Category Archives: Christian Life

Colorlessness

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I can tend to be too adversely affected by weather. Oh, not the occasional rainy day, but prolonged periods of cloudiness. I have an especially hard time with winter between New Year’s and Valentine’s Day. The numbing cold, for one thing, but more so the colorlessness depresses me.

I was just reveling in the height of color especially on the hills on the drive to church Sunday. I spent most of the 20 minute drive just drinking in the beauty.

But just two days later, many of the leaves on that same drive were blown off with high winds and rain and the hills were sporting several patches bald of color.

“No!” I thought. “Not yet!”

This morning I came across this in F. B. Meyer’s Our Daily Walk:

There are three things that make Springtide in the soul.

The sense of God’s Presence. We know that He is near, though the woods are bare, the frost holds the earth in its iron grip, and the wind gathers together the dead leaves; but we feel Him nearer when every hedgerow is clothed with flowers, every bush burns with fire, every tree claps its leafy hands, and every avenue is filled with sweet choristers.

The optimism of an illimitable hope. Spring is the minstrel of Hope. She takes her lyre and sings of the fair Summer, which is on her way, Life pours through a myriad channels, and shows itself stronger than death for Spring is victorious over Winter, as good shall prove to be over evil.

The exuberance of Love. Spring is the time of love. The whole creation is attracted by a natural affinity, and love rules in forest and field.

For us, the lesson is clear. Cherish the sense of the Presence of God; cultivate an illimitable Hope; be conscious of a Love flowing towards you and from you. Dwell on the loving-kindness and tender mercy that have preceded and followed you all the days of your life, and for you, too, the wilderness and solitary place will be glad. After all, life is not altogether what circumstances make it. They may be everything that heart can wish, and yet the Frost-King may reign within and east its icy mantle over all; whereas there are men and women who have everything adverse in their circumstances, but because they have Spring in their hearts, they find flowers and songs everywhere.

The rest of this devotional is here under October 27.

Though maybe cheerfulness and exuberant worship comes a little more naturally when the sun is shining and there is beauty everywhere, either in fall or spring, I can rejoice in the unchangeable truths of God’s love and care and Presence and hope no matter what the conditions are. A genuine counting of my blessings puts me back in a right frame of mind. Practically, good music, good books, warmth of family and friends, something of beauty to look at or work on in the home all help stoke the furnace of contentment as well, though I am reminded of biographies I have read where people did not have even those resources, yet still rejoiced in God alone.

Be still, sad heart! and cease repining;
Behind the clouds is the sun still shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all,
Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

~ From Longfellow’s “The Rainy Day“

The Week In Words

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Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week  inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.

Here are some that caught my attention this week:

The following is from Jeanne Damoff:

Fear is a liar and a thief. A liar, because it fills our minds with hypothetical horrors, and a thief because it steals precious hours we can never get back and strips them of peace. Fear is a cloud, obscuring what’s real, and what’s real is something that can’t be imagined. It can only be received and is only given when it’s needed.

I had never thought of fear in those terms, but that’s so true.

From Warren Wiersbe’s With the Word commenting on the memorial Israel was to set up in Joshua 4 and the need to memorialize or remember how God has led in the past not only to praise Him but as a testimony to future generations (Psalm 78:1-6):

When you have living faith in a living God, the past is not “dead history.” It throbs with a living reality.

I get aggravated when some people discount all of history since it is about “dead guys.” That’s pretty short-sighted!

And from the same book concerning Calebs’ claim to his inheritance in Joshua 14:

What an example for us to follow! Age did not hinder him, the disappointments of the past did not embitter him, and giants did not frighten him!

What particularly struck me about this was his not being embittered by the past. If you remember, Caleb and Joshua were the only ones willing to trust God and go forth when the Israelites came to Canaan the first time, but the others were afraid and refused. Israel was then assigned to the wilderness for forty years while the old generation died off, and Caleb had to wait and wander even though he had been faithful. Yet he didn’t complain and was never bitter — he patiently waited until it was God’s timing for him to receive portion. A lesson to me: I probably would have been inwardly chafing much of those forty years. (I Peter 2:19-25 has more to say on suffering when you’ve done right. What greater example is there of that than the Lord Jesus?)

If you’ve read anything that particularly spoke to you that you’d like to share, please either list it in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below. I do ask that only family-friendly quotes be included. I hope you’ll visit some of the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder.

I Run to Christ

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I run to Christ when chased by fear
And find a refuge sure.
“Believe in me,” His voice I hear;
His words and wounds secure.

I run to Christ when torn by grief
And find abundant peace.
“I too had tears,” He gently speaks;
Thus joy and sorrow meet.

_____

I run to Christ when worn by life
And find my soul refreshed.
“Come unto Me,” He calls through strife;
Fatigue gives way to rest.

I run to Christ when vexed by hell
And find a mighty arm.
“The Devil flees,” the Scriptures tell;
He roars, but cannot harm.

_____

I run to Christ when stalked by sin
And find a sure escape.
“Deliver me,” I cry to Him;
Temptation yields to grace.

I run to Christ when plagued by shame
And find my one defense.
“I bore God’s wrath,” He pleads my case—
My Advocate and Friend.

Words by Chris Anderson
Music by Greg Habeggar
Reprinted with permission

Some of you comment that you’re unfamiliar with the hymns I post. That will be especially true this time because it is a relatively new hymn! I am not sure when it was written, but I just became aware of it when Chris posted a mention of it on his blog a few days ago, and it spoke to my heart. You can peruse more of Chris and Greg’s hymns at their web site, Church Works Media. Notes on the text to this hymn are here and a lovely orchestration of it can be heard by scrolling to the end of this post.

Laudable Linkage and Grandma’s Connected

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Just a few interesting things seen round the Web this week, then I have a fun poem I want to share with you.

Lisa shares 7 reasons why I still go to church. I have been thinking of writing a post about reasons to go to church, but this definitely hits the major ones.

Lisa also pointed me to this video of How (Not) to Invite Your Coworker to Church.

I have a sweater I love which is disintegrating in key places. I’ve been trying to figure out something to do to preserve and use it, and this purse made from a sweater might be just the thing.

This cupcake wrapper template to use with scrapbooking paper would be great theme parties or special occasions.

I’m not sure who the author of this poem is — I received it from the Good Clean Funnies List. I’m not a Grandma yet, and I hope to be a cookie-baking, book-reading Grandma, but I will definitely be a “connected” one, too! I’ve mused over at my mother-in-law’s assisted living place how those rooms might look when the connected generation gets into them.

Grandma’s Connected

In the not too distant past–
I remember very well–
Grandmas tended to their knitting
And their cookies were just swell.

They were always at the ready
When you needed some advice
And their sewing (I can tell you)
Was available–and nice.

Well Grandma’s not deserted you,
She dearly loves you still,
You just won’t find her cooking
But she’s right there at the till.

She thinks about you daily
You haven’t been forsook.
Your photos are quite handy
In her Pentium notebook.

She scans your artwork now, though,
And combines it with cool sounds
To make electronic greetings;
She prints pictures by the pounds.

She’s right there when you need her
You really aren’t alone.
She’s out now with her “puter” pals
But she took her new cell phone.

You can also leave a message
On her answering machine
Or page her at the fun meet
She’s been there since nine-fifteen.

Yes, the world’s a very different place,
There is no doubt of that,
So “E” her from her web page,
Or join her in a chat.

She’s joined the electronic age
And it really seems to suit her,
So don’t expect the same old gal,
’cause Grandma’s gone “Computer.”

Book Review: Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God

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Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper contains short biographies of five women exemplary in their faith and walk with Christ.

Sarah Edwards came from a distinguished family and was intelligent and noted for her graciousness. Her husband, Jonathan Edwards, was brilliant, shy, and very much lacking in social graces. Their personalities complemented each other in a way helped each fulfill his and her ministries against the backdrop of war, uncertainty, and the consequences of taking a firm but unpopular stand based on Scriptural teaching.

Lilias Trotter was a gifted artist whose work impressed John Ruskin and caused him to take her under his wing. Yet she had a heart for ministry and “knew it isn’t possible to be wholly consumed twice” (p. 45) and that one or the other would have to take first place. She chose ministry first among the poorest women in society to an extent which was frowned on in Victorian England, and ultimately to Muslim women in Algiers despite a serious heart condition. Her art influenced her ministry both in her perspective and in producing literature decorated in a distinctly Arab style which appealed where “the visible beauty of a piece of literature” was thought to “validate its worth” (p. 61).

Gladys Aylward was an English parlor maid who dreamed of going to China as a missionary. She thought her hopes were dashed when she was turned down by the China Inland Mission and told that she probably could not handle learning the language, yet the Lord did lead this small 4′ 10″ woman on a remarkable journey to a great and fruitful ministry there. Among other things she was asked to aid in enforcing the new ban on foot-binding, despite telling the mandarin that she would share the gospel as well as enforce the law, and she led 100 children away from the Japanese Army over mountains through several days journey with little food to safety, alone.

Esther Ahn Kim faced the same dilemma as Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego when Japanese authorities in Korea commanded everyone in her school to bow down to an idol. She was the only one who stood firm and erect. She escaped authorities for a while and hid out with her mother, preparing herself for imprisonment, which did in fact eventually come.

Helen Roseveare was a doctor who knew even before becoming a Christian that she would be a missionary. She ministered in the Belgian Congo, where her drive for excellence was challenged in situations where medical standards were a far cry from what she had been taught, yet she persevered and came up with ways to adapt. She chafed against needing to make bricks when her services were needed medically until one man told her that it was when she was down at the kilns with her hands as rough as theirs that they most knew she loved them and that they could trust her and listen to her tell of God. In fact, one hallmark of her life was her willingness to listen to the rebukes and instruction of those around her. It was in her ministry that an incident occurred which you may have received as an anonymous e-mail forward: a hot water bottle was needed to keep a newborn premature baby warm whose mother had died in childbirth. When the orphanage children were told and asked to pray, one girl prayed that they would receive a hot water bottle that afternoon and that a doll would be sent as well so the little baby girl’s sister would know God really loved her. And a parcel from Helen’s home, the first ever after four years there, arrived that very afternoon containing both a hot water bottle and a doll. Helen persevered through hardships, exhaustion, and an attack by rebel insurgents in which she was beaten, had her teeth knocked out, and raped. She was rescued by the National Army and went home for a year, but could not remain away and so went back to the newly renamed Zaire, which was then recovering from the devastation of war. The only one of the five women still living, she now lives in England where she writes and witnesses and tries to encourage others to consider the “fields white unto harvest.”

In some ways I am not sure why I picked up this book, because I had already read full biographies of Sarah Edwards (Marriage to a Difficult Man: The Uncommon Union of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards), Gladys Aylward (The Small Woman), and Esther Ahn Kim (If I Perish), and most of the material on them came from the books I had read. Yet it was a good refresher course of their lives, and there was even a bit of new information on some of them. I didn’t know, for instance, that Elisabeth Elliot had met and talked with Gladys. Lilias and Helen’s stories were new to me: I think I was only vaguely aware of their names before.

One reason I enjoy reading biographies is that the examples speak to me in my everyday life. For instance, when I find myself sometimes fearful to go certain places, I remind myself of situations like Gladys’s when she was alone in the middle of nowhere in Russia in wintertime, having just been put off the train that could go no farther because of the war. If God could keep her safe in those circumstances, can He not keep me, too, in situations far less perilous? I am challenged by women like Esther’s mother: could I help my child prepare to face certain suffering rather than seek for a way to hide her and protect her? There is so much I learn through what they learned and how God worked in and through them.

There is so much I wish I could share of the faith, faithfulness, and examples of God’s working in the lives of each of these women, but I would have to nearly reproduce the book to share all I’d like to. I highly recommend it to you.

(This review will be linked to Semicolon‘s Saturday Review on Books and 5 Minutes For Books‘ I Read It.)

Winner!

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The winner of my giveaway for I’m Outnumbered!: One Mom’s Lessons in the Lively Art of Raising Boys by Laura Lee Groves is….

Ann!

I’ll send you an e-mail in just a moment to request your contact information.

The Week In Words

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Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week  inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.

Here are a few that especially spoke to me this week:

From a friend’s Facebook status:

‎“The best way to make your dreams come true is to wake up.”

That caused a laugh as well as a reflection on its truth. There is a time for dreaming, but those dreams will never come to fruition without action most of the time — excepting those times, of course, when the Lord wants us to just wait on Him.

From another friend’s Facebook:

‎“Fundamentally, our Lord’s message was Himself. He did not come merely to preach a Gospel; He himself is that Gospel. He did not come merely to give bread; He said, ‘I am the bread.’ He did not come merely to shed light; He said, ‘I am the light.’ He did not come merely to show the door; He said, ‘I am the door.’ He did not come merely to name a shepherd; He said, ‘I am the shepherd.’ He did not come merely to point the way; He said, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life.’ ~J. Sidlow Baxter

I am most blessed when teaching, admonition, etc., points me straight to Christ Himself.

The following two come from the October 14 reading of Our Daily Walk by F. B. Meyer, commenting on Galatians 6:2: “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.”

But sin is not the only burden we are to bear with our brethren. The young man or girl who fails to make good; the business man who meets with sudden reverse; those who suffer bitter disappointment; when faces are averted, and tongues are busily engaged in criticism–let us seek out the one who has consciously disappointed everybody, and help by our strong and tender sympathy. It is like the coming of the good Ananias into Saul’s darkness, with the greeting: “Brother Saul!”

And:

Sympathy means suffering with; and as we endeavour to enter into the griefs and sorrows of those around us, in proportion to the burden of grief that we carry do we succeed in lightening another’s load. You cannot bear a burden without feeling its pressure; and in bearing the burdens of others, we must be prepared to suffer with them.

I have to confess sometimes I want to help in a way that doesn’t cause me too much pressure or time or other expenditure of energy or attention. This reminds me of David’s declaration that he wouldn’t give to the Lord that which cost him nothing. To truly bear one another’s burden does cost, and I am so thankful the Lord chose to bear ours to the point of taking on human flesh, suffering, and dying for us. May I be willing to feel that pressure of bearing another’s burden just as others have done for me. And the first is a reminder to reach out to others especially when they’re feeling ostracized.

This last one comes from Warren Wiersbe’s With the Word commenting on Joshua 1:6, 7, 18:

‎“Be strong!” is much more than an admonition, for God’s commands are God’s enablements.

In that passage God is speaking to Joshua just after Moses had died and Joshua was named the new leader, and just before the Israelites’ entry into Canaan. If I were in Joshua’s situation, I’d feel a good bit of trepidation, but the rest of the chapter is filled with God’s promises and admonitions. Implicit within God’s commands is the ability to obey, not in our own strength, but in His. I think of  the lame person whom Jesus commanded to rise and walk and the man with the withered hand whom Jesus commanded to stretch forth his hand — things they could not do — yet they did not argue with Him about why they could not obey: they just did, at His Word, and found in the command the ability to obey. In Joshua 3, the priests carrying the ark of the covenant had to step into the waters of the Jordan River first before God parted the waters. Those situations are all such a rebuke to me, because I tend to want to experience the promises and know how things will work out before obeying.

If you’ve read anything that particularly spoke to you that you’d like to share, please either list it in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below. I do ask that only family-friendly quotes be included. I hope you’ll visit some of the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder.

I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say

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I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Come unto Me and rest;
Lay down, thou weary one, lay down Thy head upon My breast.”
I came to Jesus as I was, weary and worn and sad;
I found in Him a resting place, and He has made me glad.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give
The living water; thirsty one, stoop down, and drink, and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life giving stream;
My thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in Him.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “I am this dark world’s Light;
Look unto Me, thy morn shall rise, and all thy day be bright.”
I looked to Jesus, and I found in Him my Star, my Sun;
And in that light of life I’ll walk, till traveling days are done.

~ Words by Ho­ra­ti­us Bo­nar

This has been put to several tunes and I can’t find the one I’m most familiar with, but this one by Ralph Vaugh­an Will­iams is lovely:

The Week In Words

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Welcome to The Week In Words, where we share quotes from the last week’s reading. If something you read this past week  inspired you, caused you to laugh, cry, think, dream, or just resonated with you in some way, please share it with us, attributing it to its source, which can be a book, newspaper, blog, Facebook — anything that you read. More information is here.

Here are a few that caught my eye this week:

From a friend’s Facebook:

“Never let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game.”

Seen at Challies:

I will stay in prison till the moss grows on my eyebrows rather than make a slaughterhouse of my principles. —John Bunyan

From I’m Outnumbered!: One Mom’s Lessons in the Lively Art of Raising Boys by Laura Lee Groves in a chapter about media, p. 117:

A reader is an understander — he knows what it is like to be in someone else’s shoes.

She goes on to talk about how reading can develop empathy, compassion, and understanding by experiencing another’s viewpoint. I don’t think I had ever thought about it quite like that, but I agree.

From Faithful Women and Their Extraordinary God by Noel Piper, in a chapter about Esther Ahn Kim, quoting from her book If I Perish,

Wherever Mother was, it was like a chapel of heaven around her.

I don’t think my kids could say that of me, but I wish they could. This was particularly remarkable because they were surrounded by idol-worshiping relatives, and her mother did not have church or a Bible but tried to live by what she was taught as a child by a missionary.

If you’ve read anything that particularly spoke to you that you’d like to share, please either list it in the comments below or write a post on your blog and then put the link to that post (not your general blog link) in Mr. Linky below. I do ask that only family-friendly quotes be included. I hope you’ll visit some of the other participants as well and glean some great thoughts to ponder.

My Father’s Love

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The world’s wealth and riches can be bought and sold.
But I possess a treasure far greater than gold;
‘Twas a gift passed down to me from heaven above,
‘Twas the gift of my Father’s love.

And my Father’s love is strong and true,
Always believing, always seeing me through.
So no matter what happens in His grand design,
I’ll be fine with my Father’s love.

Safe and secure now in His love alone,
I find here my place of worth as one of His own.
And I don’t need ev’rything this world wants to give,
‘Cause I live with my Father’s love.

And my Father’s love is strong and true,
Always believing, always seeing me through.
So no matter what happens in His grand design,
I’ll be fine with my Father’s love.

So, no matter what happens in His grand design,
I’ll be fine with my Father’s love,
with my Father’s love.
I have my Father’s love.

Text and music by Amy Susan Foster, Mike Harland and Niles Borop, recorded by the Soundforth Singers on their CD A Strong Tower.