Monday Medittions

Rebellion to Grace ~ Hosea 11-14

Eyes turned
Toward distractions, fixed upon idols
Away from love unrecognized.

Healer, Provider, Protector
Affection, compassion - long suffering.

'For I am God and not man'

Eyes turned
Toward pride of self, contemptuous
Blind, the cry of guilt unheard.

Return, Strive, Speak
Hear the voices sent - for blessing.

'Judah is unruly against God'

Walk rightly
Return, acknowledge no other God
Discern, fashioned gods are unanswered.

Healing, Providing, Protecting
Grace, blessing and forgiveness - freely giving

'I will answer him and care for him'

Monday Meditations ~ a purposeful gale

The chiefest values in life and character are not blown across our way by vagrant winds.

"Great truths are greatly won, not found by chance,

Nor wafted on the breath of summer dream;

But grasped in the great struggle of the soul,

Hard buffeting with adverse wind and stream."

~ streams in the desert, Cowan (318)

Monday Meditations - Philippians 4:6

Oh, for grace to be quiet... to be still and know...  can we gain anything by fretting & worrying?  Do we not unfit ourselves for action, unhinge our minds for wise decision?

Overheard in an Orchard

Said the Robin to a Sparrow:

"I should really like to know

Why these anxious human beings

Rush about and worry so?"

Said the Sparrow to the Robin:

"Friend, I think it must be

That they have no Heavenly Father

Such as cares for you and me."

~ E. Cheney

from Streams in the Desert by Cowman, Oct. 8 & 10

Monday Meds - Delighting

in the law of the Lord...

My continuing study from John Piper's Future Grace encouraged me to delight in the law of the Lord just as the saints of old loved His precepts and commands (Psalm 119).  We sometimes forget that 'Jesus did not come to abolish the law but fulfill it' (Matthew 5:17).  I am blessed to be a part of a local church that is not only strong doctrinally, but also emphasizes life-style discipleship as we come alongside our brothers and sisters in Christ to support and spur one another toward love and good deeds.  However, many churches today do not seem to place much focus on righteous acts.  Our righteous obedience matters now as much as the Old Testament prophets who walked blamelessly before the Lord their God.  Piper reminds us that Hebrews 11 lists those, who by faith, BELIEVED God and it was counted as righteousness.  These imperfect people, through faith in God's promises of grace, delighted in the law and their obedience and acts were pleasing to the Lord. 

This should be a great encouragement that our Father in heaven is not impossible to please.  In fact, like every person with a very big heart and very high standards, he is easy to please and hard to satisfy.  We would  would not want it otherwise.  We want the smile of his happy affection and the fierce sparkle in his eye that we can-and one day will-do, O, so much better.  With this understanding of how we are accepted by God through faith in our Redeemer whose perfect obedience counts as ours, and with a grasp of how genuinely worth obedience of our own is possible by faith in God's promises, the saints were able to say, "Oh how I love your law!  It is my meditation all the day." (152)

Back to Matthew 5, verse 16 admonishes us to shine so clearly that our good works are visible to men that they in turn give glory to our Father in heaven.  Come with me today, as I...
 

delight in

 the beauty of enduring grace.

Monday Meditations: Cultural quirks and perspective shifts

Across the Ocean and Thoughts for Home

Dear sisters,

I wrote an article for a Women's Ministry Newsletter and had a request to expand on some thoughts of an earlier post.  On this particular day I was thinking of some far away friends who moved… Across the Ocean…

Monday Meditations - seeing the Beauty of God

Dear Friend,

My mind is full and my days are busy this week.  That's why Monday Meditations has posted on Wednesday! The upcoming conference this weekend has me busy preparing my sessions (I am sure I will share some thoughts on those talks a bit later).   A silly refrain about being 'dreadfully busy' from a Veggie Tales song keeps popping into my head!

When I was a young mother of three active preschoolers there seemed very little time to accomplish the tasks of the day.  And the laundry was never done (even today it seems there are way too many piles).  So, a 'quiet time' when there seems to be not a moment of stillness was always hard to find in my day.  There are some resources listed below that you might find helpful; It does get easier to fit in deeper Bible Studies and just more time in the Word - hang in there!

In the past couple of weeks, I have added some specific prayer requests to my list.  The issues are varied, yet truly the one thing that can change these needs is for these individuals to see the beauty of God.  It reflects his character which is unchanging regardless of our situations, needs, struggles or questions. 

Monday Meditations: a world of lengthening shadows

We live in a world of lengthening shadows.
And we are ever moving forward on the timeline.
As shadows grow, light dims...

We are compelled ~ Pray for strong churches in our communities.

Monday Meditations - Resting

Do you ever just get tired?

Sometimes I think I live this secondary life. 

Monday Meditations - Drama Queen

Drama is a genetic trait in some families.