Perspective Gained

I had to stop in the middle of an exhausting day, yesterday, to re-read this post from the Femina Blog. Really Cool.

Perspective can be everything. Take a look!

Bear Fruit: NOT a Command

I wanted to share with you our Church's sermon from yesterday. Even a person with a Mature relationship with Jesus Christ can mistake mis-information or nearly-truth, for truth.

Pete reminded us that there is no command to Bear Fruit. Jesus does not say, "...now, you, go bear fruit." He says, "Abide in me...and you will bear fruit."

John 15:4,5
"Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing."

I know there is a lot of "fruit...tree...branches talk here (and even more if you read the whole chapter). But, this was a analogy very real and understandable to the people who Jesus was speaking to. They understood this very well...their lives depended on their crops bearing fruit. There was no Fry's or Safeway around the corner (neither is there one of those around my corner...but that is an entirely different subject for me to complain about at a different time).

Anyway, If you want a better understanding of "vines" bearing fruit...come on over...my tomato plants are pitiful. They are bearing about 1/3 of the fruit they could be...and one plant has NEVER born any. It's because I have neglected the pruning altogether and their climbing structure is pitiful and falling. The vine is weak and the dead branches are chocking out the life from the good branches.

But, that's okay. My tomatoes don't matter. But I matter. My abiding in Christ is directly related to my experiencing Joy.

Pete's Message was a blessing to me...convicting, encouraging. He reminds me that my struggle is not with anxiety...or anger or with being a servant, or with patience. My struggle is in abiding in Christ.

I thank my God that He has provided all I need to be able to abide in Him...His written words, translated and easily accessible...His people, to love and encourage me...His Spirit, already indwelling me, revealing what is true.

Take a little time...while you are surfing the net, looking for coupons, reading Facebook statuses or looking at posted pictures of someone's family vacation...to listen to the talk. I know you will be as encouraged as I am!

Take Every Thought Captive

In the big mess out there of condemnation, criticism, and angry opinion regarding nutrition, parenting, etc...It's always so nice when the word of God jumps off the computer screen and reminds me of the joy I have and the REAL meaning of LIFE.

I was doing a web search for a bread recipe that someone had told me about, and when I found it, I also found a Blog with a beautiful heading that read Take Every Thought Captive.

Thank you, Marilyn. Thank you for your recipes, your great tips and good products, but most importantly, Thank you for reminding your readers to Take EVERY Thought Captive...for we know, "Man cannot live on bread alone!"

From Marilyn's Blog:

Take Every Thought Captive

I have had plenty of challenges in the last year and you probably have to.
Phillippians 4:8 tells us:

“Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things.”

Translate this counsel to practical everyday advise by:

• Choose to give your anxieties to God.
• Choose to pray specifically.
• Choose to be thankful.
• Choose to dwell on the positive.
• Never allow yourself to complain about anything.
• Never picture yourself in any other circumstance or someplace else.
• Never compare your lot with another’s.
• Never allow yourself to wish this or that had been otherwise.
• Never dwell on tomorrow – today’s troubles are enough for today.

How are you doing today? His mercies are new every morning.

I Love Her WORDS!

Here's a quote from the picture caption on Heather Baker's Recent Blog Post:

"(Since when do a plastic potty, an empty coffee cup, and a bottle of red wine go together? Since I started potty training.)"

Heather is a friend-of-a-friend. I do not actually know her, but find myself loving her more each day! Many of her posts I feel I've already written in my mind (only MUCH less eloquently), and I just LOVE enjoying them!

I invite you (just as I was once invited by her friend, Lindsay) to enjoy the gifts and talents the Lord has given to Heather, as well.

Here's a taste of the deliciousness that is the God we have:

- from Heather's Small Beginnings Blog Post

I know that when you are training young children "victory" takes many forms. A mature woman recently told me that when she was home with three young children she judged her day a success based on whether she remained clothed and in her right mind.

Still, there is a part of me that wants some tangible proof of all my labor; and I would venture to say I am not unique in this desire: as human beings we all want to have “something to show” for the sum of our efforts.

But here I must remind myself that it is not a matter of what I have to show for my works; it is what He has to show for His. The work of Christ on the Cross means that I am His masterpiece, His living poemas – “written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God” (2. Cor. 3.3)...

And as such I am in the process of becoming something more marvelous it is beyond imagining… “It is by grace I am what I am,” says Paul, affirming the idea that it is not what we do that is of utmost importance – it is who we are. Christ is the penultimate finisher of what He starts. He promises that, in the end, He will present us without fault and with great joy before the glorious presence of His Father...(Jude 1.24).

God has given me work to do; plenty of it. But my real labor is in believing “in the living God, who is the Savior of all men” (1 Tim. 4.10); and not allowing myself to get bogged down by all the (in my case, literal) refuse that begs to be the central focus of all my days.

Ultimately, my goal isn’t just to get Audrey out of diapers. My goal is to assist her in acquiring the character qualities that will enable her to become the woman He designed her to be. “For physical training is of some value,” Paul says, “but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come” (1 Tim. 4.8).

“I can’t do it!” Audrey squealed at one point this afternoon. Sweetheart, neither can I, I wanted to say. Not in my own strength; but thanks be to God I don't have to. For His blood sacrifice ... has provided me another way of getting through life: and that is by relying on Him....

whatever is true...whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely...--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.

I was in the middle of spending, yet, another evening filling my time, and depleting my mental energy, with web searches for used twin beds, new recipes, grocery and household coupon codes, and information on how much formaldehyde is in which brand of mattress...when I realized what I really need.

I need my brain to be filled up with those things that are GOOD...things that are LOVELY...the things that make my life PRETTY...the things that make me giggle and cry tears of joy...the things that make me dorkier...but way more fun to be around.

I need JESUS. I need visible, tangible examples that remind me of the way I felt when I met Him years ago and realized how HE felt about ME.

I, obviously, didn't want to work too hard...so I clicked on a link to Noel Piper's blog...one I have subscribed to for months, but rarely ever go to (not because it's not interesting...but because it somehow feels easier to trot along in meaningless life-living).

I am thankful to the Lord for His faithfulness. He does not ignore me when I am pitiful. His spirit leads me to encouragement from another of His loved ones and I get to enjoy the way He works.

Check out Noel's comment on her husband, John Piper's, upcoming Sabbatical from his Church work...and be encouraged by Piper's Letter to his congregation on the same regard.
I have copied his comments, below:

John Piper's Upcoming Leave

Download:

---

By John Piper March 28, 2010

---

As you may have already heard in the sermon from March 27-28, the elders graciously approved on March 22 a leave of absence that will take me away from Bethlehem from May 1 through December 31, 2010. We thought it might be helpful to put an explanation in a letter to go along with the sermon.

I asked the elders to consider this leave because of a growing sense that my soul, my marriage, my family, and my ministry-pattern need a reality check from the Holy Spirit. On the one hand, I love my Lord, my wife, my five children and their families first and foremost; and I love my work of preaching and writing and leading Bethlehem. I hope the Lord gives me at least five more years as the pastor for preaching and vision at Bethlehem.

But on the other hand, I see several species of pride in my soul that, while they may not rise to the level of disqualifying me for ministry, grieve me, and have taken a toll on my relationship with Noël and others who are dear to me. How do I apologize to you, not for a specific deed, but for ongoing character flaws, and their effects on everybody? I’ll say it now, and no doubt will say it again, I’m sorry. Since I don’t have just one deed to point to, I simply ask for a spirit of forgiveness; and I give you as much assurance as I can that I am not making peace, but war, with my own sins.

Noël and I are rock solid in our commitment to each other, and there is no whiff of unfaithfulness on either side. But, as I told the elders, “rock solid” is not always an emotionally satisfying metaphor, especially to a woman. A rock is not the best image of a woman’s tender companion. In other words, the precious garden of my home needs tending. I want to say to Noël that she is precious to me in a way that, at this point in our 41-year pilgrimage, can be said best by stepping back for a season from virtually all public commitments.

No marriage is an island. For us this is true in two senses. One is that Noël and I are known inside-out by a few friends at Bethlehem—most closely by our long-time colleagues and friends David and Karin Livingston, and then by a cluster of trusted women with Noël and men with me. We are accountable, known, counseled, and prayed for. I am deeply thankful for a gracious culture of transparency and trust among the leadership at Bethlehem.

The other way that our marriage is not an island is that its strengths and defects have consequences for others. No one in the orbit of our family and friends remains unaffected by our flaws. My prayer is that this leave will prove to be healing from the inside of my soul, through Noël’s heart, and out to our children and their families, and beyond to anyone who may have been hurt by my failures.

The difference between this leave and the sabbatical I took four years ago is that I wrote a book on that sabbatical (What Jesus Demands from the World). In 30 years, I have never let go of the passion for public productivity. In this leave, I intend to let go of all of it. No book-writing. No sermon preparation or preaching. No blogging. No Twitter. No articles. No reports. No papers. And no speaking engagements. There is one stateside exception—the weekend devoted to the Desiring God National Conference combined with the inaugural convocation of Bethlehem College and Seminary in October. Noël thought I should keep three international commitments. Our reasoning is that if she could go along, and if we plan it right, these could be very special times of refreshment together.

The elders have appointed a group to stay in touch and keep me accountable for this leave. They are David Mathis, Jon Bloom, Tom Steller, Sam Crabtree, Jon Grano, Tim Held, Tony Campagna, and Kurt Elting-Ballard. Five of these have walked with Noël and me over the last two months, helping us discern the wisdom, scope, and nature of this leave. They brought the final recommendation to the elders on March 22.

I asked the elders not to pay me for this leave. I don’t feel it is owed to me. I know I am causing more work for others, and I apologize to the staff for that. Not only that, others could use similar time away. Most working men and women do not have the freedom to step back like this. The elders did not agree with my request. Noël and I are profoundly grateful for this kind of affection. We will seek the Lord for how much of your financial support to give back to the church, to perhaps bear some of the load.

Personally, I view these months as a kind of relaunch of what I hope will be the most humble, happy, fruitful five years of our 35 years at Bethlehem and 46 years of marriage. Would you pray with me to that end? And would you stand by your church with all your might? May God make these eight months the best Bethlehem has ever known. It would be just like God to do the greatest things when I am not there. “Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth” (1 Corinthians 3:7).

I love you and promise to pray for you every day.

Pastor John

By John Piper. © Desiring God. Website: desiringGod.org

New "Wise Guy" Blog

I wanted to pass along the news about a new Blog that is sure to engage and challenge! The blogger is a man who loves the Lord, loves his wife, and loves his beautiful little triplets.

Dave is the husband of my friend Kyra. And, if Kyra is any reflection of Dave's character (and I believe she is) than I would have to say that Dave is a pretty freakin' awesome dude.

Enjoy the new "Wise Guy" Blog!

Wonderful Blog Post about Making "Natural Living" an Idol

In response to a wonderful and refreshing POST by Passionate Homemaking.

It's such an encouragement to anyone who has also wrestled with these questions or anyone who has felt condemned by someone regarding these things. I have also pasted her words to the bottom of this post.

Like most people who find some interest in gaining a better understanding of "Natural Living", I have found myself, multiple times, at a cross roads where I think "What kind of person do I want to be?"

Do I want to be the kind of person with a "whole foods" agenda or a "non-toxic" agenda? When people think of me, do I want them to think that I'm that woman who's "into all that stuff"? Or, do I want people to remember me by my kindness and for my excitement for who God is?

These questions have helped me, greatly, in feeling more and more at rest with the decisions I do make concerning what I feed my family or which cleaning products I use. These kinds of decisions are irrelevant regarding the Lord's design for my life. And, THANK GOODNESS!!!

This doesn't mean I shouldn't enjoy the freedom to make these decisions and even share my interests (with selected friends). The Lord has blessed me with a home and family to enjoy and to care for.

The following was taken from the Passionate Homemaking Blog...

Please note: I want to express my heart from the outset of this post to assure my readers that these are musings that the Lord has been working in my heart lately, and I felt compelled to share them with you. I in no way desire to condemn anyone, but my motivation in sharing is to challenge us all to guard our hearts in this matter.

I recently encountered two stories that have challenged me in the motivation and out workings of my pursuit of natural living. The first account began with a friend desiring to throw a baby shower for an expectant mother in her church. This friend was expecting her first little one. The hostess simply wanted to bless and encourage this new mother in her pursuit. When she asked for gift ideas, the new mother stated that she only wanted organic baby clothing, wooden natural toys, organic cloth diapers, and the like. Half of the guests could not afford these products. One lady missed the memo and came with a few plastic toys.

How do you think this made her hostess and guests feel?

The second account took place when I heard a couple share that they had not been tithing for several months. They couldn’t afford it. I knew firsthand that this family ate all organic, healthy and natural foods. This could not be sacrificed.

What is more important?

I have had conversations with friends or family members on various occasions when I tried to persuade them of the health consequences or benefits of a certain product. What has resulted? Relationships have been hurt. I have left others feeling condemned or inadequate. Or at a shared meal gathering, when another mom instructs her son not to eat that food item because “it’s not food”, relationships are damaged because we exalt food over fellowship.

Do I consider myself superior to others because we have adopted a more natural lifestyle?

In the past I have skimped on hospitality because I did not want to spend the money to buy good quality food for my guests or when bringing a meal to another. I made the excuse that I couldn’t afford it. In all honesty, I wanted to keep the best of our budget for my family. This is not true generosity. True generosity takes place when I joyfully give the best that I can following the Scriptural command to do unto others as you would have them do to you (Matt. 7:12).

Where is my heart?

The apostle John’s last words in 1 John are, “Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts (1 John 5:21).” These last words are significant…He wants them to be remembered.

How often do I turn a good thing into a god thing?

As Tim Keller states in Counterfeit Gods, “Most people know you can make a god out of money. Most people know you can make a god out of sex. However, anything in life can serve as an idol, a God-alternative, a counterfeit god…What is an idol? It is anything more important to you than God, anything that absorbs your heart and imagination more than God, anything you seek to give you what only God can give.”

Natural living can become an idol when we willingly give our emotional and financial resources to achieve it.
Natural living can become an idol when we think that it can give us significance, security, safety and fulfillment.
Natural living can become an idol when we hoard the benefits and not freely offer it to others.

What is my motivation for eating healthy and living naturally? Because I have desired to be a good steward of creation and for the health and wholeness of our family.

Can preserving the safety of my family become an idol in my life? Yes!

When I give my money first towards the purchase of good healthy food prior to giving it back to the Lord in my worship of tithe, natural living has gone too far. When I am more concerned about the safety of my family to the extent that I sacrifice relationships, the service of my brothers and sisters, than natural living has become an idol.

Eating healthy will not guarantee my family a more peaceful longer life. It will not add a single day to my life than God has already determined. Only God knows the number of my days. (Psalms 139:16) He calls me to be faithful to care for my physical body, and this includes being wise in what I put into my body, knowing that it will affect my ability to serve the Lord; but when I raise that to a god-level, it is no longer a good thing. My security must only be found in Christ. He controls my family’s health and wellness.

Eating healthy and living naturally does not make me any more honorable in God’s eyes than any other. We are all in equal standing before Him.

Our first fruit of income should always go to tithe and not food. (Lev. 23:10; Numbers 28:26). Where your money is, there your heart will be also. (Matt. 6:19-21) If I put more money towards my health and wholeness before God and giving unto others, than that is where my treasure lies. It will burn up at the end.

Unity in the body is more important than the safety of our family. (Rom. 14:1-3; Psalms 133)

God calls me to be generous, not to hoard the good stuff for myself. Am I only concerned about my health and not the well-being of my friends, family, and fellow brothers and sisters in Christ? God loves a cheerful giver. I am challenged to serve the best to my guests as I possibly can. The more you give the less hold it has on your heart. (2 Cor. 8:9)

I have seen and confess to these evidences of idolatry in my heart. Am I implying that organic food, clothing, or wooden toys are bad? In no way. It is a matter of the heart. What is my motivation? Is that a God-glorifying motivation? My challenge to you all…let’s not raise being a good steward to a god position. Let’s not make others feel guilty, discouraged, or overwhelmed because they cannot afford the natural lifestyle or only in part. It’s about relationships. Let’s keep God first, love one another, and pursue giving generously to one another as we are able. Jesus commanded in Luke 10:27 states, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.” I hope you understand my heart in communicating this message. There is no condemnation here. This is just a challenge to go further up and further in in our pursuit of Christ Jesus with me.

“Accept other believers who are weak in faith, and don’t argue with them about what they think is right or wrong. For instance, one person believes it’s all right to eat anything. But another believer with a sensitive conscience will eat only vegetables. Those who feel free to eat anything must not look down on those who don’t. And those who don’t eat certain foods must not condemn those who do, for God has accepted them.” - Romans 14:1-3

FREE Nursing Covers...Very Cool!

My Friends, Jenn and Cara told me about this great promotion.


Check out Udder Covers (I know; ridiculous name).

Pick out your nursing cover and use "Christmas" as your discount code when you checkout.

You pay about 8.95 for shipping.

There are different colors to choose from. Enjoy!

Wanting to be the "Lovely" Me

What do you do in the moment of complete frustrations? I have, for far too long, completely given into the aggression inside of me at the sight of my inconvenient and aggravating circumstance.

Lately, I have had many opportunities, as identified by ME, to react out of emotion and in a selfish manner. I am sad to say that most every time I have, indeed, gone ahead and allowed my "feeling" to free itself, therefore reacting in an unloving and ungodly way.

Surprisingly, this has failed to make me feel "happy" or "vindicated". I would have thought that doing what I WANT would render much better results.

Ah, but how quickly I forget that I am a slave to Righteousness and am bound to what is Good and wonderful and have been completely freed from the hopelessness of my sin, through the gift of GRACE from my Perfect SAVIOR.

Why WOULD my continued unruly and unlovely behavior make me feel anything but Crummy?!

That gentle voice I hear as I know full well that I have two choices in how I act, is the voice of the Spirit of the Lord. And HE LOVES ME.

"The Greatest of These Is LOVE"

1 Corinthians 13

[The Apostle, Paul's, letter addressed to the Church (a body, or group, of Followers of Christ) in the city of Corinth. Apparently, most of the Christians there were having difficulty separating themselves from their "old" self - the one once enslaved by sin. This letter was written to correct them.]


1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing.

4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. it does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrong-doing, but rejoices with the truth. love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ends...

13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

I Want a Pure Heart

“Pure Christian humility is silent about the sins of others, or speaks of them with grief and pity. The spiritually proud person finds fault with other saints for their lack of progress in grace, while the humble Christian sees so much evil in his own heart, and is so concerned about it, that he is not apt to be very busy with other hearts.

One under the influence of spiritual pride is more apt to instruct others than to ask questions. Such a person naturally puts on the airs of a master. The eminently humble Christian thinks he needs help from everybody, whereas the spiritually proud person thinks everybody needs his help. Christian humility entreats and beseeches, spiritual pride commands and warns with authority.”

~Jonathon Edwards

- Awesome Encouragement from Lyndsay at Passionate Homemaking.

"...Casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." - 1 Peter 5:7

I was feeling very sad this morning as I scooped out yet another pitcher of formula for my baby. For me, I don't like giving her formula. The whole feeding thing with her has been an emotional and challenging process that has been very HARD for me, but has also opened up so much more opportunity for me to trust in the Lord's care for Gwendolyn and in His plan to bring me into a deeper relationship with him, by bringing me further away from MYSELF.

But, my feelings this morning were the work of the Enemy. The Lord is pleased with me. I can bring my sadness to him and "cast my care" on His mighty, powerful shoulders...and be ENCOURAGED!

So, I AM encouraged! I am excited about taking her off the formula in just a couple of months and about enjoying more and more nourishing food with her. She's getting so big! I love it!

And, of course, the Gwendolyn is ever the helpful one. Here she is reading the instructions for her new (gigantic) car seat...