What Grace Teaches Us

Last evening, we had a wonderfully lively discussion during Bible study here in our home.  We started in Galatians 2, then branched out from there as various people brought up different verses.  One that stood out to me from that discussion--and from an earlier talk around our supper table--was Titus 2:11-12...

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men.  It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age.

Today's manna is here at Life on Sylvan Drive.  I'm so grateful, not only for the physical blessing of our house, but the blessing of the spiritual family God is building us into!

The Morning

Convicting (oh, SO convicting!) quotes from Oswald Chambers that I read on this blog:

* If you have ever prayed in the dawn you will ask yourself why you were so foolish as not to do it always:  it is difficult to get into communion with God in the midst of the hurly-burly of the day.


* It is by no haphazard chance that in every age men have risen early to pray.  The first thing that marks decline in spiritual life is our relationship to the early morning.


* Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything.  Unless in the first waking moment of the day you learn to fling the door wide back and let God in, you will work on a wrong level all day; but swing the door wide open and pray to your Father in secret, and every public thing will be stamped with the presence of God.

In the morning, O Lord, you hear my voice;
in the morning I lay my requests before you 
and wait in expectation.
~ Psalm 5:3

Sanctuary

I really (really, REALLY) like Psalm 63, and today I posted on my other blog about my manna which was one of the wonderful verses from that psalm.

I have "seen" Jesus.

I long to see Him more and more.

Thoughts about Children

From Stepping Heavenward by Elizabeth Prentiss, some thoughts about children...

Katy remarks about the ease of life without an infant to care for:
...we have had a delightful summer, not one sick day nor one sick night.  With no baby to keep me awake, I sleep straight through, as Raymond says, and wake in the morning refreshed and cheerful.

Mrs. Brown, Katy's hostess in the countryside, tells of a conversation about children that she had with her husband:
"Well," says I, "supposing you had a pack of 'em, what have you got to give 'em?"  "Jest exactly what my father and mother gave me," says he; "two hands to earn their bread with and a welcome you could have heard from Dan to Beersheba."  [I LOVE that last line:  "a welcome you could have heard from Dan to Beersheba."  That's fantastic!]

Katy responds:
"I like to hear that!" I said.  "And I hope many such welcomes will resound in this house.  Suppose money does come in while little goes out; suppose you get possession of the whole farm; what then?  Who will enjoy it with you?  Who will you leave it to when you die?  And in your old age, who will care for you?"
"You seem awful earnest," she [Mrs. Brown] said.
"Yes, I am in earnest.  I want to see little children adorning every home as flowers adorn every meadow and every wayside.  I want to see them welcomed to the homes they enter, to see their parents grow less and less selfish and more and more loving because they have come.  I want to see God's precious gifts accepted, not frowned upon and refused."

Katy writes later:
Home again and full of the thousand cares that follow the summer and precede the winter.  But let mothers and wives fret as they will, they enjoy these labors of love and would feel lost without them.  For what amount of leisure, ease, and comfort would I exchange husband and children and this busy home?


A few months later, she writes this:
It is not always so easy to practice as it is to preach.  I can see in my wisdom forty reasons for having four children and no more.  The comfort of sleeping in peace, of having a little time to read, and to keep on with my music; strength with which to look after Ernest's poor people when they are sick; and, to tell the truth, strength to be bright and fresh and lovable to him--all these little joys have been growing very precious to me, and now I must give them up.  I want to do it cheerfully and without a frown.  But I find I love to have my own way, and that at that very moment I was asking God to appoint my work for me, I was secretly marking it out for myself.  It is mortifying to find my will less in harmony with His than I thought it was and that I want to prescribe to Him how I shall spend the time, and the health, and the strength that are His, not mine.  But I will not rest till this struggle is over, till I can say with a smile, "Not my will!  Not my will!  But Thine!"


The next summer, Katy and her family return to the countryside and stay with the Browns:
We got there this afternoon, bag and baggage.  I had not said a word to Mrs. Brown about the addition to our family circle, knowing she had plenty of room; and as we alighted from the carriage, I snatched my baby from his nurse's arms and ran gaily up the walk with him in mine.  "If this splendid fellow doesn't convert her, nothing will," I said to myself.  At that instant, what should I see but Mrs. Brown, running to meet me with a boy in her arms exactly like Mr. Brown, only not quite six feet long and not yet sunburnt.
"There!" I cried, holding up my little old man.
"There!" she said, holding up hers.
We laughed till we cried; she took my baby and I took hers; after looking at him, I liked mine better than ever; after looking at mine, she was perfectly satisfied with hers.
[This exchange reminds me of the joy I had last summer when not only were we blessed with a beautiful baby boy, but so were our next-door neighbors.  It was delightful to be pregnant at the same time as Wilma, and it's wonderful to now see two yearling boys around:  her Jason and my Shav.]

Sons are a heritage from the Lord,
children a reward from him.


Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.


Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
~ Psalm 127:3-5

In God Alone

Today in a sermon on Colossians, I heard a reference to Psalm 62:8, "...pour out your hearts to him."  So, being curious, I turned to Psalms and read all of Psalm 62.  I was immediately gripped by the very first line, "My soul finds rest in God alone;" and although the rest of the psalm is very meaningful, too, I kept coming back to the first verse.  It seems wonderfully fitting for this year of my life.  As we have journeyed from church to church, searching for a congregation in which to settle down and put down roots, striving to hear God's voice clearly as He directs us, but not yet feeling peace about where we are to be, this truth has come alive to me:  My soul finds rest in God alone.  He has proven Himself more than capable of feeding me in the desert; but I, being human, long for more. I long for the human connection of knowing where I belong, of being able to say, "This is my church."  Is this why He's kept us wandering in the wilderness?  Does He long for me to learn this truth more and more?

My soul finds rest in God alone.

Jerusalem

I've been missing Israel recently, especially Jerusalem.  Psalm 137 comes to mind often:

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion...


How can we sing the songs of the Lord
while in a foreign land?


If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill.


May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy...

A New Look at an Old Verse

While blog-surfing tonight, I came across a mention of this verse from Psalms:

Teach me to do your will,

for you are my God;

may your good Spirit

lead me on level ground.

~ Psalm 143:10

I can't even remember where I saw it, or I would certainly give credit; but the part that stood out to me is that this woman was asking God to lead her by His Spirit through the ups and downs of life, through hormonal changes (pregnancy and postpartum hormonal changes are hugely significant in my experience), through whatever mood swings came her way. She wanted to be on level ground.

I do, too. It's not that I don't want to ever feel times of intense joy or even times of pain--I know they are all part of the beautiful tapestry of life--but I do want to be controlled by the Spirit, and not my moods. Even in the times when I feel like one minute I'm up and the next I'm down, I still want to have the consistency of being directed by God, not by my crazy emotions.

The Death of His Saints

Today my thoughts have returned again and again to the sudden, completely unexpected death of a woman we knew through church. Driving home from Sewing Circle, with her two young grandchildren in the car, she possibly went into cardiac arrest, causing her to lose control of the car and drive into a barn. Although her grandchildren came through relatively unscathed, she did not.

Now she beholds His face and dwells in glory--a wonderful ending to such a tragedy. But oh, the shock and pain that her family must be feeling.

Her death has been such a sobering reminder for me--and for many others--that our days are numbered, the end is coming, and only God knows when it will be. It could be any day.

Precious in the sight of the Lord

is the death of his saints.

~ Psalm 116:15

Unseen Footprints

Psalm 77:19...

Your path led through the sea,

your way through the mighty waters,

though your footprints were not seen.

~ NIV

Thy way is in the sea,

and thy path in the great waters,

and thy footsteps are not known.

~ KJV

As I strive to follow my beloved Master, even in times like these when I don't seem to see where He's leading me, I'm comforted by the fact that even when His footprints are unseen, they're still there.

He's still here.

No Delight on Earth

I think I know of no delight on earth that is higher than that of knowing that you really are with all your heart adoringly serving God.

~ from Spurgeon at His Best

by Tom Carter

Whom have I in heaven but you?

And earth has nothing I desire besides you.

~ Psalm 73:25

Are Good and Do Good

The verse that's been twirling around in my head is Psalm 119:68a.

In the NIV...

You are good, and what you do is good.

In the NKJV...

You are good and do good.

In the NLT...

You are good and do only good.

In The Message...

You are good, and the source of good.

(And the verse continues with this...)

Train me in your goodness.

Yes, Lord, please train me in Your goodness.

All I Want

I've loved this song since the first time I heard it. What a beautiful way to express my heart's cry.

Earth has nothing I desire besides you.

~ Psalm 73:25

For the Glory of God

Living for the glory of God is living to enhance God's reputation on the earth.

~ Jay Adams

from Back to the Blackboard

quoted in Home Educating Family magazine,

2010 Issue 1

Not to us, O Lord, not to us

but to your name be the glory,

because of your love and faithfulness.

~ Psalm 115:1

Wings of a Dove

Today's manna is here. And now, I'm going to have the wings of a dove and fly away from the computer!

There Is Manna in Narnia

In The Magician's Nephew by C. S. Lewis, the lovable, simple but profound Cabby says some wise things. Like when Aslan is creating Narnia (but they don't yet understand anything about Aslan or Narnia), Uncle Andrew is ranting and raving about the perceived injustices that Jadis has done to him; but Digory, Polly, and the Cabby are awestruck by the majesty of what is happening all around them.

"Oh stow it, Guv'nor, do stow it," said the Cabby. "Watchin' and listenin's the thing at present; not talking."

It made me think of these verses:

Be still before the Lord, all mankind, because he has roused himself from his holy dwelling.

~ Zechariah 2:13

But I have stilled and quieted my soul;

like a weaned child with its mother,

like a weaned child is my soul within me.

~ Psalm 131:2

And another quote from the Cabby that made me smile:

"Glory be!" said the Cabby. "I'd ha' been a better man all my life if I'd known there were things like this."

However, as it is written:

"No eye has seen,

no ear has heard,

no mind has conceived

what God has prepared for those who love him."

~ 1 Corinthians 2:9