"When you have lifted up the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I AM He." John 8:28

This is true in our lives as well. Until every other exalted thing in my life is torn down, leaving Christ alone lifted up to His rightful place of supremacy, I will never understand who it is I am dealing with. I will never understand the God whom I claim to worship.

Tight Fists & Prayer

“If anyone shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too will cry out and not be answered.” Proverbs 21:13

R.A. Torrey in his book How to Pray says this in regards to our attitude of giving and it's relation to prayer:
“There is perhaps no greater hindrance to prayer than stinginess, the lack of liberality toward the poor and toward God’s work. It is the one who gives generously to others who receives generously from God. ‘Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” (Luke 6: 38) The generous man is a mighty man of prayer. The stingy man is the powerless man of prayer…

Many a man and woman who is seeking to find the secret of their powerlessness in prayer need not seek far; It is nothing more nor less than downright stinginess. George Mueller was a mighty man of prayer because he was a mighty giver. What he received from God never stuck to his fingers; he immediately passed it on to others.”

Oh Lord may we be openhanded- looking for ways to give what you have placed in our hands. Where I am tight-fisted, reveal my attitude of greed and help break the fingers that so desperately want to cling.

The Influence of a Mother

How can eternity influence a mother's daily tasks? I think you'll enjoy this 2-minute clip from John Piper. So so very good:

http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/MediaPlayer/2988/Audio/

What is Your Quest?

"Nothing can replace the confidence and authority that comes from hearing from God. Hearing God's voice has become the singular quest of my heart, the sole pursuit that alone satisfies the great longings of my heart."

(Bob Sorge: Secrets of the Secret Place)

Aim for Heaven

Hope is one of the theological virtues. This means that a continual looking forward to the eternal world is not... a form of escapism or wishful thinking, but one of the things a Christian is meant to do. It does not mean that we are to leave the present world as it is.

If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next... It is since Christians have largely ceased to think of the other world that they have become so ineffective in this. Aim at Heaven and you will get earth "thrown in": Aim at earth and you will get neither."
-C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

"Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:1-3

Voice of the Martyrs

"Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal." 2 Corinthians 4: 16-18

So easy to forget that our bodies are wasting away while we are here. Morbid... but true. The only renewing we have is in Christ/spiritually/inwardly. Outwardly in every form we are living in imperfect tents awaiting what is to come in Christ. This is just not the place they were created for. So until the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Lamb (Revelation 5) comes back to have complete rule and kingship- Romans 8 says that we will groan and long for what is to come.

But we can forget that this is not the place to set up our kingdoms... It is the place to long for, welcome in, pray earnestly for, work toward, anticipate, and bring glory to the Kingdom of the One who will soon reign. It's time I lay down the crown I feel so entitled to wear... Lay it down at the feet of the only One worthy to wear it.

Lord, remind us that this is not it. This life, this great life overflowing with one blessing after another from your gracious hand is a plot, a ground, a time to give glory and honor to our God. May we not lose heart in the waiting. We anticipate the day when our jaws will drop in your presence and we will then see "THIS is our God!"


- I wrote this as I sat reading a Voice of the Martyrs update. This email was so hard to read as a mother, thinking about your child ever being tortured. And of course, I wandered- Why? And then He reminded me of the verse from this morning... That there is a greater glory at stake. What we see now is temporary so we hope for what is eternal in Christ.

http://www.salememail.com/specialoffers/VOM_Persecution/VOM_persecution_watch_full.aspx?id=2

The Groaning in the Waiting

As I woke this morning, snuggled up with my three and a half year old, my heart felt strangely heavy within. I couldn't put my finger on it. As I scanned our day and the joy of the upcoming weekend, I could not for the life of me understand the tension & frustration within my spirit. The joy that I should have woken with lay masked beneath layers of discontent & longing.

Longing for what?

As joy seemed so distant, I quickly opened to words of truth to help make out the confusion.

"We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies." (Romans 8:22-23)

The New Living Translation says:

"And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us.

We were given this hope when we were saved. (If we already have something, we don’t need to hope for it. But if we look forward to something we don’t yet have, we must wait patiently and confidently.)"

And in this the Lord reminded me. There ought to be a groaning. There ought to be greater longing for the "release from sin & suffering" that is to come. We have been given a "foretaste of future glory". For right now we see in part, but soon we will see & know fully.

I suspect that if there were no longing, no eager hope & expectation, we would indeed have staked our citizenship in the wrong land. We have far too long made earth our home, forgetting that this is our temporal plot to bring glory to our Creator.

In that reminder Christ graciously reassured that the longings will remain. This- He reminded me- is precisely why He has called us to put our hope in HIM and not in any earthly thing. No person or thing can bear the weight of my expectation. The idol will come tumbling down.

Seek Me.

Let Me fill your cup.

Enjoy the gifts I have given & the blessings at hand... but know that they are but a foretaste.

Giving & Prayer

As I am reading How to Pray (R. A. Torrey), he goes through several hindrances to our prayers being heard & answered. Proverbs 21: 13 says "Whoever stops his ear at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard."

Torrey goes on to say that "there is perhaps no greater hindrance to prayer than stinginess" and reminds that with the same measure we use, it will be used with us as well (Luke 6:38).

"Many a man and woman who is seeking to find the secret of their powerlessness in prayer need not seek far, it is nothing more nor less than downright stinginess. George Mueller was a mighty man of prayer because he was a mighty giver. What he received from God never stuck to his fingers; he immediately passed it on to others."

Oh Lord refine my heart. Remind me that I am a manager of your wealth... It was never intended to be mine, to be hoarded. Break my fingers that they be released from all that I am gripping ever so tightly.

Jesse Tree

Looking for a family Christmas tradition? This is one we started with our family last December and loved it. It is called a Jesse Tree & is THE best advent waiting calendar I have yet to see. This advent calendar starts in Genesis with the story of creation (on December 1st) and goes through the Old Testament until December 25th, when you celebrate the birth of Jesus.

It can be easy to view the birth of Jesus as an isolated story... All the while missing out on the grand story of redemption that God has been writing since creation. For after sin entered in the Garden, God has been wooing the hearts of His children back to Him. We can see this all throughout the Old Testament as God prepares the way for His Son.

Hebrews makes it clear that the endless, daily sacrifices that were offered up could never cleanse the conscience or make perfect. (Hebrews 9:9, 10:1-4, 11-12) But God had a plan... A better plan than the sacrificial system that could finally reconcile a sinful people with a holy God.

Enter Jesus. The spotless Lamb whose blood does cover. Blood that once for all would be sufficient. No more living with guilt. No more condemnation. No more sacrifices in hopes of being "okay" for that day. No more veil to keep us from the Holy of Holies- the very presence of God.

Through the birth, life, death & resurrection of Christ, we now have right standing with God. The story of the babe in the manger is huge. For this is the life that brought us life.

Join us in making a Jesse Tree this December as we anticipate "The Word made flesh who made his dwelling among us." (John 1:14)

Making A Jesse Tree:

1. For each of the 25 Days of Advent, you will make an ornament for your tree. For example, Day One is a SUN for creation, Day Two is a MAN for Adam, Day Three an APPLE.... You can be as creative as you want with your ornaments. We've added googley eyes to our animals & people- just for a fun extra effect the kids enjoy. Make your ornaments as basic or elaborate as you'd like them to be.

2. Starting on December 1st, read the scriptures for that day. (included at bottom of blog post)Then the first ornament is hung on the tree. By Christmas Day you will have completed the Jesse Tree & will have a tree full of ornaments that tell the redemptive story of God's pursuit of man... Beginning with creation in the garden all the way through the birth of the One- the tiny babe- who would come to reconcile us & give us right standing with a Holy God.

"The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth." John 1: 14

Scriptures for Jesse Tree: http://docs.google.com/Doc?id=dc86hr5f_9hfvpnkcq&btr=EmailImport

For information on the history of the Jesse Tree: http://www.cresourcei.org/jesse.html

Right Action Follows Right Thinking

There is a dynamic principle shown throughout God's Word, and no person will ever walk in victory unless he understands and operates in it: Right action follows right thinking. Where your mind goes, your life follows.
-Joyce Meyer

And be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, acceptable and perfect will if God. Romans 12:2

"I don't believe that one of us serious about God will forego this test. It's no 30 minute quiz; it's a lifelong essay test written in blood. Will we loose our hold on anything and anyone else as a prerequisite to following Christ in the intensity of aloneness? If you can answer quickly, I'm not sure you grasp the question's seriousness. . ."

("Beloved Disciple" by Beth Moore)

"For I am not ashamed of the Good News about Christ. It is the power of God at work, saving everyone who believes- the Jew first and also the Gentile. This Good News tells us how God makes us right in his sight. This is accomplished from start to finish by faith. As the Scriptures say, "It is through faith that a righteous person has life."

Romans 1:16-17

"In the beginning God made man in His image. Man has been making God in his image ever since."

-Mark Batterson, Wild Goose Chase

Taking Headphones Off

Last weekend at a Lead Now conference, a music video was played when we first arrived. It was a Jars of Clay song entitled "Headphones". I could have stood up after that song, left and felt that it was sufficient. It spoke exactly what I needed to hear.

Sweet conviction. Refreshing refinement. Lord have your way.

The video was filmed in Dallas of a man sitting down to watch the news. At the sights & sounds of the tragedy he stands to leave, putting his headphones on.

"I don't have to hear it, if I don't want to

I can drown this out, pull the curtains down on you

It's a heavy world, it's too much for me to care

If I close my eyes, it's not there"

He walks down the street, passing a homeless man on the corner. The homeless man looks up at him, hungry & needy with anticipation and hope that maybe this man will be the one to reach out. The man looks away, passing the homeless man while eating his snickers bar, headphones on.

A little further in his walk a young boy sits alone on the curb holding a football. Clearly hoping for a friend, a father, a hand to reach out and love him. The self-absorbed man looks away, consumed with his music & his life... with his headphones on.

On the bus he sits across from a hurting lady. He knows He should offer hope. He wants to offer a word, a touch, some love... But his headphones are on. It's easier to just drown it out. It's easier to "pull the curtain down".


Do I live life with my headphones on? It's easier many times to decide I don't want to hear it. I can drown it out and go on with my life.

But is that what we are called to? Did Christ die to give us comfy lives, free from suffering, secluded from the oppressed & hurting?

Suffering is difficult to look at. But it's all over the Bible. To turn my nose to it is to turn my nose to the heart of Christ.

Our son's verse, a verse we have prayed and spoken over him since he was born, reverberates the heartbeat of Christ.

"He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God."

(Micah 6:8)

I cannot act justly, love mercy and walk with my God if I am drowning out the needs around me. If I am oblivious.

Lord take off my headphones. I began praying this over the weekend. Take off my headphones. Make me aware of those around me. The needs, the desires, the hurts. Awaken my heart again to the lost. The oppressed.

Take off my headphones.

The very next day as I walked into Walmart I begged God "Take off my headphones".

As I walked through the checkout line, the woman scanning my groceries was HUNGRY. Not physically, but spiritually. Emotionally. She needed something.

I could have been a monkey with a wig on, inviting her to any church, inviting her to a cult even... and she would have accepted. She just wanted SOMEONE to extend an invitation.

Thank you Lord that you took off my headphones. Now she is coming to check out our church... And I know YOU WILL REVEAL YOURSELF. May she find what her searching heart is longing for... in You.

May we take off our headphones. In our homes, in our neighborhoods, communities, churches, in our cities, in a hurting world, with a global mindset... To pull back the curtain, STOP long enough to look deep into the eyes of the one in front of us, and extend a hand.

With our headphones off.

Give Us Eyes To See

"Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees takes off his shoes,
The rest sit around it and pluck blackberries."

-Elizabeth Barrett Browning