There is no circumstance
no trouble
no testing
that can ever touch me until,
first of all, it has gone past God and past Christ,
right through to me.
If it has come that far,
it has come with a great purpose,
which I may not understand at the moment.
But I refuse to panic,
as I lift up my eyes to Him and accept it
as coming from the throne of God for some great purpose of blessing to my own heart.
:: Alan Redpath
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
My Treasure: Christ!
My health is not my treasure...Christ is.
My children are not my treasure...Christ is.
My husband is not my treasure...Christ is.
My friends are not my treasure...Christ is.
Parental aproval is not my treasure...Christ is.
People's good opinion of me is not my treasure...Christ is.
My home is not my treasure...Christ is.
Being known for being talented, smart, pretty, funny, always right, kind, compassionate, wise, capable, important, interesting, strong, popular, a role-model Christian woman, a good cook, mom, or wife, is not my treasure...Christ is.
My children are not my treasure...Christ is.
My husband is not my treasure...Christ is.
My friends are not my treasure...Christ is.
Parental aproval is not my treasure...Christ is.
People's good opinion of me is not my treasure...Christ is.
My home is not my treasure...Christ is.
Being known for being talented, smart, pretty, funny, always right, kind, compassionate, wise, capable, important, interesting, strong, popular, a role-model Christian woman, a good cook, mom, or wife, is not my treasure...Christ is.
Friday, November 5, 2010
I was sure by now, God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining...
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
and takes away.
Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am.
And every tear I've cried,
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm.
I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You,
and raised me up again.
My strength is almost gone -- how can I carry on
if I can't find You?
And as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain...
"I'm with you".
And as Your mercy falls,
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
and takes away.
Chorus
I lift my eyes unto the hills.
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
:: Casting Crowns -- Praise You In This Storm
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining...
As the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
and takes away.
Chorus:
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am.
And every tear I've cried,
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm.
I remember when I stumbled in the wind
You heard my cry to You,
and raised me up again.
My strength is almost gone -- how can I carry on
if I can't find You?
And as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain...
"I'm with you".
And as Your mercy falls,
I raise my hands and praise the God who gives
and takes away.
Chorus
I lift my eyes unto the hills.
Where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.
:: Casting Crowns -- Praise You In This Storm
Monday, November 1, 2010
“Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he—quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
C.S. Lewis -- The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver, “if there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”
“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.
“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ‘Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”
C.S. Lewis -- The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe
Thursday, October 28, 2010
(I started typing this up a couple months ago, and just got around to finishing it...it was good to remember some of these things. )
(From my journal on 9/30/10...)
"The foolishness in thinking that God won't be faithful to you is not just that this signifies a doubt concerning the character of God, but also that it reveals an idea concerning ourself that is false: that you are important. You are important to God, but that is simplly an outpouring of grace - you deserve none of it. And if your importance lies in the grace that exists because of the character of God, then you are important, but this is only because of God's mercy. This is why we can trust that God will care for us, and that He will be faithful: Our importance is rooted not in ourselves, but in His character. He can no more cease being faithful to us than He can cease being Who He is."
I was thinking about this a lot this morning. It's amazing how we can think that our trials are more important than the trials that someone else faces...because we are more concerned about what we could lose than what someone else could lose. And this is primarily because we have this idea that we are more important than they are. It is terrible when you actually get down to the heart of matters and realize how selfish you are. :-)
Clearly, though, if our importance is rooted in Who God is and not who we are, we are all equally important to God and equally instrumental in His plan for His glory. He will take care of us...so that takes a big weight off our shoulders and mind, and opens our hands and hearts for concern for others. The moments that have been easiest for me in the past months were moments where I was carried up in someone elses trial that seemed much bigger than my own, or when I was witnessing the suffering of another that made me completely caught up in compassion for them. I so often felt dry for compassion from others, and here I could stop thinking of myself and pour it out on others who were in need of compassion. Compassion is such a beautiful thing -- and where would compassion be without suffering? As Jesus wept for Lazurus, for Mary and Martha and their pain, when He knew He had all power to reverse the loss they were experiencing and even would do so very soon! But if He had not allowed that suffering and loss to be experienced, we would not have been able to see His compassion as He wept for those He loved, or His power as He raised Lazurus from the dead.
These paragraphs from John Piper's book "When the Darkness Will Not Lift" have made me think about this a lot:
“How Bill Leslie became a watered garden and a spring: He told of a near breakdown that he had and how a spiritual mentor directed him to Isaiah 58. He said it was verses 10–11 that rescued him from a season of darkness marked by feelings of exhaustion, burnout, and a dead-end ministry The text says:
'And if you pour yourself out for the hungry, and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness, and your gloom will become like midday. And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.'
What struck Pastor Leslie so powerfully was the fact that if we pour ourselves out for others, God promises to make us like a watered garden—that is, we will receive the water we need for refreshment and joy. But even more: we will thus be a spring of water that does not fail—for others, for the demanding, exhausting, draining ministry of urban self-giving. He saw that God’s way of lifting gloom and turning it into light was to pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted. This gave him a pattern of divine life that got him through his crisis and kept him going for the rest of his days.
God has made us to flourish by being spent for others. Jesus said, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” Most of us do not choose against this life of outpouring, we drift away from it. We confuse pressure and family life and stresses at work with Christian sacrifice, when in fact much of it has little to do with meeting the needs of the hungry and afflicted and perishing.”
(From my journal on 9/30/10...)
"The foolishness in thinking that God won't be faithful to you is not just that this signifies a doubt concerning the character of God, but also that it reveals an idea concerning ourself that is false: that you are important. You are important to God, but that is simplly an outpouring of grace - you deserve none of it. And if your importance lies in the grace that exists because of the character of God, then you are important, but this is only because of God's mercy. This is why we can trust that God will care for us, and that He will be faithful: Our importance is rooted not in ourselves, but in His character. He can no more cease being faithful to us than He can cease being Who He is."
I was thinking about this a lot this morning. It's amazing how we can think that our trials are more important than the trials that someone else faces...because we are more concerned about what we could lose than what someone else could lose. And this is primarily because we have this idea that we are more important than they are. It is terrible when you actually get down to the heart of matters and realize how selfish you are. :-)
Clearly, though, if our importance is rooted in Who God is and not who we are, we are all equally important to God and equally instrumental in His plan for His glory. He will take care of us...so that takes a big weight off our shoulders and mind, and opens our hands and hearts for concern for others. The moments that have been easiest for me in the past months were moments where I was carried up in someone elses trial that seemed much bigger than my own, or when I was witnessing the suffering of another that made me completely caught up in compassion for them. I so often felt dry for compassion from others, and here I could stop thinking of myself and pour it out on others who were in need of compassion. Compassion is such a beautiful thing -- and where would compassion be without suffering? As Jesus wept for Lazurus, for Mary and Martha and their pain, when He knew He had all power to reverse the loss they were experiencing and even would do so very soon! But if He had not allowed that suffering and loss to be experienced, we would not have been able to see His compassion as He wept for those He loved, or His power as He raised Lazurus from the dead.
These paragraphs from John Piper's book "When the Darkness Will Not Lift" have made me think about this a lot:
“How Bill Leslie became a watered garden and a spring: He told of a near breakdown that he had and how a spiritual mentor directed him to Isaiah 58. He said it was verses 10–11 that rescued him from a season of darkness marked by feelings of exhaustion, burnout, and a dead-end ministry The text says:
'And if you pour yourself out for the hungry, and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then your light will rise in darkness, and your gloom will become like midday. And the Lord will continually guide you, and satisfy your desire in scorched places, and give strength to your bones; and you will be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water whose waters do not fail.'
What struck Pastor Leslie so powerfully was the fact that if we pour ourselves out for others, God promises to make us like a watered garden—that is, we will receive the water we need for refreshment and joy. But even more: we will thus be a spring of water that does not fail—for others, for the demanding, exhausting, draining ministry of urban self-giving. He saw that God’s way of lifting gloom and turning it into light was to pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted. This gave him a pattern of divine life that got him through his crisis and kept him going for the rest of his days.
God has made us to flourish by being spent for others. Jesus said, “it is more blessed to give than to receive.” Most of us do not choose against this life of outpouring, we drift away from it. We confuse pressure and family life and stresses at work with Christian sacrifice, when in fact much of it has little to do with meeting the needs of the hungry and afflicted and perishing.”
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Leave it to Me, Child, leave it to Me,
Dearer thy garden to Me than to thee,
Lift up thy heart, Child, lift up thine eyes,
Naught can defeat Me, naught can surprise.
Leave it to me, Child, leave it to Me,
Trust in the Wall of Fire, look up and see
Stars in their courses shine through the night
Both are alike to Me -- darkness and light.
Leave it to Me, Child, leave it to Me,
Let stop the burden too heavy for thee.
That which I will, My Hand shall perform,
Fair are the lilies that weather the storm.
:: Amy Carmichael
Dearer thy garden to Me than to thee,
Lift up thy heart, Child, lift up thine eyes,
Naught can defeat Me, naught can surprise.
Leave it to me, Child, leave it to Me,
Trust in the Wall of Fire, look up and see
Stars in their courses shine through the night
Both are alike to Me -- darkness and light.
Leave it to Me, Child, leave it to Me,
Let stop the burden too heavy for thee.
That which I will, My Hand shall perform,
Fair are the lilies that weather the storm.
:: Amy Carmichael
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Journal entry from December 12, 2005
"But I know You would never lead me down a wrong path to the purpose of my own detriment... And I know that You are faithful to those who fear Your Name, that Your eyes 'run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward [You]'.
"I believe You would not deceive me...
'But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me; my LORD has forgotten me." Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion the son o her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you...' " (Isaiah 49:14-15)
"But I know You would never lead me down a wrong path to the purpose of my own detriment... And I know that You are faithful to those who fear Your Name, that Your eyes 'run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward [You]'.
"I believe You would not deceive me...
'But Zion said, "The Lord has forsaken me; my LORD has forgotten me." Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion the son o her womb? Even these may forget, but I will not forget you...' " (Isaiah 49:14-15)
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