miracles through them. In the next scene, God sends judges and prophets to His nation because the people can’t seem to give Him the one thing He asks of them (obedience). And then, the climax: The Son of God is born among the people whom God still somehow loves. While in this world, the Son teaches His followers what true love looks like. Then the Son of God dies and is resurrected and goes back up to be with God. And even though the movie isn’t quite finished yet, we know what the last scene holds. It’s the scene I already described in chapter 1: the throne room of God. Here every being worships God who sits on the throne, for He alone is worthy to be praised.
From start to finish, this movie is obviously about God. He is the main character. How is it possible that we live as though it is about us? Our scenes in the movie, our brief lives, fall somewhere between the time Jesus ascends into heaven (Acts) and when we will all worship God on His throne in heaven (Revelation). We have only our two-fifths-of-a-second long scene to live. I don’t know about you, but I want my two-fifths of a second to be about my making much of God. The point of your life is to point to Him. Whatever you are doing, God wants to be glorified, because this whole thing is His. It is His movie, His world, His gift.”

-Francis Chan, Crazy Love



July 15, 2011

why?

“Why did God curse Eve with loneliness and heartache, an emptiness that nothing would be able to fill? Wasn’t her life going to be hard enough out there in the world, banished from the Garden that was her true home, her only home, never able to return? It seems unkind. Cruel, even.

He did it to save her.
For as we all know personally, something in Eve’s heart shifted at the Fall. Something sent its roots down deep into her soul— and ours— that mistrust of God’s heart, that resolution to find life on our own terms. So God has to thwart her. In love, he has to block her attempts until, wounded and aching, she turns to him and him alone for her rescue.

Jesus has to thwart us too— thwart our self-redemptive plans, our controlling and our hiding, thwart the ways we are seeking to fill the ache within us. Otherwise, we would never fully turn to him for our rescue. And so you will see the gentle, firm hand of God in a woman’s life hemming her in. Wherever it is we have sought life apart from him, he disrupts our plans, our “way of life” which is not life at all.”

-Captivating



July 14, 2011

you will love this!

-by Renee Swope


“She came to him and asked, ‘Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!’” Luke 10:40b (NIV)

When life gets overwhelming, do you ever wonder if God notices everything you have going on — like how you’re trying so hard to take care of everyone and everything? Staying up late to pay the bills, and feeling stretched between relationships at home and in ministry while caring for aging parents, commuting to work and carpooling kids?

Several years ago, I couldn’t keep up with all of the commitments I’d made. I felt like I was suffocating under everything I needed to do. Slowly, I let worry weave it’s way into my thoughts, making me wonder how I was going to do it all. I knew I should trust God more, but I was concerned that if I stopped worrying about everything and everybody He would too.

Eventually, I came to a point where I was exhausted and ready to resign from just about everything. I ran out of fuel. I didn’t have enough energy to handle all of my roles, relationships and responsibilities.

I also ran out of faith. I started doubting my ability to manage my life, to hear God clearly and to do all I assumed He wanted me to do.

And all those worries that made me weary, also made me wonder. I wondered why God wasn’t doing something to make life easier. I wondered if God noticed and cared about all I was doing for Him, and others.

One day I was reading my Bible and noticed how Martha’s worries were making her weary, and making her wonder if Jesus cared that her sister left her in the kitchen to do all that work, all by herself.

And listen to how He responded: “‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” (NIV)

So, how do we choose what is better? How do we let go of our worries and take hold of confident peace that assures us God notices and God cares?

First Peter 5:7 tells us: “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” (NLT)

The apostle Paul tells us the same and he tells us how: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7, NLT)

It sounds so doable, but why is it so hard? I think it’s because Satan whispers the opposite. He tells us, “Don’t be calm about anything; instead worry about everything. Tell God what He should do. Then take control if He doesn’t listen. And concerns that consume you will become like acid in your heart, eroding your confidence with worry and doubt!”

Instead of giving into the whispers of worry, spoken by the enemy, let’s listen to God’s promise for peace. When we feel overwhelmed by life this week, let’s commit to …

Stop worrying — Press the pause button on our consuming concerns.

Start praying — Talk to God about all we’re doing. Ask if there’s anything we need to cut back so we can seek Him as much as we serve Him, and others.

Keep thanking God — Thank God for what He’s done in the past and will do in the future. This helps us remember how good He is at being God.

Lord, when my concerns consume me, help me remember that You are with me, holding me by the hand and guiding me. I want to seek You as much as I serve You and others. Help me balance my life and give my worries to You, knowing with confidence that You care about me and are good at taking care of me! In Jesus’ Name, Amen.