Living To Please God

When You Say Something You Regret

2013-06-15T08:00:00.000+01:00

Do you sometimes say things you regret? Or become frustrated because people get offended or take things wrong?

In preparation for our women's ministry study on James 3, I was listening to one of my favourite preachers - Pastor Dave Rolph from our church in California.

The passage was about the power of words, and he said something that hit me like a sledgehammer!

"The tongue in a sense is really nerve central for who we are... What we say is a more faithful and telling indicator of who we are than anything else. Most of us spend our time apologising for things that we said because we are pretending that's really not who we are."

Wow, that's true isn't it! I have spent much time apologising for things I said, usually involving teasing, and trying to convince the other person that I didn't mean what they thought I meant.

But maybe I actually did mean it, and that's why they were so offended - because that's who I really am and it came out.

'Those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.'

Matthew 15:18

So next time you say something that you have to apologise for, try searching your heart to find out where it came from. Maybe your heart and attitude need to change? And I'm going to try and do the same!

Even so the tongue is a little member and boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles! And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell. James 3:5-6

Could We Live Like God Is Greater?

2013-06-11T21:54:00.000+01:00

Recently I wrote about how our lives might change if we understood how God loves us, and how gracious and merciful He is. I want to follow on from that with another one - how would we change if we understood how great God is?

If you go to church much you will probably have sang quite a bit about the greatness of God. But do you really live like He is great?

Often prayer is our last resort. When we do finally resort to it, we are asking for miraculous things but in a way that is barely hopeful that maybe this last attempt might work.

We don’t seem to understand that God wants to help us, and wants us to bring everything to Him. And even more than that we don’t really get that He is so much greater than we could possibly imagine, He is ‘able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think’ (Eph 3:20)

God created the whole world, He existed before everything else, He loves us like no one else and He is greater than all else! And He loves us so much that He listens to our every request and delights to bless us!

The Bible tells us how Nehemiah went back to Israel to build the wall of Jerusalem when it was broken down and burned with fire.

They were like sitting ducks, because they had enemies who were prepared to attack them to stop it from going ahead, but the Jews had no wall to protect them because they were still building it!

The Jews who lived near there came and ‘told us ten times, “From whatever place you turn, they will be upon us.” (Neh 4:12)

It really looked like what they were doing was pointless, because they would be attacked easily. And often we think the same thing, ‘I can’t cope’, ‘I can never manage that’, ‘It’s all too much for me’. What is against us just seems to great for us.

But we can learn from what Nehemiah did:

Therefore I positioned men behind the lower parts of the wall, at the openings; and I set the people according to their families, with their swords, their spears, and their bows.

And I looked, and arose and said to the nobles, to the leaders, and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, great and awesome, and fight for your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”(Nehemiah 4:14)

He positioned men, and told everyone to remember God is great. We need to fight, but we have God on our side who will help us so we shouldn't be discouraged!

I have heard the story of David so many times, but I never tire of hearing what he said to Goliath:

‘You come to me with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hand, and I will strike you and take your head from you.’ 1 Samuel 17:45-46

David knew that God was greater! He was just a boy, Goliath was a giant. He had only stones and no armour, whereas Goliath had 3 weapons and full armour and combat experience.

Though the odds seemed impossible humanly, he knew that he had God on his side so there was no problem – God would have the victory!

How might we change if we understood how great God is?

We might worry less and trust God to take care of us
We might take more of our problems to Him instead of only using Him as a last resort
We might step out in faith against crazy odds when we know that God is on our side
We might not fret so much about the future, because we know who holds the future and He is greater than everything else!

Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;

And His greatness is unsearchable.

Psalm 145:3

'Our God is Greater' is a song that goes so well with this topic:

How We Cooperate with Satan’s Tactics

2013-06-08T07:31:00.000+01:00

In our girls group at church we have started going through the book, Lies Young Women Believe by Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Dannah Gresh. It makes a really interesting read and is practical and challenging.

Last night we went through the chapter called ‘The Deceived’ which talks about how lies come at us and start destroying our lives. Here are some things I got from it and shared along with thoughts of my own.

Satan is the ‘father of lies’ (John 8:44)and just like he deceived Eve in the garden, he also wants to deceive us and lead us away from the way that God wants us to live.

Satan’s Tactics

He uses our own desires – ‘Each one is tempted when he is drawn away by his own desires and enticed. Then when desire has conceived it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown brings forth death.’ James 1:14,15. Eve had a desire for knowledge and also for good food, which just shows that the desires themselves may not be wrong, but can lead to wrong things.
He promises to fulfil them – the key thing here is that while the desires may be OK, the way that Satan promises to fulfil them is the wrong way. He promised to fulfil Eve’s desires by a path that meant disobedience to God.
He uses lies as a bait –a lot of the lies have elements of truth to them. But that is why they are so dangerous – because they are in part truthful they are easier for us to believe and justify. In the garden of Eden, Satan lied and said, ‘You will not surely die.’ The truth in that is that she wouldn’t die straight away, but it was also a lie because she would die eventually, and of course it was a direct contradiction of what God said.

But we can’t blame Satan for everything – we cooperate with his lies, just like Eve did:

How We Cooperate

By listening to the lies – she could have run from the serpent but instead she stayed and listened to him. In the book we were reading it pointed out that there are many ways that we listen to lies, like through music, TV, magazines and films.
By dwelling on the lies – she engaged with him in conversation. If we don’t get rid of the lies in our head immediately, we start dwelling on them and thinking about them.
By believing the lies – she believed the serpent, just like we believe many lies when we hear them enough times or if they sound reasonable, or enough people say them.
By acting on the lies – she then acted on them, and ate the fruit.

What We Should Do Instead

Run – 2 Timothy 2:22 says ^‘Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart’. Eve could have run from the serpent in the garden and got away from the temptation. We need to run from the source of these lies and stop our minds from dwelling on them.
Spend time retraining your mind with the truth – instead of believing and dwelling on the lies, we need to stop those thoughts. But it’s not enough to just stop them – it’s like saying, “Don’t think about an elephant”. You’ll start picturing one! We need to replace the lie with truth from God’s Word. Like if you’re thinking the lie, ‘I can’t cope’, replace it with ‘I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.’ Or if you’re thinking the lie, ‘Nobody loves me’ replace it with the truth that ‘God loves me’, ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son…’

If you want to buy the book and read more you can get it from Amazon UK , or Amazon.com

Linking with Spiritual Sundays

Ways to Make Learning To Read Fun - Part 1

2013-06-05T08:00:00.000+01:00

This is a bit of a diversion from my usual theme, but it’s been on my mind for a while and I know that some people struggle with helping their kids learn to read since I have had some questions about it.

So here are a few ideas and resources from what I have learned in teaching my three children so far. Please excuse the multiple links - I was not sure whether to link to Amazon UK or US since I have readers from both places, but in the end realised I could do both!

1. Teaching Letters

My first goal was always to teach the letters of the alphabet. Here are some of the things I did during the day or at different times, from as early an age as I could really!

Sang the alphabet song to them and with them.
Got books from the library or charity shops which had the alphabet in, in various forms, and read them aloud.

Dr. Seuss ABC – they loved this and often memorised what it said if I read it enough!

First Dictionary – this is great for showing a bunch of things that start with the same letters so that they get examples of how the letter is used, and the pictures are fun.
D is for Dinosaur - a cool Christian rhyming book to use for teaching the alphabet that also explains when dinosaurs really were created!
A is for Adam - another fun Christian book with the gospel from Genesis, in ABCs
ABC Learn the Alphabet with Thomas – the children loved trying to figure out what it was in the picture that matched the letter. My only problem with this book was that some of the sounds were not the first ones I usually teach, for example normally you would teach the short ‘I’ vowel sound but the picture they had for their 'I' was ‘Ice-cream’ which is the long i!

Starfall website – www.starfall.com is a great website which has loads of free stuff for learning to read that children can pretty much do themselves by about the age of 3 and a half. So for a long time I let them go by on there for 15 minutes a day.
Magnetic letters - I had a bunch of magnetic letters which I put on the fridge for them to play around with, and when I had time I would help the children with them, seeing if they could put the alphabet in order and write their name, or 'mum' or 'dad'. These are the ones I bought when my old ones started having too many missing:

2. Teaching Letter Sounds

Once they were 3 years old I figured they would be starting nursery school if they were in the system, so I should at least start teaching them letters! I began with 15 minutes of ‘reading’ a day.

If they knew their letter names well I would start with teaching a letter a day, with its main sound. I now know that many schools teach a letter a week, but my kids seemed to do pretty well with a letter a day.

For each letter I would first show it to them on Starfall, in their ABCs section. Then I would read it to them in the ABC books I had (shown in the teaching letters part above), and then I would print off the Starfall printout for that letter and talk it through with them, letting them trace the letters with help and colour in the pictures.

I would try and get them to repeat the sound each time we came across it. "Can you say 'a'?"

We would then get some old catalogues and find pictures of things that began with that letter, cut them out and stick them on a piece of paper. Then we hung up the papers on the fridge to look at.

During the day I would often ask them, "What is that letter called? And what sound does it make?"

Once they had gone through the whole alphabet I would do a bit of review to make sure they had got the sounds down.

The key way I did this was to write each letter on blank index cards (the uppercase and lowercase letter next to each other) and then test them. I would show them the card and they had to say the sound. They usually enjoyed this! If they didn't know it I would put it aside and try it again at the end.

I also made games out of it, like putting all the letters down on the table and saying, ‘Where’s the C?’, saying the letter sound rather than just the letter. When they found it they got to keep it (at least for 10 minutes anyway!!)

Or we would vary that by turning them all upside down. Then they had to pick one and turn it over and if they got the sound right they could keep it, if not they had to turn it upside down again.

My two sons got this pretty quickly but my daughter took what seemed like ages to get it! So with her I did even more than this and used the first part of ‘The Ordinary Parent’s Guide To Teaching Reading’ (which I skipped with the boys) to help her.

This involved learning a rhyme, so each day we would learn the rhyme for one letter. I then went through one letter each day with her, until she knew the whole rhyme by heart.

Then I tested her again with the cards, and if she couldn’t remember one I started the rhyme off to help her. It starts like this:

B stands for b in b,b, bat

C stands for k in k,k, cat and so on.

We varied it a little bit, accenting words to make it sound silly, and making a tune out of it for fun!

Eventually she got where she knew the letter sounds well, so we could start with the next bit!

3. Making Reading Enjoyable

Relax - I think this is key to all this. If they feel you are putting pressure on them then they will lose enjoyment. If you want them to love reading, then I think it is so important that they enjoy it!
Be consistent - I was consistent in getting them to have their 15 minutes a day once they were 3 years old, but I made it fun.
Don't stress - Don't worry if they are not learning as quickly as you wish they would. I just tried to be patient and start again if need be.
Take a break if necessary - Sometimes I took a few weeks break if it seemed like they weren't getting anywhere, and then started back up again, and a lot of times those few weeks made a big difference and we did a lot better afterwards.
Try to read to them a bit every day - some people do bedtime stories. We tend to do a Bible story in the evening, and then I try and read a book to them during the day at some point. Now that I have 3 children and am more busy that doesn't happen as much, but my older two are reading to my youngest so I don't think he's doing too badly!
Try to give them some book reading time each day - even when they couldn't read, first thing thing in the morning I would have them sit with some books in bed and look at the pictures. And once they had stopped naps I would give them books to read for a while before I let them play quietly at nap time. You probably need to limit TV and computers to certain times in order to encourage them to read.
Go to the library - I try to go the library regularly with them to get books for each child, to encourage their love of reading. We often don't get around to returning them in time, but thankfully our libray has a policy of no late fees for young children!

My next part to this will be about teaching blending and further reading. So please check back soon if you are interested!

Feel free to share any more tips or resources you have in the comments - I have just shared what I used.

Linking up to Raising Arrows and Wise Woman Builds Her Home

Do You Want To Know How the World Will End?

2013-06-01T07:29:00.000+01:00

I am now reading the Left Behind Series through completely for the third time, so from that you will probably gather that I like it!! But I will try to give you an impartial review :)

The Left Behind Series is a fictional story of what the last days of this world will be like, from a Christian perspective and based on Biblical prophecy.

The authors believe that the Christians disappear off the face of the earth in something called the 'Rapture', then comes the tribulation where all kinds of bad things happen including someone rising up called the AntiChrist. Then Jesus comes back to earth at the end of the world as we know it.

It starts off with everyone getting 'Left Behind' as all the Christians in the world disappear, and goes from there. The books follow a few characters closely, there is romance, murder, mystery and action, but all written in a very lifelike way.

First impressions

When I first picked up a book of the series I put it down pretty quickly because I remember thinking 'Wow, this is slow', and 'The authors must be trying to make money by extending it out to be really long'!

In fact the reading isn't slow at all, it's just that the events happen quite slowly, so they make quite a bit of the personal stories in between which I wasn't expecting.

What I like

However the second time I started to read them I couldn't put them down! I don't know what changed apart from maybe me becoming less cynical and seeing their value and interest instead!

They manage to keep the excitement up all the way through, and even the third time of reading them I am not bored.

I also love the wisdom that is strewn through the book coming out in various places. For example, I love this quote in the book I'm reading right now, Desecration, where someone is worried because he accidentally tipped off the enemy about where the hiding place of the Jews was going to be: "God's not gonna let a regular human like you mess up his plan with one mistake, is he?"

And there is some great sharing of the gospel that makes me hope that people who don't know God will read it and be converted. In fact I just went to their website and found that people have come to know Christ through those books!

It is also a wonderful way of diving into Biblical prophecy of the end times and starting to understand what some of it may mean. Much of it is open to interpretation, but they have clearly put some hard work into figuring out how it may play out as it all comes across as very realistic.

I started reading them for the third time because my husband is now preaching through Revelation, so I thought I would get some of the prophecies in my head in a fun way before we get there!

I also like that the romantic parts talk about people's feelings and conversations but don't get all touchy-feely like some Christian romances.

What I don't like

My favourite book of the series is 'Glorious Appearing' because it is so exciting leading up to where Jesus actually comes back to earth. But funnily enough at the same time it's the one I skip-read the most because there are long passages of talking when they stand before Him, that are quite similar to each other and get a bit tedious.

Glorious Appearing, Left Behind Series #12
By Tim LaHaye & Jerry B. Jenkins

The main thing that I don't like besides that are the constant cliff hangers. The way it is written moves across the world, from one character to another character, and quite often right in the middle of some interesting action!

Sometimes I just wish that one story would finish before they move across the world to the next character, but I guess doing it that way keeps it in real time, and also makes it harder to put down.

Conclusion

Overall I love these books. I would definitely recommend them, whether you're a Christian or not! Why not read about what the end of the world may be like in reality, more than just sci-fi!

If you want to buy them you can get them here at Amazon UK, Christianbook.com, or Amazon.com. Or you can do what I did at first which is to order them all from the local library in succession so I didn't have to pay anything! You can also do what my mum did and order them all from second hand bookshops, then gave them to me to store :)

Linking up to Spiritual Sundays and Winsome Wednesdays

Getting God's Perspective

2013-05-18T08:00:00.000+01:00

More and more often I find myself praying either for someone else or myself to get God's perspective on a situation.

I have come to realise that many of our problems are caused by a skewed view of the circumstances. And if we could only see them the way that God saw them then it would be so much better.

For example, there are some Christians that end up getting a divorce. To get to that point they usually must have pretty different points of view about things, or be at loggerheads.

Also it is very common for Christians to leave the church they have been in for a number of years because they disagree with something or someone in that church.

But God is the same yesterday, today and forever. So He has only one view of the situation, which of course is the right one because He created us, and is perfectly holy, loving and righteous.

Therefore if all the people in those situations suddenly gained God's perspective there would be peace, instead of division. So how do you find out what that is?

I think the obvious answer would be to keep yourself reading the Bible so you understand more how God sees things. But I think when it comes to specific situations what we really need to do is to pray that God would show us His view on it, and show the other people as well!

And God does answer this prayer. I have had a problem with someone before, and prayed this prayer as well as prayed for that person, and I very soon saw things from their perspective, quite differently from how I had before.

It is also a great help when it comes to things that happen in life that we don't understand. For Job in the Bible, suddenly everything had come crashing down in his life for no apparent reason. His friends were telling him he must have brought it upon himself by sin, and he was wondering why?

But from God's perspective it was completely different - He was simply showing how righteous he was to the devil, who claimed that he was only a good man because God had surrounded him with so many good things. Job would have had no clue of that!

Here is an excerpt from Your God Is Too Safe by Mark Buchanan (you can read more in an excerpt here), which brings some of God's perspective into things that we tend to see quite differently:

"If you do what is right, it will go well with you." God says to Cain...What will go well? I would like this to mean God will stay the hand of death, of disease, of accident and injury and illness, always, everywhere, right to the sweet gentle end, for me and those I love, and then that he will whisk us Enoch-like to heaven…

But of course, it doesn't mean that—the idyllic, undisturbed life. That might happen. It might not. That is not important to whether it goes well with you.

God's definition of it going well is unique, distinct, almost eccentric. His definition of wellness is not about health, finances, or job security. It's not about unfailing protection from the vagaries and dangers of a broken world.

It's not about life being fair.

It's about acceptance. It's about God accepting us as his own, the one he loves. It's not about being spared from untimely or difficult death. It's about being spared the "second death"—the death of unbridgeable separation, the death that is at once coldness and burning, oblivion and torment, a writhing crowd of teeth-gnashers and the desolation of unending aloneness.

Because of Jesus Christ, we have received God's unmerited favor. And, actually, that favor has always been unmerited. If we do what is right, it will go well with us. The right thing is faith—to have faith in the one who doesn't always remedy life's unfairness but who does far better: He redeems it—its unfairness, its brokenness, its disease and death—and he gives us back sevenfold all the years the locusts have eaten. "Today," he says to repentant thieves, to trusting Abels, to dying little girls, "Today you will be with me in paradise."

Next time you are in a situation where you and another person are seeing something completely differently, or if you see friends with major differences, or you are struggling to understand something that is happening, try praying for God's perspective on it for the people concerned.

Sometimes we still may not understand, like Job who was asking why? But then we need to remind ourselves and trust that God is in control and will work everything for our good. And hold on to Jesus and our hope of heaven through whatever we are going through.

Where To Go For Biblical Counselling Books

2013-05-14T22:13:00.000+01:00

If you find yourself listening to people's problems and need some help on knowing how to help them Biblically, it can be quite hard to find! You also may want help for your own issues.

So I want to share the place I go for book recommendations for counselling - Timeless Christian Books. The books here are very specific to real problems that people face, they cover a wide variety, and they are all chosen by people like Dr. Jay Adams who is a well known Biblical counselor in the States.

Just a few of the topics covered in the books they sell are forgiveness, depression, dealing with rejection, divorce recovery, eating disorders and suicide.

Since I don't live in the USA what I tend to do is to get my book recommendations from them, and then go and find the books on Amazon UK and buy them the cheapest I can! Christianbook.com also ship cheaply from the States.

If you are getting a few books it might be worth checking what the shipping is from Timeless Christian Books though, as it may not be that bad! And of course if you live in the USA then you won't have a problem :)

This is their description: Timeless Christian Books: A trustworthy resource for books from a biblical worldview. We carry books on Christian Living, on Church history, on Church ministry, on biblical counseling, fiction, theology, etc. for children, teens, women, and men. Most books are 20% off retail every day, and there is free shipping on all orders of $15 or more. Orders usually ship the same day.

Incidentally, I do not get any commission from them for this recommendation. I just want to share it because it can be so hard to find good counselling books!

It is also worth checking the resources of CCEF - Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation since they write many of the books recommended by Timeless Texts and may have more in their bookstore.

If You Had 3 Wishes...

2013-05-07T15:00:00.000+01:00

The other day in the car I was having some fun talking to the children, and said, "If you had 3 wishes, what would you wish for?" I was curious what they would say!

Here are a few of their responses:
"That I could eat a horse" (that was my 3 year old)
"That I could fly"
"That I could drive a car now!"
"That I could have my own pirate ship" (that's why the strange photo at the top!)

As they were getting excited talking about it, I was thinking to myself, I wonder what mine would be? So eventually when they had finished, I told them what I would wish for.

Here are mine:

That Jesus would come back tonight!
That our children would be saved and follow God wholeheartedly all their lives.
That I would finish all that God has given me to do.

I surprised myself quite a bit, because last time I thought about things like that, probably back when I was quite young, I remember flying being one of my wishes just like the children!

But now I think I realise that it is only eternal things that really matter - everything else is only for a season, and in the light of eternity that season is incredibly short.

So it excited me and inspired me to try to keep my mind on the things that are really important. We can get so swept up in the cares of this life that we forget that life is short and soon we will meet our Maker.

For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:17,18

It also reminded me of the story of King Solomon and how he prayed and God asked him what he wanted. We can ask God for what we want too, in fact He encourages us to!

So though it's not like at all like a genie, where we are guaranteed to get whatever we want, we should ask for these things and trust God that He will give us what is best in His good time.

'Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find...' Matthew 7:7

So how about you? What would you wish for if you could only have 3 wishes?!

Using Our God-Given Resources for Him

2013-05-01T21:24:00.001+01:00

How do you make your little decisions in life? Often we make big decisions by consulting God in prayer, but not so much the little ones.

Yet if you are a Christian then your life and everything you have is not your own to decide what you want with. It is God’s:

Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s. 1 Corinthians 6:19,20

Jesus Christ redeemed us with a price – His death on the cross. So we are His, set apart and consecrated to God, to be holy, to glorify Him with everything we are, have and do. As Clarke says in his commentary:

'You have no right over yourselves, to dispose either of your body, or any of its members, as you may think proper or lawful; you are bound to God, and to him you are accountable.'

The parable of the talents in Matthew 25:14-30 illustrates this clearly with a story of a master who has a servant and before going away entrusts them with varying amounts of his property in the form of ‘talents’ or large sums.

When he comes back he rewards those who invested it wisely and rebukes the one who did nothing with it. It is symbolic of us with Christ as our master, and everything we have as what He has entrusted to us.

What are we doing with it? Are we investing it wisely, or are we spending it in a way that He wouldn’t be pleased with?

It should change the way we view and do things

Since our life is not our own, and everything that we have comes from God, we should view life differently.

We should be looking at what we have in terms of stewardship – we are stewards of our bodies, our gifts, our time, our money, our possessions, our children. We are looking after these things and should invest them wisely for our Master.

I remember reading once about a lady whose daughter died, and she viewed it like God had lent her the child for a time, and had now taken her back again. That has always been a challenge to me, and I try to think of my children this way when I am worried about them, as I know God gave them to me and will protect them or take them home as He wills.

Here are some things to think about with stewardship in mind:

Time – on our days off, do we still think how can we use our time to glorify God?
Money – do we consult God about what we spend our money on?
Body – do we look after it so we can serve God longer or just do what everyone around us does?
Possessions – do we look at them as a gift from God, so they should honour Him in what we do with them, and share them with others in the same way?
Gifts and talents – do we find ways to use them to glorify God?

When I became pregnant I suddenly changed the whole way I thought about myself. I was no longer just me, I was me and my baby. So I didn’t run across roads in between cars anymore and I was careful not to eat things that might give me food poisoning whereas before I would have taken the risk.

In the same way we should view our lives as not our own, but as God’s. And we should consult Him about what we do with it, and do all of it for Him.

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him. Col 3:17

Take my life and let it be...

There is a great hymn which puts this into words, called ‘Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to Thee’ by Frances Ridley Havergal.

There are a number of tunes to it so I have linked to them all at the bottom of this post and you can choose your favourite! I think my favourite is still the one I grew up singing - the last one.

There is also a very challenging and thought provoking book that she wrote based on this hymn, called Kept for the Master's Use - one of my treasured books.

This is what she writes in there:

'So let us go on to another prayer. Having already said, 'Take my life, for I cannot give it to Thee,' let us now say, with deepened conviction, that without Christ we really can do nothing - 'Keep my life, for I cannot keep it for Thee.''

She later goes on to explain consecration:

'Not for 'me' at all, but for 'Jesus;' not for my safety, but for His glory; not for my comfort, but for His joy; not that I may find rest, but that He may see the travail of His soul, and be satisfied! Yes for Him I want to be kept.

Kept for His sake; kept for His use; kept to be His witness; kept for His joy! Kept for Him, that in me He may show forth some tiny sparkle of His light and beauty; kept to do His will and His work in His own way; kept, it may be, to suffer for His sake; kept for Him, that He may do just what seems to Him good with me; kept, so that no other Lord shall have any dominion over me, but that Jesus shall have all there is to have...

Is not this, O you who love the Lord - is not this worth living for, worth asking for, worth trusting for?'

Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise.

Take my hands and let them move

At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee.

Take my voice and let me sing,

Always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee.

Take my silver and my gold,

Not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it Thine,

It shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart, it is Thine own,
It shall be Thy royal throne.

Take my love, my Lord, I pour

At Thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself and I will be
Ever, only, all for Thee.

by Frances Ridley Havergal

Linking up with A Wise Woman Builds Her Home and Winsome Wednesday

What Does Submission Look Like in Real Life?

2013-04-23T08:00:00.000+01:00

Many Christians agree with submission because they see it in the Bible: ‘Wives submit to your husbands’ (Eph 5v22). Yet how that belief works out in people’s marriages can vary so much!

I have to say at the outset that I can’t give much Biblical backup for my view of how it should work simply because the Bible says to submit, but doesn’t give that much explanation of it. So this is my opinion! However I have gone into more detail on what it means Biblically in another post, and also why God has put it in place as well as how to do it in another one, if you want more in depth information with Biblical backup.

I also should say that I am not, by any means, a perfect example of a submissive wife, even though I try to be :) Having said that, here are a couple of things which I think are key to it working properly in real life:

It starts in the heart

I believe true submission should start in your heart. That means that you’re not just waiting for your husband to get to the point of making a decision as head of the home, but you're looking for what he wants, way before that.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that we always do what they want in every situation, but it means that we are aiming wherever we can to please them. Which makes sense anyway, if we are loving them as we should!

Sometimes my husband will make little comments that make me think he doesn't entirely like the idea of something. And if it is something that I am quite keen on doing, what I then do is try to sit down with him and ask him what he really thinks about it.

This gives him a chance to talk seriously, and I can find out how much he is against it. Sometimes I find that it’s not really a big deal. Other times I find out that he really isn’t keen on it and often then I will give up the idea.

Obviously if he told me I must stop doing something, I would, but usually he won't do that so I try to discern what his wishes are and endeavour to please him the best I can.

Give your input, then let him lead

With big decisions that we feel strongly about, the temptation can be to keep on talking about it till we get our way. And only give way if our husband actually says, ‘No, this is what we are going to do.’

But I think submission goes further than that. What I try to do with big decisions is to give my input if I feel strongly or if my husband asks for it. Then after that I pray that God would guide him and leave the decision to him, unless it is something where he really wants to make a joint decision.

I am blessed to have a husband that is wise and has loads of common sense, and makes good financial decisions. So that does help a lot! And I understand that it may change things somewhat if you don’t have that.

But in reality, when you disagree is where the rubber hits the road. And that is where I have tried to get into the habit of saying, “This is what I think… but it’s up to you” in the majority of things.

I try to give my input, and then let him lead. It can help if you think, ‘What’s the worst that could happen if…’ because usually it’s not that bad!

You also really need to trust God because in submitting to your husband you are submitting to the Lord. So when you are worried about how it will turn out it really helps to remember that God will honour your obedience and will work out everything for good.

Linking up to Solo Deo Gloria Party

On Rest, Energy and Motivation

2013-04-15T18:01:00.000+01:00

I apologise to anyone who has missed me (though I find that hard to believe!) for having taken such a long break from blogging without warning! In truth I have been exhausted, from going a bit too hard for too long, and then a big weekend outreach that was great but managed to push me over the edge.

So I had to rest, to renew first my strength and then my motivation to do anything! I only just got back motivation to blog this weekend as God spoke to me through my dear husband who was preaching on Daniel 11:

‘The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits.And those of the people who understand shall instruct many’ Daniel 11:32,33

Isn’t that a cool verse?! It reminded me that as Christians we are all called to exhort and encourage each other (Hebrew 10:24,25), disciple others (Matthew 28:19,20), and share what God is teaching us (Matthew 10:27).

Daniel prophesied that those people who knew God instructed many, which I'm sure encompassed those things. We shouldn’t keep what we know and are learning about God to ourselves!

I discovered that three vital things were necessary to get rid of my tiredness and regain my energy and motivation: going to bed at a good time every night, taking an hour in the afternoon to rest, and of course spending good quality time with God – reading His Word and praying.

In fact after practicing these three things and being more disciplined in at least the first two than I have for a long time, I actually feel better than I have done for ages!

I have been struggling with patience for a while, but with better rest I am finding I do far better. And anyone who has had children will know it is probably one of the most needed fruits of the Spirit :)

I also have been reading a great book during this time, which I underlined a lot of, and would like to recommend to anyone who sometimes struggles with managing their inside life that not so many people see, but that holds up everything else. It is called ‘Ordering Your Private World’ by Gordon MacDonald.

Ordering Your Private World
By Gordon MacDonald / Thomas Nelson

I have just lent it out so can’t quote extensively from it, but here is something he quoted from John Wesley which most of us Westerners probably need to meditate on:

“Though I am always in haste, I am never in a hurry; because I never undertake any more work than I can go through with perfect calmness of spirit.”

How do you prevent yourself from getting exhausted?

How Can You Be Sure You’re Going to Heaven?

2013-03-23T08:00:00.000Z

Right now it may not seem that important whether you are going to heaven or not, but one day when you stand before God, it will suddenly change in priority.

I know this is blunt, but we never know when that might be – it might be tonight. So I just want to urge you to make sure. The Bible says ‘Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith’ (2 Corinthians 13:5)

Here are some questions we can ask ourselves, taken from the Wiersbe Bible Commentary

1. Was there a time when I honestly realised I was a sinner and admitted this to myself and to God?

2. Was there a time when my heart stirred me to flee from the wrath to come? Have I ever been seriously exercised over my sins?

3. Do I truly understand the Gospel, that Christ died for my sins and arose again? Do I understand and confess that I cannot save myself?

4. Did I sincerely repent of my sins and turn from them? Or do I secretly love sin and want to enjoy it?

5. Have I trusted Christ and Christ alone for my salvation? Do I enjoy a living relationship with Him through the Word and in the Spirit?

6. Has there been a change in my life? Do I maintain good works, or are my works occasional and weak? Do I seek to grow in the things of the Lord? Can others tell that I have been with Jesus?

7. Do I have a desire to share Christ with others? Or am I ashamed of Him?

8. Do I enjoy the fellowship of God’s people? Is worship a delight to me?

9. Am I ready for the Lord’s return? Or will I be ashamed when He comes for me?

Not everyone has the same exact experience, but for the most part these questions should help you figure out whether you really are a true Christian or not. If you are truly saved, then you have a guaranteed place in heaven, your name is written in the Book of Life!

If you have answered ‘no’ to many of these but want to be saved, then this is what you need to do:

Realise that you are a sinner - we have all done wrong things, like lying and stealing and not loving as we should. The Bible says, 'All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God'. Because God is a holy God, just like a just Judge would have to punish breaking the law, He has to punish sin, and 'the wages of sin is death' - eternal punishment in hell.
Recognise that Jesus Christ died on the cross for you - we have earned a punishment for our sins, but just like someone can step in and pay your fine so that you don't have to go to jail, God stepped in. He sent His only Son down to earth so that He could die on the cross for our sins and take our punishment on Himself: 'The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord' This means that we can not only be saved from hell, but can have the free gift of eternal life in heaven.
Repent of your sin - you need to say a true heartfelt sorry to God for all the wrong things you have done, and for rejecting Him up till now, and ask for His forgiveness, and change your direction - give your life to following Jesus.
Believe in Jesus Christ for salvation - You also need to believe the truth that Jesus is the son of God and died on the cross for your sins, was buried and rose again. And that if you put your faith and trust in Him then you will be saved.

Here is a prayer you can pray to God - the prayer itself doesn't save you, but if you truly and sincerely believe these things as you pray them, you can be saved.
"God, I know I am a sinner. I believe Jesus died for my sins. Right now, I turn from my sins and give my life to you. I confess Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior. Thank You for saving me. Amen."

If you have answered ‘yes’ to most of these questions but you still lack assurance, you may just be experiencing doubts, and it would probably be good for you to read through 1 John and keep reading it! It was written so that we might know that we have eternal life. Also you can go back to square one, and do it all again, then you will know that you have done it even if your emotions are telling you that you don’t feel saved!

If you still have questions, you are more than welcome to e-mail me.

Book Review: The Knowledge Of The Holy by A. W. Tozer

2013-03-20T17:29:00.001Z

I have heard this book recommended or talked about quite a lot over the years, so when I saw it at the same time as my husband was looking for a Valentine’s present for me, he kindly bought it for me. Books are one of my favourite kind of presents!

It also fitted in very well with something I recently realised as I was preparing for our church’s women’s retreat – that many of our problems as Christians come about because we have the wrong view of God.

What it's about

It’s basically about what God is like, and His attributes. Tozer starts off by explaining why we must have the right view of God, and making sure that we realise that He is incomprehensible (or ‘not able to be understood’ if that was too long of a word!).

Then there are 19 chapters, each on a different aspect of God’s character, such as is holiness, justice, immutability (i.e. He doesn’t change), eternity and more. He ends with an exhortation to get to know God, and some practical tips for how we can do that better.

What I like about it

It is not a long book, though thorough, and each chapter is quite short, so it doesn’t take long to read. It is also in pretty easy language with the exception of some long theological words like omnipotence (all-powerful) which title some of the chapters.

The first chapter was great, as it explained why we should think rightly about God:

‘I believe there is scarcely an error in doctrine or a failure in applying Christian ethics that cannot be traced finally to imperfect and ignoble thoughts about God.’

I also liked his view on the sovereignty of God and the will of man, which has divided so many Christians over the years. Just a little excerpt:

‘If in His absolute freedom God has willed to give man limited freedom, who is there to stay His hand or say, “What doest thou?” Man’s will is free because God is sovereign. A God less than sovereign could not bestow moral freedom upon His creatures. He would be afraid to do so.’

What I didn't like

There was one thing that disappointed me - the practical aspect of each chapter was very short. I believe, and I know the author does too, that our everyday lives as Christians are deeply affected by our view of God, so I would have preferred it if he had gone into more detail about how our understanding of each attribute should affect us.

Who should read it

I think nearly all Christians would benefit from this book. So many Christians don’t have a proper view of God, and many other problems stem from that.

However I think if you are blessed to be one of those who have been brought up all their lives in an evangelical church, surrounded by good doctrine and teaching, and have read the Bible through quite a few times, then this book may not teach you much that is new to you.

But I am glad I have finally read it, and it will be a great quick reference guide for the different attributes of God.

Linking up to Wise Woman and Winsome Wednesday

How Can We Be Sustained and Satisfied?

2013-03-16T16:10:00.002Z

I am one of those people given to appetite. So for me it is a constant struggle to be self-controlled in what I eat, especially since I am often tired right now and feel like I need something to get me going!

For this reason I try to fast quite regularly, and when my husband asks me why, I usually reply, "To beat my body and make it my slave" 1 Cor 9v27. It is one of the few ways that I can remind my brain and appetite that they can’t do what they want all the time!

The most recent time I was fasting I struggled to keep going, and kept being tempted to quit it early. But if I stopped early that would mean I wasn’t in control of myself as I wanted to be.

I was so tempted that in desperation I ran off to a room by myself and prayed. As I was praying, two different verses came to my mind, all describing Jesus Christ’s view of food. I thought it was pretty cool because there were three words, all beginning with W!

Here are the things that should sustain us, as they did Christ. Obviously He ate too, as it’s recorded in the Bible, but there were other things more important to Him!

His Word

This was the first verse that popped into my head:

‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God’ Matthew 4v4

We wouldn’t be able to live without bread, but that isn’t the only thing that we should live by – we should be sustained and fed by God’s Word. Are we feeding ourselves on it daily, like we do with food? Are we treating it as a food – and finding nourishment from it?

That means that we don’t just read the Bible but ask, is there something that I need correction in, or need to change about the way I do things? What is God trying to teach me? Maybe through good or bad example, or through commands, or promises?

His Will

Christ referred to doing God’s will as His food:

Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, "Rabbi, eat." But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about." So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him something to eat?" Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish His work. Joh 4:31-34

Jesus was so nourished by the food of doing God’s will that He wasn’t even bothered about the fact that He hadn’t eaten. I want to be more like that, to be so set on and delighted by (Psalm 40:8) doing God’s will that I’m not even worried about food! And if we know we are doing what God wants us to do during the day, then we are doing God's will, and can focus on doing it for His glory.

His Work

Again in the same verse as above:

My food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to finish His work. Joh 4:34

Christ was sustained by doing the work that God had sent Him to do. And later on the cross, He said, "It is finished" – He had done it. I pray and hope that I will be like Christ and have finished the work God gave me to do when it comes time for me to die:

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Eph 2:10

Are we thinking of life in terms of doing His will and His work? And do they excite us and satisfy us so that we’re not even worried about other things?

In the famous passage in Matthew 6, Jesus says ‘Is not life more than food?’…

...But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. Mat 6:33

We are to seek God’s kingdom - the salvation and discipleship of souls, and His righteousness – His Will and His Work, and be fed by His Word, then we will not be as worried about our wants of nature as much because we will be satisfied from above.

And in case you were wondering, with a few more desperate prayers and remembering these three things, I did make it (definitely only with God’s help!) to the end on my day of fasting!!

If you are not a Christian, you will never be truly satisfied. But if you believe in Jesus Christ, and give your life to Him, confessing your sin and asking for His forgiveness, then you will find more true satisfaction than you have ever before experienced.

Links to Look At

2013-03-09T08:00:00.000Z

As I am a bit devoid of inspiration right now, I decided to browse through my Google Reader and find some! Here are some recent blog posts that I really like:

This is what forgiveness looks like - a true and moving story about a family who forgave over something that would be extremely difficult.

5 ways to find joy in a job you don't love - in these economic times I often find myself encouraging people not to worry if it's not the perfect job - we just need to be glad we have one! This post goes a step further and helps you find joy in the job that is less than perfect.

10 tips for tipping if you're a Christian - my husband has mentioned to me several times that it is a bad witness when Christians don't tip well at restaurants, or don't tip at all. Here are some good thoughts on it!

Do you struggle with a gentle and quiet spirit? - a gentle and quiet spirit has been on my daily prayer list for years, because it doesn't come naturally! It's always good to be reminded about this :)

3 Good Things From Bad Times

2013-03-05T21:49:00.000Z

On Sunday I led the children at church in a few songs, and one of them was a very old favourite of mine which I’d taught my kids, and since they liked it I thought I’d risk it at church too! ‘Joy is the Flag Flown High’. Basically it says that if we have the King (Christ) living in our heart then we will have the flag of joy raised and flying.

But it always makes me think – how true is that of Christians in general? Are we really characterized by joy as we should be?

I was just reading James, and it was brought to my notice that trials give us a great opportunity to practice and grow in three major areas – joy, faith and patience.

‘My Brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.’ James 1:2,3

How Can We Count it all Joy?

We are supposed to ‘count it all joy’- every trial that we fall into. Obviously that’s not our natural instinct, as we more usually complain, moan, cry, and spend all our time and energy trying to figure out how to get out of it!

We have lots of opportunities to practice this very difficult thing – joy in the midst of hard circumstances. But the good news is that we will get better at it, and if we can work out how to be joyous in the middle of bad times, then it will be a lot easier to be filled with joy at other times too!

Here are some thoughts on how we can start to practice joy in trials:

Be thankful for what we do have, as that will lead to a whole different mindset, as you can see if you read Ann Voskamp’s story in One Thousand Gifts.
Remember who God is and that He is still faithful, never changes, and therefore still loves us and cares for us, and will work out everything for our good.
Look at them as an opportunity to grow more like Christ.
Look at them as ways of glorifying God.
Remember that through them we will be more well equipped to minister to others with the comfort we have received.

How Do We Stand Firm in Our Faith?

Our faith is tested when we go through trials. But we need to stand firm on the foundation that we know:

Remember God does not change and He is faithful, He always stays the same – loving, merciful, gracious, and He is in control
Remember Jesus Christ who went before us, suffering even to death. When we suffer and look to Him, we are come closer to knowing the ‘fellowship of His suffering, being conformed to His death’
God’s Word is truth and we need to cling to it, study it, quote it and stand by it. When everything else is unstable and uncertain, we know that the Bible is the truth and it is also the sword of the Spirit, so we can use it to fight the Devil and his temptations.
Don't lose hope – that God will work things out for our good, that He will provide a way of escape so that we can stand up under it, and that one day we will reach heaven where there will be no more of this horrible stuff!

How Do We Grow In Patience?

This passage says that when our faith is tested it will produce patience. How does it do that?

Well probably more than anything I think it is from learning to persevere and endure through these hard times. And from the combination of the first two as well – from learning to rejoice in our trials and stand firm in our faith through them.

I remember laughing when I first put my own name instead of love in the love passage ‘love is patient, love is kind’ etc. because it made me realise I have so much to work on. Now I still have a lot to work on, but I know I have grown in those areas – and it’s through trials more than anything else.

After all how would we learn to be patient in perfect circumstances? We wouldn't because there would be no need to practice it or pray for it! Since having kids I have had to pray for patience almost daily!!

So there is the encouragement, that even though it is very difficult to count it all joy in trials, and to stand firm in our faith, yet when we do it produces patience, and as James goes on to say:

‘Let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing.’

Linking up to Solo Deo Gloria Party

Could We Live Like God's Grace is Stronger?

2013-03-02T08:00:00.000Z

I recently wrote a post about how our lives might change if we understood how God loves us. I want to follow on from that with another one - if we realised how gracious and merciful God is, how might that change us?

One day, years ago I was feeling discouraged that I would just keep going back to the same old sins and it seemed so hard to change! Isn't that always the case?!! And what did God think about it? I felt guilty, and found it hard to imagine that God would want me to come to Him yet again and say sorry.

But then as I read my Bible I spotted this wonderful verse:

For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again,

But the wicked shall fall by calamity.

Proverbs 24:16

I realised that we do fall, just like everyone, and God knows that. But the difference between us and non-Christians, is that we keep getting up, no matter how many times we fall. And that's OK! In fact, it's what God wants us to do!

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9

We just need to rise again by confessing our sins to God and asking for forgiveness and He will cleanse us - a clean slate again. We don't need to make ourselves feel guilty and depressed for the next week to atone for it.

And we don't need to avoid praying to God because we're embarrassed at sinning again. Why not? Because He is gracious, more than we could ever understand:

And the Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth, Exodus 34:6

Just as an example - look at how Christ treated those who had sinned. Christ is our living model of what God is like.

He has so much compassion and forgiveness. To the woman who had committed adultery He made all her accusers go away, and then just said 'Go, sin no more'.

To the thief on the cross who asked for forgiveness He said 'Today you will be with me in paradise'. To Peter who had denied Him three times, He said, 'Feed my sheep'. In the same way God has mercy on us.

Since I love songs, and linking to them, here is the one that was the theme song for our women's retreat recently: 'We Could Change The World' by Matt Redman. The words are so great for helping us realise that our lives would change if we understood how great God is!

Could we live like Your grace is stronger than all our faults and failings?

On Advertising and Proverbs 31

2013-02-28T10:00:00.000Z

If you have visited my blog before you will probably notice the adverts that are now on the right! So I thought I had better explain how they got there :)

It has never been the purpose of this blog to make money. I want my purpose in everything, as defined by the title, to be to please God, and within that to have a hobby that is relaxing but also can hopefully minister to some people.

Why put adverts on?

So why have I put adverts on? Well the amazing lady pictured in Proverbs 31 who is so hard to be like kept coming up in my head!

This is one of the many good things that it says she does, when it holds her up to be a virtuous woman:

She considers a field and buys it; From her profits she plants a vineyard.
Proverbs 31:16

Even though she was doing hosts of other things at home, making clothes and food for her family and working with her hands, she still found time to make some income to help her family. Paul in the Bible was a missionary but also supported himself by tentmaking.

So I don't think it is a bad thing to earn some money on the side, so long as our priorities are straight and we view it all as God's money and are stewards of it with that in mind.

I don't really have the time right now to earn money any other way since I am busy with homeschooling and three young children, but just adding some adverts to the blog that I already have is not very time consuming!

Also when I started this blog it was with the long term goal of making a website that would be a reference for different articles. Any income I do manage to make would help toward funding that, since websites cost money!

Content of the adverts

I have always been put off advertising before by the thought that I would have no control over what was on my blog, which I want to be a place where God is glorified.

So what I have decided to do is to advertise only what I agree with and would recommend. We order from both Christian Book Distributors and Answers in Genesis so I am very happy to put them up there!

My non-US readers may wonder why I have US links, but the explanation for that is simple: I have 10 times the readers of any other country coming from the USA! And also even though we live in the UK we order from Christian Book Distributors - their shipping rate is very good!

I may at some point add a resource page with recommended resources from different places, but please rest assured that I will only link to what I recommend.

God Cares for The Robins...

2013-02-25T06:00:00.000Z

I know it's not a robin, but I think the robin was camera shy!

Yesterday I saw something that reminded me of a video I wanted to watch with my husband. I had to go out to the shed to get it, so I went outside and heard a fluttering of wings. There was a little robin trapped in our stack of outdoor chairs, under the plastic cover.

I think it must have got in on ground level where there was a gap, and then flown upward but couldn't find it's way out afterwards, so it just kept fluttering up trying to escape.

I spent about 5 minutes trying to undo the cover with alarming the bird too much and finally got it free. It stood on the ground and gave a few little chirps and then flew off, like it was saying thank you!

As I was walking to the shed I was thinking about how I don't go out there very often, especially since it's so muddy and cold outside right now. I very easily could not have gone outside today if it wasn't for the thing that I saw that reminded me about the video that was in the shed...

And I thought, I bet God reminded me today so I could go out there and rescue that poor robin which would have been stuck a lot longer and quite possibly died if I hadn't gone out then. I know that God does care about the birds, because of this wonderful verse:

Are not two sparrows sold for a copper coin? And not one of them falls to the ground apart from your Father’s will. Matthew 6:29

And this reminded me again of how easily we forget that God cares for us - he cares for the birds and not even one falls to the ground without Him allowing it, so how much more does He then care for us:

But the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Do not fear therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. Matthew 6:30,31

So what does it mean for us - if God cares for us? Well it means we don't need to be afraid, and it means that when we have worries we should take them to Him, because He will take care of them for us!

Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

My favourite hymn about this is 'What a Friend We Have in Jesus', it really encourages us to take everything to God in prayer:

What a friend we have in Jesus,

all our sins and griefs to bear!

What a privilege to carry

everything to God in prayer!

O what peace we often forfeit,

O what needless pain we bear,

all because we do not carry

everything to God in prayer.

Have we trials and temptations?

Is there trouble anywhere?

We should never be discouraged;

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Can we find a friend so faithful

who will all our sorrows share?

Jesus knows our every weakness;

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Are we weak and heavy laden,

cumbered with a load of care?

Precious Savior, still our refuge;

take it to the Lord in prayer.

Do thy friends despise, forsake thee?

Take it to the Lord in prayer!

In his arms he'll take and shield thee;

thou wilt find a solace there.

by Joseph Scriven

Linking up to Solo Deo Gloria Party

If We Understood How God Loves Us...

2013-02-21T07:00:00.000Z

I used to get a little disinterested when people would talk about the attributes or characteristics of God, because well... I knew what they were, and how would talking about them help me anymore?!

But now I feel completely differently! Now that I have been in ministry for a number of years in various contexts like counselling, leading discussions and also just listening to other people talking, I have realised how vital our understanding of God is!

Basically our life as a Christian is connected very closely to our view of God. If we understand who He is we will be able to live as He intended us to. But if we misunderstand Him then that will affect a lot of what we do.

So many people when they are down will say "Nobody loves me, nobody cares". And it is easy to think that kind of thing - but even if it was true of people (which it probably isn't!) it wouldn't matter, because God loves us!

The King of the Universe loves us, so much that He takes care of the tiny details of our lives, such as our food that we need every day. He listens to what we ask of Him.

In fact the Bible even says that 'God is love' (1 John 4:8) it is so much a part of Him. And He loves us with an everlasting love:

The Lord has appeared of old to me, saying: “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; Therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you." Jeremiah 31:3

God even loved us while we were still sinners - He sent His Son to die for us because He loved us.

So how should this affect our lives if we understand His love?

We can get over lonely feelings by knowing that He loves us and cares for us
We can trust that He wants the best for us, because He loves us, and therefore be able to surrender our lives to Him knowing that He will take good care of us
We shouldn't be worried about confessing our sin to Him because He loves us like a Father and He wants us to come to Him so He can have us close to Him again
We should be filled with love for Him because He first loved us!
We should be more willing to talk to Him as a friend
We should end up praying more because we know that He wants to bless us, so He wants us to ask for things in prayer

Here is a beautiful hymn called 'Loved with Everlasting Love'. I couldn't find one online that was the melody and speed that I like so I have recorded my own version!

Can you think of any more ways that knowing God's love for us should affect our lives? Please share them if you can, as I have probably only touched the tip of it!

Linking up to Winsome Wednesdays, Thriving Thursdays, Proverbs 31 Thursdays, Thought Provoking Thursdays and Faith Filled Fridays.

Appreciating The Fruit of The Spirit

2013-02-06T15:30:00.000Z

I am happy to welcome Chris Jefferies from 'Journeys of Heart and Mind' to my blog today, to do a guest post. He has written on the opposites of the fruit of the Spirit, with the intention of highlighting in a deeper way what they are really like. He also blogs from the UK, which is an encouragement to me as I haven't seen that many Christian blogs here!

Some time ago I wrote a post about the beatitudes with the idea that considering their opposites might be very instructive. It was an interesting and useful exercise!

I think perhaps it would be equally interesting to do the same with the fruit of the Spirit. This fruit is beautifully listed by Paul in his letter to the Galatians, and he adds that there is no law against things such as these. It's one of my all-time favourite passages.

'The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such there is no law.' (Galatians 5:22-23)

Why consider the opposites of these excellent things? That's quite simple. If you have a glorious diamond, setting it against the blackest velvet you can find will show it at its best. The detail is clarified and the brilliance intensified. Consider this as you read on. The descriptions of the opposites will help you appreciate the fruit of the Spirit even more deeply.

Also bear in mind that the opposites of the fruit of the Spirit are the fruit of an altogether different spirit. It may be the fruit of human nature, of the spirit of this world, or of the spirit of the enemy himself.

However you view the opposites, this is bad fruit. Remember that Jesus said that we would know people by their fruit because a bad plant cannot bear good fruit or vice versa (Matthew 7:15-20). He was speaking of false prophets, but the rule can be applied to anyone.

The bad fruit - So then, here is the bad fruit. Let's examine its properties one by one and see what we can learn from it.

Hatred - Clearly this is the opposite of love. Hatred in our hearts is a source of destruction and death. Doesn't John write that it's equivalent to murdering someone? (1 John 3:15) Just think how it causes a person's heart to shrivel up and become unfeeling, unseeing and unhearing towards the pain and woe of others. Hatred is a root of antagonism, war, and of course murder. Be full of love.

Gloom - We all know people with a gloomy outlook on life. To them everything seems dark and unlovely. They don't smile or laugh, they are not fun to be around, they are always heavy-hearted. How will a gloomy person ever share the good news with the lost? They don't even seem to comprehend good news! Gloom is the very opposite of joy, always downhearted and frowning. Be full of joy.

Turmoil, trouble, distress and doubt - There's no single English word for the opposite of peace. The middle eastern idea encompasses peace, quietness and rest. Jesus came to bring peace for us, He is the Prince of Peace. We have no hope of standing in the Father's presence, seeing His glory or being part of His kingdom without first receiving peace through the Son. Be full of peace.

Impatience - Impatience is a subtle fruit of the human spirit. We think it does little harm and may even be a good thing. Isn't it good to 'get things done'? Yes it is, but not if we steamroller one another in the process. Impatience causes accidents and shows a lack of politeness and the absence of a truly caring heart. Love is never impatient (1 Corinthians 13:4). Be full of patience.

Unkindness - Doing what you would not want done to yourself, that is unkindness. It makes people so unhappy. Kindness costs little or nothing so unkindness cannot even be justified as saving time or money. It comes from a hard heart, a heart of stone. Unkindness simply can't be bothered to help, or worse it takes pleasure in disappointing. But see how Jesus values kindness! He notices if we so much as give a thirsty person a little water (Matthew 25:34-40). Be full of kindness.

Badness - The opposite of goodness - what more can we say! Be full of goodness.

Infidelity - This is not simple lack of faith, it goes much further than that! It's not the opposite of faith, it's the opposite of faithfulness, of keeping faith. Infidelity is about breaking bonds of allegiance - to a friend, a spouse, a nation, or worst of all to Christ himself. Faithfulness is hanging on, infidelity is letting go. Consider the consequences of letting go and you will more clearly see the real value of holding on. Be full of faithfulness.

Harshness - This is the opposite of gentleness. It's that abrasive way some people have of trampling on others, especially the weak. Be full of gentleness.

Rash indulgence - Self-control holds back, not wanting to be the first in line when something good is being handed out. But rash indulgence pushes to the front in case the good thing runs short. Self-control suggests a mature steadiness in thought and word as well as in action. But a rash person will act first and think afterwards. Be full of self-control.

Summarising - I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me. It's not just that I can do what seems impossible but that everything I do I can choose to do in him.

He is in me and he will help me with every little thing. Then the fruit of the Spirit will flow out through me and the other, bad, worldly fruit will appear ever less.

Christ in us the hope of glory. The same Christ who said, 'Without me you can do... nothing'

Be full of the Spirit. Be full of Christ. 'Look, I'm knocking on the outside of the door. If anyone will open the door I'll come in and eat with them.'

This Day, and That Day

2013-01-29T15:30:00.000Z

I was reading Crazy Love by Francis Chan the other day, since we are going through it in our church's home Bible studies, and I came across this quote from Martin Luther:

“There are two days in my calendar:
This day and that Day.”

I absolutely loved this quote! And I kept thinking of it for days afterwards. It also had a good effect on my work habits!

This Day

We need to think about this day because that is the time God has given us right now to use. So often we put things off and think I'll do that tomorrow, I'll eat healthy tomorrow, I'll tidy the house tomorrow etc!

But when we only think about this day it should have an effect on us - if this was the last day we had on earth how would we spend it? If Jesus was in the room with us and we could see Him, would we be doing anything differently? What's the best way we could spend our time just today, not tomorrow, but today?

I also like it because it rules out the past, and the future. We shouldn't be living in the past, but making the most of the time we have now. And we shouldn't be worrying about the future, because we can spend so much time worrying about the future that we don't use the time we have today!

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble. Matthew 6:34

That Day

'That Day' I take to mean when I stand before Jesus. What a wonderful day that will be! But also I wonder how many regrets I will have? If I stood before Jesus this weekend, would I wish I'd spent my week a bit differently? If I am called to give an account of what I have done with what He's given me, will I be happy with that account?

This is a really good thing for us to think about. It is both comforting and hopeful and exciting, but also should challenge us to live for eternity, with a mind that is set on eternal things that last and not material things that perish.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 2 Peter 3:10-14

A lovely song to end on:

Linking up with Solo Deo Gloria Party

How Do We Know What We Are Called To Do?

2013-01-24T15:19:00.000Z

We all have things that God wants us to do, but how do we know what?

‘For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.’ (Eph 2:10)

There are some callings that we all have as Christians:
To seek God’s glory (1 Cor 10:31)
To seek to become more like Christ (Mat 6:33)
To seek the furtherance of Christ’s kingdom here on earth (Mat 6:33, 28:19)
To disciple others and teach them more about Him (Mat 28:19, 20)
We should aim to be ‘fruitful in every good work’ (Col 1:10)

But there does seem to be a pattern in the Bible of some people being specifically called to certain things, for example when He said to Abram to leave his country and family and to go where He told him. It doesn’t record this of everyone though, so I don’t think everyone should necessarily seek a specific life calling. But I believe there are things that God has set aside for us to do so we should be praying that God would lead us to those things.

An area where I do believe we need to seek a call also, is for full time ministry. When we are in the trenches we want to know that God called us to be there so that we don’t go running home. Also we want to know God will provide our needs because He has called us to do that work.

How do we know what God might be calling us to? - Here are a few thoughts on this, though there may well be more to it than I have mentioned!

...Please follow this link to read more, as I am guest posting on 'Journeys of Heart and Mind' today.

My New Favourite Song & Website

2013-01-12T22:18:00.002Z

I can't resist sharing my new favourite things :)

New Favourite Song: Endless Hallelujah

This is my new favourite song that I have been listening to over the last week. The first time I heard I was captivated by the music and words, and I recognised some of them. Later as I looked it up I found that many of the original words were actually written by my hero Robert Murray M'Cheyne.

You might wonder why he's my hero, but it's because he inspired me so much when I read his biography. Then to my delight I ended up becoming a member of the church that he preached in, of course long after his death, and cycling often to the little village nearby where he used to go to pray, to pray myself.

Anyway here is the song, and the words are below it. Some of my favourite lines are 'When I stand before Your throne' - that immediately gives me hope and joy - and 'no more tears or broken dreams' - everything will be perfect one day! I don't know if I agree with 'forgotten is the minor key' though, because I love minor keys, but I think they mean the sadness is forgotten :)

When I stand before Your throne

Dressed in glory not my own

What a joy I'll sing of on that day

No more tears or broken dreams

Forgotten is the minor key

Everything as it was meant to be

And we will worship, worship

Forever in Your presence we will sing

We will worship, worship You

An endless hallelujah to the King

I will see You as You are

Love You with unsinning heart

And see how much You paid to bring me home

Not till then, Lord, shall I know

Not till then, how much I owe

Everything I am before Your throne

No more tears, no more shame

No more sin and sorrow ever known again

No more fears, no more pain

We will see You face to face

See You face to face

New Favourite Website: Scripture Typer

I was reading one of Ann Voskamp's posts the other day and came to the end where she was describing her new 'Romans Project' of memorisation. So I followed the link and found a great website for scripture memory.

You can enter any Bible references you want, in any version, and it will automatically import them for you. You then have the option to 'type', 'memorise' or 'master' them.

Typing them helps you to memorise as you are going over it in your head each time. Memorising them means that they take some of the words out and you have to try to type it without them. Mastering means it is completely blank and you have to type it all from memory!

What I love about it is not only that it has these options, but that it keeps track of how many times you have reviewed them and when you need to review them next, and also gives you the option of only typing the first letter of each word which is great for if you are memorising a chapter and it would take you ages to type every word in!

I joined in Ann's Romans Project which is to memorise Romans 1, 8 and 12 by the end of the year, although I'm not giving myself a deadline since I have other memorising going on.

But I would also like to invite you to join a project that I put on there. For a while now our church has been giving out what we consider the top 45 Bible verses which we consider will help you to minister to others in a pack of little cards called 'Ministry Training'

I have added all of those to a new collection of the website called Ministry Training, and would love it if you could join in! The great thing about this website is that there is no time pressure, you can do it all in your own time, so if you memorise one verse a year it's fine! You can just click on the link below and then join the site and then the group if you are interested, it's all free.

United Kingdom, TX

Ministry Training

Join our Group online

ScriptureTyper.com

I also want to recommend their 'Top 100' collection that is on the website as they all look like really good scriptures to memorise too.

Linking up to Spiritual Sundays

Thoughts on New Year's Resolutions

2013-01-04T21:35:00.002Z

Well I’m sorry I haven’t written for a while! I think it’s been a combination of being busy with family and friends and being tired and therefore lacking creativity.

But it did start me thinking when someone asked me if I had made any New Year’s Resolutions. I heard myself saying, “No, I never make any.” And like sometimes happens, startled myself!

I had never really thought about it like that before, and have never consciously decided not to make New Year’s Resolutions, but when asked I realised that I didn’t and started to think about why.

I think resolutions to do better are great things. I also think that New Year is a great time to evaluate yourself and make resolutions. But basically the reason I don’t is quite simple – I make them all year long!!!

I don’t condemn anyone who makes New Year’s resolutions, but I personally think it is something we should be doing all year round as well. We need to constantly remind ourselves of our goals, re-evaluate our use of time, and figure out how to live the best we can live.

I often remind myself of this verse:

‘See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise,

redeeming the time because the days are evil’

Eph 5:15,16

I frequently evaluate and make new resolutions because life is always changing, and I am always changing. It is very easy to slip out of the fast track into the easy ramble! Just as a friend recently commented: loads of people turn up at the gym in January, but it’s back to normal attendance by mid-February.

Here’s what I think we need to constantly evaluate during the year:

What God has called us to do
Our goals and priorities
Our use of time

These three things follow on from each other. We need to know what God is wanting us to do with our life, then from that we can figure out goals for the different areas of our life. We can look at which things are most important at this season of our life, and then try to schedule our use of time appropriately to make the best use of it we possibly can.

I got a lovely game called 'Settlers of Catan' for Christmas, and have played it a few times over the holidays. It is resource based, so when the dice roll and a number turns up that one of your houses is built on, then you get the resources for that number, whether it's wool, grain, ore, brick or wood.

It struck me that life is a bit like that, apart from we have different resources, and the key ones we have are probably time, money and ourselves. We need to use them well so that we are good stewards of them for the glory of God.

The times that I evaluate these things are usually when I change my schedule or when I’m trying to work out if I should take on something extra or drop something.

Incidentally, this doesn't mean that we should always be ticking things off on a to do list. Taking time to have fun with the kids is something that I believe is really important, since loving our children is one of the things we are called to do as parents. Also exercise is important, since it helps us to do all the other things on our list better!

But I do want to evaluate my life from an eternal perspective, what matters for eternity. I know that Jesus could return anytime, or take me to heaven. And when that happens I want as few regrets as possible as to how I have spent my time!

Linking up to Spiritual Sundays and Faith Filled Fridays