Are you courageous? No, I'm not talking about the movie. I'm talking about being courageous in the nitty-gritty everyday. Living how God wants you to live. Believing His Word, acting on His promises, obeying His commands. Standing for His truth. It's so easy to be discouraged by everything -- not just the big stuff, but even the mundane things that happen over and over again. The little challenges that wear you down. Like laundry that's never finished, car problems that keep recurring, relatives that frustrate and annoy, money that never seems to stick around. You know what I'm talking about, right? Think about the word discourage for a minute. It means to deprive of courage, [...Read More]
Separation
September 20, 2012 By 6 Comments
Separation is a controversial word these days. There's all this hubbub about being tolerant, and accepting people where they are. Everyone clamors for more love, more grace, more liberty. But God says something different. Do you realize that His Word quite clearly tells us to separate from sin? That God commands us to distance ourselves from unholy pursuits and unrighteous people? That it labels those who are friends of the world as God's enemies? Scripture is quite clear on this, and anyone who disagrees is living in unbelief. Because if God's Word is true, then all of it is true. It cannot contain both truth and falsehood. It cannot be both pure and impure. It is all true, and thus [...Read More]
Being Abraham: revisited
August 30, 2012 By 10 Comments
School is starting up again for my husband. He's about 33% of the way through his M.Div program (4 more years to go, maybe?). And every semester has been a challenge in many ways, but especially financially. But though it's been difficult and uncertain, God has been so faithful to provide just what we need, just when we need it. And every semester, I think back to when he first enrolled in seminary, in August 2010. I wrote a post at that time about what we were anticipating, and how we were (not really) planning to get through it all. We were walking by faith, just like Abraham did when he set out to an unknown country. He only knew that God had called him to go, but he had no idea where [...Read More]
What’s keeping you busy?
August 9, 2012 By 8 Comments
Imagine you leave your three kids home one day while you go out to run errands. Before you leave, you give them each a detailed list of things to do while you're gone. They don't know how long you'll be gone - and are encouraged to get their work done first, before they enjoy some playtime. Now fast-forward several hours. You've been busy running around town, meeting people and taking care of business. You finally finish your list for the day, head home, and unlock the door. You walk in to find one child sitting at the kitchen table, diligently working on the next day's homework. Her duties included sweeping the kitchen floor, emptying the dishwasher, and taking the trash out. And guess [...Read More]
Obedience First.
June 13, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Most of you probably know the children's song, "Obedience is the very best way to show that we believe..." It's a little trite, but it's also very true. Obedience is the best way to show what we believe. Why? Obedience is the highest calling of a Christian. If we know Christ as our personal Savior, then we have a completely new life in Him. We are no longer forced to obey the call of sin; rather, we have freedom from its control, and freedom to obey our new Master (Jesus Christ). And along with that freedom, comes the higher calling of obedience. No longer can we live to please only ourselves; no longer can we live based on how we feel. Rather, we are called to obey [...Read More]
Dare to Do Right (TTB12)
June 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment
My Bible reading plan had me finishing up 2 Kings and reading all of Hosea this past week. And there are so many lessons in those chapters that I could share with you. But the one thing that stood out the most to me was the small handful of kings who "did what was right in the sight of the Lord." A little background first: We probably all know the first three kings of Israel were Saul, David, and Solomon. Saul turned wicked, David followed after God own's heart, and Solomon was the wisest man who's ever lived. But in 1 Kings 11 we see that, in all his wisdom, Solomon allowed himself to be seduced by many women, and let those women lead him away from worshiping only the one true God. And we [...Read More]
Rebellion & Righteousness {TTB12}
May 5, 2012 By Leave a Comment
This week I've been reading from Numbers and Revelation. And you may wonder, as I did, what connections there are between those two books. One is history, one is prophecy. One is the old covenant, one is the new. One deals with Israel alone, the other deals with all the redeemed from all ages. One shows man's sinfulness, the other shows God's righteousness. But it is that last contrast that actually proves to connect the two books. You see, God always {eventually} repays us according to our works. If we rebel against Him, we receive punishment. If we live according to His righteous commands, we receive honor and blessings. And the surety of these truths is portrayed so clearly in the [...Read More]
The Path of Obedience
April 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
Have you ever felt weary of doing what you know God wants you to do? Maybe you're not seeing the results you hoped for, or maybe it's just a whole lot harder than you thought it would be. I totally get it. The past few years it's been so easy to get discouraged and wearied at trudging the same path day after day, feeling like we're never making progress. Never finding those green pastures and still waters and pleasant places. Never reaching the peak and starting the easy downhill slope, just ever trudging upward and onward. But God keeps reminding me to not just trust Him but also to obey Him. To keep walking with Him down the path that He called us to. Because He commands it, and those who [...Read More]
Simply Trusting
July 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
We sing about it. We talk about it. We use the word all the time - 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus. Only Trust Him. Simply Trusting. Trust and Obey. Trust in the Lord. I Am Trusting Thee, Lord Jesus. I Trust in God. But why do we find it so hard to actually live it on a daily basis? We trust God for our eternal salvation, to take us to heaven someday, but we have such a hard time trusting Him for our day-to-day needs. For protection from the storms. For provision when the wallets are moth-eaten and the bank accounts are almost empty. For direction when our paths are muddy and the light has slipped over the horizon. For strength when our energy is gone, our minds are befuddled by weariness, [...Read More]
The Disciple a Slave
February 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment
"From the teaching of Jesus we learn that slaves are not greater than their master; neither are they privy to the master's plans.They are accountable to the master for how they use his resources, even in his absence. They are also liable for how they treat their fellow slaves and are subject to considerable punishment if they are unmerciful to others. Slaves are expected to obey and honor their master without complaint, though the faithful slave will be honored for his diligent service. Moreover, slaves can expect to be treated by outsiders the way their master is treated. If the master is treated with contempt, slaves should expect their treatment to be no better. Jesus also used slave [...Read More]
