God In The Day To Day

It’s easy as a newly married couple to get caught up in the business of life and forego taking the time to have purposeful conversations centered around God, where He’s working in your life and in what ways we can pray for one another. I’m so thankful for my husband who remembers this is a priority and initiates this. One thing I’ve discovered is if you don’t work at making the subject of God a regular part of your life and conversation, when you do try to talk about it, it can seem awkward and forced. Just like many areas of life, things take work and practice to become a habit. God intended for His people to encourage one another, pursue accountability and run this race together. What a sweet outlet we have in marriage to practice these things. To build up our spouse and be built up. Thanking God today for His wisdom in giving us people who magnify His love and care for us and praying I can grow in being a great source of encouragement and means of grace to all who know me.

- L

Life Update

Life has been busy, busy, busy since being married on July 11th! After our honeymoon in Jamaica it was back to real life. Kev started his new job as a financial advisor and is LOVING it! What a blessing for him to have a job and one that he likes as well.

Our living situation has been ever evolving. We were in a condo which we found out was under contract as soon as we signed the lease in June. By early September we were told the closing date was set for mid October. The lady who owned that place has since let us move into one of her other condos for almost half the price! The Lord always provides. In the mean time we are trying to be patient as we try to find a house.

In other big news...my brother-in-law Kyle is marrying one of my dear friends and bridesmaids Candace this weekend! November 7th to be exact. This will be the second wedding this year for both his family and hers. I guess when it rains it pours. It will be wonderful to watch God's kindness to this couple manifested in their wedding and marriage to one another.

That's all for now. I'll post updates of the wedding after it happens.

- L

Christ is Message and Messenger

Every word spoken by Jesus must be understood by the life of Jesus. The one cannot be separated from the other. If we attempt to understand what He said without reference to what He did, we do violence to God's revelation of Himself. Here are some examples:

"Give up your right to yourself." Can this mean self-destruction, masochism, obliteration of the personality? See the perfect Son of God, exercising his human will in the fullness of its God-given power, as He offers Himself, pours out his soul unto death. What life streams from that giving up. What strength springs from his weakness.

"The truth shall make you free" (Jn 8:32 AV)--words often wrested away from their context ("lf you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free") and also away from the Man who spoke them. His life, his every act, was perfectly free. It was free because He heard the Word of the Father, did what He saw Him do, and knew Him. His freedom was the result of his obedience. There is no shortcut to our freedom. We must live the life Christ lived--a life of faith, a will offered to the Father, daily obedience. - E.E.

Patience and kindness. Not very powerful words. They don’t exactly strike fear into the heart. And yet, they are powerful weapons in the world today. To use them means to die to self. Think about the greatest victory in history that was overcome. The battle was won with love. Love displayed on a cross. The epitome of selflessness. When we choose to fight this world with God’s weapons, we can never fail. Living for myself is natural. Living for God and others can be a struggle. But with His help all things are possible. The Bible reminds us that showing kindness to the world is like heaping burning coals upon their head. So, today, with God’s help, I hope to show other’s kindness. Even if they don’t deserve it. Isn’t that what Christ did for us?

Weapons of Righteousness
“The means of conquering the world, spiritually speaking, are not weapons of violence or organized power. In fact they are not thought of in the world as "weapons" at all, but as pitifully ineffective for obtaining any kind of victory. They are patience and kindliness, gifts of the Holy Spirit, sincere love, declaring the truth and the power of God. They are weapons which we wield in both hands, right and left (2 Cor 6:6,7).

The object of our conquest not being power, position, property, or personal satisfaction, the weapons required are not such as would be used by men seeking those things. Our Captain had one aim in dying for us--that we should cease to live for ourselves (2 Cor 5:15). This is our aim. Therefore our weapons will seem to those whose aim is worldly (i.e., "natural," and selfish), a strange set to choose.” – E.E.

God Is Our Refuge, Strength And Mighty Fortress

Hmmm, I think the Lord has an agenda in mind concerning what I've been reading lately. Yesterday my Morning and Evening entry was on fear. My Elisabeth Elliot devotional was on fear. Valley of Vision spoke of fear. The scripture I read in Psalms was concerning fear. Is God hinting at something? Yeah, I think so. How kind of God to be so intentional about addressing the state of our hearts. I think one reason God takes fear and worry so seriously, is because when we struggle with it, it often paralyzes us and makes us ineffective, not to mention it tells God we don't trust Him. When you are afraid, trust in the Lord and remind yourself of the truth of His word. He promises to never leave us or forsake us. We can trust that promise!

"What good has worrying ever accomplished? It has never made anyone stronger, helped anyone do God's will, or provided for anyone a way of escape out of their anxiety or confusion." - L.B. Cowman

“We must tread down our enemies, including all the nagging "what ifs" of our lives. To frightening possibilities Christ answers, "I will never leave you or forsake you." Let the very worst thing come to pass-even there, especially there, his hand will hold us. That's why He became a man. That's why He died. That's why He rose again. My Lord and my God--forgive my fears. Deliver me by the power of your resurrection."- E.E.

"Worry only destroys the effectiveness of lives that would otherwise be useful and beautiful."- L.B. Cowman

"God is our Refuge, our Strength, our Mighty Fortress. Nothing will get by the moat of his protection without his permission. To be afraid of what happens today or what may happen tomorrow is not only an awful waste of energy, it is not only useless, it is disobedient. We are forbidden to fear anything but the Lord Himself."- E.E.

Worry:"Can anything be gained by it? Don't we only make ourselves unfit for action and separate our minds from the ability to make wise decisions? We simply sink in our struggles when we could float by faith." - L.B. Cowman

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord

in the land of the living! Wait for the Lord; be strong,

and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord!

Psalm 27:1, 13-14

Covenant

The past couple of days, the Lord has been overwhelming my heart with gratefulness for His constant care. For His tenderness to me when I'm breaking, His steadfastness when I'm failing. I love how His character and love doesn't change, even when my fickle emotions ride the waves. Thank goodness God is not like us! He has made a covenant with us that will never be broken and He is eternally faithful to this covenant. Am I? Will I love and follow Him in sickness and in health? In good times and in bad? God is drawing my heart to pursue more faithfulness and less fickleness. O God, bind my heart tightly to thee!

Lord, Jesus,

Grant me the favour of being lead by thee, under the directions of thy providence and thy word. Grant me the blessings with bitter things, to brighten and quicken me, not to depress and make me lifeless; Grant me, like Gideon of old, way-tokens, by removing things that discourage me; Grant me succour beneath the shadow of thy sympathy when I am tempted. Accept my unceasing thanks that I am not cast off from thy hand as a darkened star or rudderless vessel. Suffer not my life to extend beyond my usefulness; Cast me not under the feet of pride, injustice, riches, worldly greatness, selfish oppression of men; Help me to wait patiently, silently upon thee, not to be enraged or speak unadvisedly. Let thy mercy follow me while I live, and give me aid to resign myself to thy will. Take my heart and hold it in thy hand; write upon it reverence to thyself with an inscription that time and eternity cannot erase. To thy grace and the care of thy covenant I commit myself, in sickness, and in health, for thou hast overcome the world, fulfilled the law, finished justifying righteousness, swallowed up death in victory, and taken all power everywhere. Mark this covenant with thine own blood in the court of forgiving mercy; Attach unto thy name in which I believe, for it is sealed by my unworthy mortal hand. - The Valley of Vision (Puritan Prayer)

Ascend The Mountain

I am currently reading a book titled, “In Christ Alone” by Sinclair Ferguson. It is helping me to “know whom I have believed”. To know more so I can love and trust more. To think deeply so I can feel deeply. In Morning & Evening, Spurgeon uses the example of our relationship with God being like ascending a mountain. The higher we go, the more we can see and delight in Him. Every truth learned, trial passed through and day lived, has the potential to take us further up the mountain. But we still have to make the climb. With His help, it’s possible!

“When we first believe in Christ we see but little of him. The higher we climb the more we discover of his beauties. But who has ever gained the summit? Who has known all the heights and depths of the love of Christ which passes knowledge? Paul, when grown old, sitting grey-haired, shivering in a dungeon in Rome, could say with greater emphasis than we can, I know whom I have believed, for each experience had been like the climbing of a hill, each trial had been like ascending another summit, and his death seemed like gaining the top of the mountain, from which he could see the whole of the faithfulness and the love of him to whom he had committed his soul. Get thee up, dear friend, into the high mountain.” – charles hadden spurgeon