Pursued

One of my favorite verses is Psalm 23:6, "Surely goodness and mercy (steadfast love) shall follow me all the days of my life and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever."  It has been a verse that has been on my mind and heart lately as I think of friends in trials and physical suffering. 

Today, the verse was on my mind for myself as I went through my morning routines before work today.  It encourages me and reminds me that today is one of the days of my life where goodness and steadfast love will follow me.  I pondered those last two words, "follow me."  Growing up, I recall the times my dog who would follow one of us around.  During walks, he would get distracted by an animal or another walker and we would have to direct his attention back to us and other times, he would stay right with us, even going ahead.  I find I often think of God's goodness and steadfast love like walking my dog.  He's right there with me, but I think God gets distracted from time to time and I have to shoot a prayer or say a verse to direct his attention back to me. 

Sounds okay, right?  Now's here where I laugh.  God is not like my dog and I'm certainly not walking Him around, but what is He like and how does goodness and steadfast love follow me all the days of my life? Reading in my little devotional book at work, the verse today was Psalm 23:6 (?!) and the first line is "What a surprising way to describe God.  A God who pursues us."  (Grace for the Moment, Max Lucado)  Huh, a God who pursues us.  Instead of aimlessly following behind me like my dog, God is actively pursuing me and He's the One getting my attention with goodness and steadfast love when I get distracted by other things.    

That puts "all the days of my life" in a different perspective now.

Today...

..you will be bombarded with what the world, others and your heart will tell you who you are and who you should be. 

Remember God's word:

1 John 3:1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.

Galatians 3:29 And if you are Christ's, then you are Abraham's offspring, heirs according to promise.

We are beloved of the Father, children of God, heirs of the promise. 

Giving Thanks that God is Not Done With Me

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday of the year.  I think because it's the holiday of my favorite season - Fall - as well as it's a time for family and friends to gather and to give thanks.  It's the kickoff of the holiday season and I can't think of a better holiday to start things off right. 

This year, as with others, I contemplated what to give thanks for.  As I mentally made my list, it seemed small.  Not small in quantity, but in quality.  Now, please don't think that I am referring to the latest technology gadget (I have only had a Kindle for less than a year and now the Kindle Fire comes out!).  Rather in my mind's eye, the things over the past year I'm most thankful for are not seen and not temporary. 

Over the past year,

- I've become more aware and thankful for Jesus interceding for me, my family and friends in difficult trials and suffering. 

- I'm thankful that God is an "ever present refuge" for His children.  There is no danger that God is not a refuge for. 

- I'm thankful for the Holy Spirit to speak truth and comfort to my soul in navigating the dangerous terrain of lies and bitterness.  It felt like being in the middle of a field of bombs and one wrong step would cause damage, but the Holy Spirit helped me know where to walk with the least amount of damage. 

These are only a few things and my limited writing skills does not adequately describe what I'm thankful for.  I think if I could sum up what I'm thankful for the most is that God is not done with me.  Oh, there's so much in that one statement.

God is not done with:

- Molding my rebellious heart into a heart that seeks Him
- Blessing me with every good gift He has for me
- Caring for me
- Protecting me - from myself and others
- Providing everything I will ever need
- Showering His mercy on me
- Revealing more of Himself to me
- Growing faith in Him
- Preparing me for heaven
- Working all things together for my good
- Fulfilling all the promises intended for me
- Et al.

Yes, this Thanksgiving season, I am thankful that God is not done with me yet. 

Fill in the ___?

I'm a fan of crossword puzzles, although I'm not terribly good at them.  The clues always get me.  You will not find me working the NY Times crossword in pen any time soon.  I am more of a word-jumble-kind-of-girl.  But I'm a fan of crossword puzzles because I'm a logophile who loves to see words connected together and a crossword puzzle literally does that. 

So why am I writing about crosswords?  Well I wanted to give some background before I get to the main text of this post.  Recently, a new friend of mine gave me some good advice on one of my life's situations.  She said, "there are alot of blanks in your life.  And the tendency is to try to fill them up.  Let God fill in the blanks himself."  And because I'm a visual person, crossword puzzles came to mind.  As I was thinking about this, several things revealed themselves.  

1.  I don't like blanks.  Expecially those that have been that way for a long time.

2.  As with a crossword puzzle, I look for the "clues" and fill in the blanks with erroneous answers.  I think I do this just so it can be filled and I can move on (see point #1).

3.  Life feels stuck like when you get stuck in a crossword puzzle.  All those blanks waiting to be filled and no answers have revealed themselves.  

4.  God doesn't speak in pithy or cryptic clues, although it feels like it at times.  

5.  God does have answers for the blanks.  The best ones.  The ones that fit correctly.  

So there it is.  I'm a visual person and this example may be too simplistic in nature, however, it has helped to reveal to me where and how I fail to trust in God.  Even though I fail, God is still faithful and for that I am truly thankful.  He sees the whole puzzle, knows all the answers and will fill in the blanks in His perfect time.  And just as a crossword puzzle has a theme, God's theme for my life has been and will continue to be "the steadfast love of the Lord endures forever" (Pslam 118:1) 

God at Work

Trials.  Small or large, quick or long, few or many, we all go through them.  I'm in one right now, actually many, if I count the ones that are still ongoing.  While driving today, I reflected on trials in the past and how God has met me in these situations.

Here's what I came up with.

First and foremost, God IS acting on my behalf IN the trial and He has the BEST in mind for me DURING the trial.  I have found that He acts in three different ways.

1.  He leads me through the trial.  This is more or less the main way He acts. 
2.  He removes the trial.  This happens infrequently, but it does happen.
3.  He removes me from the trial.  This, too, happens infrequently, but it does happen.

God is acting and has the best in mind for me in all my trials regardless if all He does is lead me through it.  Yes, I would love #2 and #3 to happen more often than not, but I have seen that God only does that if it is for my best and His glory. 

Wherever you are at today, God IS acting IN your midst and He does have the BEST for you.

Grace shapes us...

Grace is not a technique. It is not a magical quality that God dispenses like a candy machine, or the power for self-actualization or personal peace and affluence. It is not a lubricant to get the parts inside working properly. And it is not a three-step program for self-improvement. When we treat grace that way, we surrender to the spirit of our age by fashioning ourselves and our bodies through our own efforts. We don’t use grace to shape ourselves—it shapes us into the image of the one who gives it. - Matthew Anderson "Earthen Vessels" (emphasis mine)

In Christ we have power and victory

“The resurrection of Jesus offers courage and strength to persevere because his victory over sin and death is ours both in this life and in the one to come. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells in us, sanctifies us, and empowers us to follow Christ and serve the mission of the church. And we know that the Spirit who raised Jesus from the dead will raise us as well when Jesus returns. Here the broken find hope and courage, for in Christ we have power and victory to obey, and we will, in the end, be raised in his likeness.”


Joe Thorn, Note To Self (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway Books, 2011), 31

HT:OFI

Grounds of Our Assurance are not within us

"Many sincere believers are too introspective. They look too exclusively within, so that their hope is graduated by the degree of evidence of regeneration which they find in their own experience. This, except in rare cases, can never lead to the assurance of hope. We may examine our hearts with all the microscopic care prescribed by President Edwards in his work on The Religious Affections, and never be satisfied that we have eliminated every ground of misgiving and doubt. The grounds of assurance are not so much within, as without us."

Charles Hodge, Systematic Theology (London, 1873), 3:107

HT: Tony Reinke

Our hearts will not save us.

"That’s why Jesus did not say, “Let not your hearts be troubled, just believe your hearts.” He said, “Let not your hearts be troubled, believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1)."

Read the whole article here at Desiring God.

Accepted at My Worst

“In the cross, God demonstrates the deepest law of acceptance. For to be convinced that I have been accepted, I must be convinced that I have been accepted at my worst. This is the greatest gift an intimate relationship can offer — to know that we have been accepted and forgiven in the full knowledge of who we are, an even greater knowledge than we have about ourselves. This is what the cross offers.”
— Rebecca Pippert Hope Has Its Reasons, 105

[HT: OFI]

Thoughts On a Cloudy, Dark Day

..it can feel like we are hidden from God, but the truth is God has his loving and caring eye fixed upon us and nothing can diminish or blur his view of us.

"Who can separate us from the love of God?" (Romans 8)

"Where can I go from your spirit? If I say, 'surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,' even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you." (Psalm 139)

Safely Leave With Him

"The best thing is neither to seek nor avoid troubles but to follow Christ and take the bitter with the sweet as it may come. Whether we are happy or unhappy at any given time is not important. That we be in the will of God is all that matters. We may safely leave with him the incident of heartache or happiness. He will know how much we need of either or both."
- A.W. Tozer, We Travel an Appointed Way, page 80.

Fruit

Sometimes we’ll see fruit, which is a wonderful experience. But other times we’ll just be watering, which is just as pleasing to the Lord. We’re called to be faithful to the task, not faithful to create fruit. God creates the fruit, not us.

~Stephen Altrogge, The Blazing Center

It Will Get Better

Recently, I spent some time with a friend catching up with her about our lives and goings-on since we got together last several months ago. My friend is going through some major changes in her life and my hope and aim during the conversation was to encourage her and remind of her God's goodness and sovereignty in these times. At one point in the conversation, I shared with her, "it will get better" following up that life doesn't necessarily get better. Since our conversation, it struck me that I wasn't very helpful to my friend when I said that. I didn't point her to something bigger than her current situation. So here's my follow up and I do hope she's reading.

"Sister, when I said 'it will get better,' I didn't have the words at the time, but what I mean is that in these times of trial and seasons of doubt, your relationship and your view of God will get better. We will not fully understand all things and even God on this side of heaven, but I do believe our relationship with Him will get better. As He shows us more of Himself, we will learn to trust Him more. Faith doesn't look for answers, but looks for the one it's fixated on and who better to fix our gaze upon than our Heavenly Father. We are promised in God's word that there will be trials, but even more so, we are promised a Savior and Comforter as well. So press on my sister, because "it will get better."

The process is not finished, but it is going on

This life therefore

is not righteousness

but growth in righteousness;
not health

but healing;
not being

but becoming;
not rest

but exercise.
We are not yet what we shall be,

but we are growing toward it.
The process is not finished,

but it is going on.
This is not the end,

but it is the road.
All does not yet gleam in glory,

but all is being purified.
~Martin Luther

Prepping and Making Ready

Your emptiness is but the preparation for your being filled,

and your casting down is but the making ready for your lifting up.

CH Spurgeon, Morning and Evening, 11/4

I am Your God

You are my servant,

I have chosen you

and not cast you off;

fear not,

for I am with you;

be not dismayed,

for I am your God;

I will strengthen you,

I will help you,

I will uphold you

with my righteous right hand.

Isaiah 41:9b-10

More Thoughts on Being Adopted by God

I have not forgotten about going through the book, but I can't seem to find it so, until I do, there's more to think about and consider on the topic of adoption by God.

Here's some quotes by some men who have thoughts on the adoption of sinners by God:

If you want to judge how well a person understands Christianity, find out how much he makes of the thought of being God’s child, and having God as his Father. If this is not the thought that prompts and controls his worship and prayers and his whole outlook on life, it means that he does not understand Christianity very well at all... JI Packer, Knowing God.

It is indeed a great thing to be right with God the Judge through the person and work of Jesus Christ. It is a great thing to be forgiven of sin, to be free from the fear of God’s wrath. But it is possible to grasp these great realities and remain unaware of what is even greater: we are adopted and loved by God the Father. In Christ, God the Father justifies us, but he does not stop there: he adopts us as his sons. CJ Mahaney, For the Fame of God’s Name: Essays in Honor of John Piper.

I Love You This Much

When we think of Christ dying on the cross

we are shown the lengths

to which God’s love goes in order

to win us back to himself.

We would almost think that God loved us more

than he loves his Son!

We cannot measure such love by any other standard.

He is saying to us:

I love you this much. . . .

The cross is the heart of the gospel.

It makes the gospel good news:

Christ has died for us.

He has stood in our place before God’s judgment seat.

He has borne our sins.

God has done something on the cross

which we could never do for ourselves.

But God does something to us as well as for us through the cross.

He persuades us that he loves us.

~Sinclair Ferguson, Grow in Grace

Courage

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