After
having lunch with my husband the other day, a very special treat in
itself, I headed back to work under a clear blue sky with the sun
shining on a beautiful autumn day. I had a very conscious thought
that I am very happy with my life. I sighed contentedly and thanked
God for blessings totally undeserved. I was suddenly overwhelmed
with how good God is to me always. Psalm 16:6 came to mind. The
psalmist says, “The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant
places; surely I have a delightful inheritance.” In the verses
preceding, David pledged his loyalty to the Lord, denouncing idolatry
and those who run after and sacrifice to other gods. Charles
Spurgeon said that “David believed in an overruling destiny which
fixed the bounds of his abode, and his possessions; he was satisfied
with all the appointment of the predestinating God.” David was
rejoicing as I did in the largeness of God's goodness to him.
However, as I looked at this passage more closely and read verse 5,
which says, “The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup...”, I
surmised that David's joy was more in the Giver God than in the gifts
given. Yes, my life is so very good, and its boundary lines have
fallen for me in pleasant places, but my contentment is and always
will be in God my Father, my Savior, my Holy Spirit. Be encouraged
and contented today in Holy God.
Ponderings
Monday, October 20, 2014
Tuesday, October 14, 2014
Joy
I
have been thinking about joy a great deal lately, especially as I am
studying Philippians once again. Paul's writings are filled with the
theme of joy and rejoicing. He is writing this letter as he is under
house arrest, chained to a Roman soldier day and night. Yet he
begins by telling the Philippians that he is thankful for them and
makes every prayer for them with joy. The very fact that he is
thinking of others over himself is amazing, but even more astounding
is that he is doing so with joy. A few verses down he tells them, "I
will rejoice." Why? Because no matter what is going on with
him and around him, Christ is being proclaimed. His joy comes from
his attitude "to live is Christ and to die is gain." He
begins chapter three with the admonition to rejoice in the Lord
before he gives them some strong warnings about false teachings that
might rob them of their joy. He picks up the theme of joy again in
chapter four, saying once again, "Rejoice in the Lord always;
again I say, Rejoice." As Paul ends this letter to the
Philippians, we are shown where he finds this joy. It comes from his
focus on the Lord. "I rejoiced in the Lord greatly..." He
has joy because he is content with his lot in life. "I have
learned in whatever situation I am to be content." He has joy
because he is totally dependent on Christ. "I can do all things
through Him who strengthens me." Again, he has joy because he
looks to God alone. "To our God and Father be glory forever and
ever." Be encouraged today in the joy of the Lord, and may "the
grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit."
Monday, April 9, 2012
Overwhelming Blessing
God's blessings are constant; as constant as the air we breathe. As constant as the dawning of each new day for His mercies are new every morning. As constant as the changing of the seasons. As constant as His faithfulness to forgive our sins when we confess them. My thankfulness is not as constant. I often drift into a taking for granted mode.
Sometimes God overwhelms us with blessing. I have just experienced one of those overwhelming blessing times. Last Wednesday, our ninth grandchild was born. What a huge blessing and how very grateful we are for her. This was a high risk pregnancy for our daughter-in-law so we had covered these last nine months with extra prayer, and were so very thankful to have our granddaughter so healthy and normal at birth and our daughter -in-law so healthy. However, we were overwhelmed with gratefulness for the safe but abnormal delivery of the baby. Things happened so quickly there was no time to get to the hospital, so our son delivered her at home with the help of a 911 operator. Overwhelming blessing!
Our daughter and son-in-law, who have been in an adoption process and waiting for a baby, received a call Saturday night from their agency in Mississippi that they had a newborn baby girl. So, Laurie, Dax, and children came to our house from Florida last night on their way to Mississippi today to meet and bring home their daughter. We will get to meet grandchild number 10 later this week. Overwhelming blessing!
All of this, along with the season of Easter, has me evaluating and meditating and being immensely humbled. I deserve nothing my God chooses to give me, not the air I breathe, not one more new day's dawning, not His faithfulness, and certainly not the forgiveness of my sin. Yet He chose me before the foundation of the world to be His child and joint heir with His only begotten Son, to be the recipient of the imputed righteousness of this Son through his death and resurrection, and to have the promise of eternal life with Him. Overwhelming blessing!
Sometimes God overwhelms us with blessing. I have just experienced one of those overwhelming blessing times. Last Wednesday, our ninth grandchild was born. What a huge blessing and how very grateful we are for her. This was a high risk pregnancy for our daughter-in-law so we had covered these last nine months with extra prayer, and were so very thankful to have our granddaughter so healthy and normal at birth and our daughter -in-law so healthy. However, we were overwhelmed with gratefulness for the safe but abnormal delivery of the baby. Things happened so quickly there was no time to get to the hospital, so our son delivered her at home with the help of a 911 operator. Overwhelming blessing!
Our daughter and son-in-law, who have been in an adoption process and waiting for a baby, received a call Saturday night from their agency in Mississippi that they had a newborn baby girl. So, Laurie, Dax, and children came to our house from Florida last night on their way to Mississippi today to meet and bring home their daughter. We will get to meet grandchild number 10 later this week. Overwhelming blessing!
All of this, along with the season of Easter, has me evaluating and meditating and being immensely humbled. I deserve nothing my God chooses to give me, not the air I breathe, not one more new day's dawning, not His faithfulness, and certainly not the forgiveness of my sin. Yet He chose me before the foundation of the world to be His child and joint heir with His only begotten Son, to be the recipient of the imputed righteousness of this Son through his death and resurrection, and to have the promise of eternal life with Him. Overwhelming blessing!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Meditating on the Cross
It is the week before Easter. I have been reading Jesus, Keep Me Near the Cross, a wonderful little book edited by Nancy Guthrie and containing parts of sermons and works of 25 classic theologians and contemporary communicators. These meditations focus on the sacrifice Christ made on the cross. I have been overwhelmed in my reading, once again, knowing the sacrifice my Savior made for me on the cross
One of the most meaningful works to me was, "He set His Face to Go to Jerusalem" by John Piper. Luke 9:51 tells us, "When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem." This is Luke's theme for the next 10 chapters. In chapter 19 we read of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and the multitude that greeted him, saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" (Luke 19:37-38) They all thought they had their Messiah but their understanding of what this meant certainly missed the mark at this time. Piper says, "...if Jesus had taken his throne on that first day of palms, none of us would ever be robed in white or waving palms of praise in the age to come. There had to be the cross, and that is what the disciples had not yet understood."
He goes on to say that "the misunderstanding of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem results in a misunderstanding of the meaning of discipleship. This is why it is important for us to see, lest we make the same mistake." We know that when Jesus "set his face to go to Jerusalem", it had a very different meaning for him than it did for his disciples. They had great expectations of what it would mean for Jesus to reign on an earthly throne. For Jesus, the destination of Jerusalem meant certain death.
Piper says, "the surprise about Jesus the Messiah is that he came to live a life of sacrificial, dying service before he comes a second time to reign in glory. And the surprise about discipleship is that it demands a life of sacrificial, dying service before we can reign with Christ in glory... When Jesus set his face to walk the Calvary road, he was not merely taking our place; he was setting our pattern. He is substitute and pace setter."
One of the most meaningful works to me was, "He set His Face to Go to Jerusalem" by John Piper. Luke 9:51 tells us, "When the days drew near for him to be taken up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem." This is Luke's theme for the next 10 chapters. In chapter 19 we read of Jesus' entry into Jerusalem and the multitude that greeted him, saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!" (Luke 19:37-38) They all thought they had their Messiah but their understanding of what this meant certainly missed the mark at this time. Piper says, "...if Jesus had taken his throne on that first day of palms, none of us would ever be robed in white or waving palms of praise in the age to come. There had to be the cross, and that is what the disciples had not yet understood."
He goes on to say that "the misunderstanding of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem results in a misunderstanding of the meaning of discipleship. This is why it is important for us to see, lest we make the same mistake." We know that when Jesus "set his face to go to Jerusalem", it had a very different meaning for him than it did for his disciples. They had great expectations of what it would mean for Jesus to reign on an earthly throne. For Jesus, the destination of Jerusalem meant certain death.
Piper says, "the surprise about Jesus the Messiah is that he came to live a life of sacrificial, dying service before he comes a second time to reign in glory. And the surprise about discipleship is that it demands a life of sacrificial, dying service before we can reign with Christ in glory... When Jesus set his face to walk the Calvary road, he was not merely taking our place; he was setting our pattern. He is substitute and pace setter."
Sunday, March 25, 2012
A Case for Contentment
Since being diagnosed with breast cancer last September, undergoing surgery,
then radiation treatments, I have had a good bit of time to meditate and
contemplate. I have spent much of this time meditating on contentment.
God has impressed on my heart the need to be content and has given me the
desire to be content. However, contentment is not a state that just
happens. As we learn from the apostle Paul, it is a heart attitude that
is learned.
In Philippians 4:10-13, Paul states, "I rejoiced in the Lord greatly
that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed
concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. Not that I am speaking of being
in need, for I have learned whatever situation I am to be content. I know
how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every
circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance
and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me." Paul was
thanking the Philippians for their support but he wanted them to know that he
had learned to be content. How did Paul learn to be content? It was
under the most difficult circumstances: being ship wrecked, being imprisoned,
being beaten, wanting to go to Spain
to spread the gospel and not being able to. We learn contentment or
discontentment from life lessons.
The children of Israel
chose to be discontented in their difficult circumstances. Remember how
they looked back to Egypt
and grumbled and complained about not having what they wanted to eat or not
having water or about Moses' leadership or about being afraid to follow the
Lord's leading? They were discontented because they did not trust God and His
sovereign plan for their lives. They were discontented because they were
ungrateful for the provisions God had given them. They were also discontented
because they were disobedient. They broke God's laws again and again, which
caused them to be out of fellowship with Him.
Paul said, "I have learned the secret of facing hunger, abundance and
need." That secret was trusting God so absolutely that he was able
to say, "I can all things through Him who strengthens me."
Contentment brings joy, and Nehemiah tells us, "… for the joy of the Lord
is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10b) Psalm 28:7 tells us that a
thankful heart exults. "The Lord is my strength and my shield; in
Him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song, I give
thanks to him." The third verse of the wonderful hymn, “He Leadeth Me, O
Blessed Thought”, says, “Lord, I would clasp Thy hand in mine, nor ever murmur
nor repine, content, whatever lot I see, since ‘tis Thy hand that leadeth me.”
I am convinced that a lack of trust in God's sovereign plan for our lives,
an ungrateful heart, and a disobedient spirit keep us from being content.
So, I challenge us today to trust God completely in all the circumstances of
our lives, give thanks always and for everything, act in obedience to His word,
and learn to be content.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Abiding in God's Word
I become more and more convinced of the
importance of hiding God's word in our hearts. This was brought to
mind again yesterday as I was teaching of Jesus'
temptation by Satan from Luke 4. Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness
to come face to face with Satan. Three times Jesus comes against
Satan's temptations with quotes from the Old Testament. This gives
us an example directly from our Savior, who was tempted in every way
as we are, yet without sin, how we are to come against the
temptations we face. Ephesians 6:11 tells us. “Put on the whole
armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of
the devil.” A very important piece of that armor is “the sword
of the Spirit, which is the word of God.”
Another reason for being
in God's word and knowing it is to be able to come against the lies
of Satan, discouragement, and despair with the truths of the word.1
Corinthians 10:5 says, “We destroy arguments and every lofty
opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought
captive to obey Christ...” The Holy Spirit uses God's word to
convict us of sin and bring us to repentance. Hebrew 4:12 says, “For
the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and
of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”
God's word gives us guidance. “Your word is a lamp to my feet and
a light to my path,” Psalm 119:105. We go to God's word daily for
comfort, assurance, peace, and strength.
Finally, I love the
admonition and promise in Joshua 1:8, “This book of the Law shall
not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and
night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is
written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then
you will have good success.” Spend time in God's word this week.
Monday, March 5, 2012
Grumbling and Complaining
I am always amazed when reading Exodus at how quickly the Israelites lost their joy at being a freed people and turned from thanksgiving and rejoicing to grumbling and complaining. Exodus 16:1-2 tells us “They set out...on the fifteenth day of the second month after they had departed from the land of Egypt. And the whole congregation of the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness...” Just six weeks after God had miraculously parted the waters of the Red Sea, killed the Egyptians pursuing them, and freed them from slavery, they are grumbling and complaining. True, they are hungry, but rather than praise God for His mercies in the past and ask Him to please provide for them now, they go into drama mode saying it would have been better to have died in Egypt by the meat pots and with stomachs full of bread than to die in the wilderness of hunger.
Grumbling comes from an ungrateful, untrusting heart. When my children were young and began complaining about this or that, I would challenge them to give me a list of what they were thankful for. Of course, that usually generated more grumbling, but I persisted, making my point with them. Paul admonishes the Philippians in 2:14 to “Do all things without grumbling or questioning...in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world...” In this passage, Paul is telling them to work out their salvation by demonstrating their faith daily, growing spiritually, and therefore showing a sinful world what Jesus Christ looks like. He is cautioning them against being like their forefathers whose spiritual progress was hampered by grumbling and questioning. Christians are to be marked by thanksgiving, not grumbling and questioning. We see the admonishment to be thankful in Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians.
So, this week I challenge us all to take every complaining thought captive, replacing it with rejoicing and thanksgiving. I challenge us to not allow our joy to be stolen or to rob someone else of joy by grumbling. Let’s honor our Lord and be a blessing to others as we “givie thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1Thess 5:18)
Grumbling comes from an ungrateful, untrusting heart. When my children were young and began complaining about this or that, I would challenge them to give me a list of what they were thankful for. Of course, that usually generated more grumbling, but I persisted, making my point with them. Paul admonishes the Philippians in 2:14 to “Do all things without grumbling or questioning...in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world...” In this passage, Paul is telling them to work out their salvation by demonstrating their faith daily, growing spiritually, and therefore showing a sinful world what Jesus Christ looks like. He is cautioning them against being like their forefathers whose spiritual progress was hampered by grumbling and questioning. Christians are to be marked by thanksgiving, not grumbling and questioning. We see the admonishment to be thankful in Colossians, Ephesians, Philippians, 1 Thessalonians.
So, this week I challenge us all to take every complaining thought captive, replacing it with rejoicing and thanksgiving. I challenge us to not allow our joy to be stolen or to rob someone else of joy by grumbling. Let’s honor our Lord and be a blessing to others as we “givie thanks in all circumstances, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” (1Thess 5:18)
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