Spiritual Attire

I just read an interesting article this morning titled, "Is God Pleased with Your Spiritual Attire?" The article begins by telling a story of an elementary teacher who notices a note on the back of one of her pupils saying "I hope you don't think I picked this outfit." It made me laugh because I can really relate. There are often times that I cringe at my children's appearance and have to weigh my personal pride against their self-esteem in determining whether or not force an outfit change. This scrapbook page is an example of one of many of these occasions.

The article goes on to ask how many times does God feel this same way about us. Not about our actual clothing, but our spiritual clothing.

"When we put on our own selfish desires and dress in our own attitudes, we aren't leaving others with a good impression of God. They look at us and say, "If that's Christianity, then I want no part of it."

I will be reminded of this every time I cringe in embarrassment over something one of my children says or does, or how they look. This is a good reminder as my own life should paint a positive picture of God in all areas.

2 Peter 1:5-11 (The Message)
5 So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding, 6 alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder, 7 warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others. 8 With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus. 9 Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books. 10 So, friends, confirm God's invitation to you, his choice of you. Don't put it off; do it now. Do this, and you'll have your life on a firm footing, 11 the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.

This is another great passage of scripture that I read this morning. I highlighted the words above because they have a particular meaning to me today. To explain, I have to tell you that our family has just recently moved into a beautiful new home that we built on our existing property. Formerly, we had been living in an 85 year old farmhouse that was also on this property. County regulations would not permit us to keep both homes on the property, so we were required to demolish the old home almost immediately after moving into the new. This has been quite difficult for me to handle. The old house was our family's home for 7 years. I believe God is using this process to teach me something. Even early in the conception of our new home we began calling it God's house. It is only through Him that its building has been possible. There is a stark contrast between this new lovely home and our old farmhouse. The old one had received lttle TLC through the years and the ravages of time were obvious. Add to this the fact that we had quite outgrown the place and you have decreped, cluttered chaos. We often said that we felt like we were living in scallor. I was even embarrassed to invite anyone into my home. The new home, in contrast, is spacious and we are taking much care not to bring anything junky into it and not to clutter it up in any way. I am proud to welcome others into it.

God has shown me that this contrast is like our lives. There is the scallor that we live in before we turn to God, and there is the peace and beauty of our new lives in Christ. A key element of our new lives in Christ is that we completely turn away from our old life. We cannot hang onto it.

Yesterday, as I walked through our old home for the very last time before it was demolished, I cried. Part of me wanted desparately to hang onto it. That home in a way had become a part of me because of the memories with my family created there. I knew in my mind that tearing it down was the right thing to do. I knew that I had no use for that old house anymore and it was merely an eyesore and a blemish on our property, but a part of my heart did NOT want to give it up. Isn't it the same with our lives? Living for Christ brings about change in our lives. We step forward into new behaviours as He teaches us. We cannot form new habits, though, if we continue to live in our old ways.



Matthew 9:16-17 says,
"No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment, for the patch will pull away from the garment, making the tear worse. Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."

Psalm 139

This morning, part of my daily reading included Psalm 139. What a beautiful passage! I read it this morning in The Message. I have read/heard this before but in a different version and I really enjoyed reading this with fresh words:

1 God, investigate my life; get all the facts firsthand. 2 I'm an open book to you; even from a distance, you know what I'm thinking. 3 You know when I leave and when I get back; I'm never out of your sight. 4 You know everything I'm going to say before I start the first sentence. 5 I look behind me and you're there, then up ahead and you're there, too - your reassuring presence, coming and going. 6 This is too much, too wonderful - I can't take it all in!
7 Is there anyplace I can go to avoid your Spirit? to be out of your sight? 8 If I climb to the sky, you're there! If I go underground, you're there! 9 If I flew on morning's wings to the far western horizon, 10 You'd find me in a minute - you're already there waiting! 11 Then I said to myself, "Oh, he even sees me in the dark! At night I'm immersed in the light!" 12 It's a fact: darkness isn't dark to you; night and day, darkness and light, they're all the same to you. 13 Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother's womb. 14 I thank you, High God - you're breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration - what a creation! 15 You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. 16 Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I'd even lived one day.
17 Your thoughts - how rare, how beautiful! God, I'll never comprehend them! 18 I couldn't even begin to count them - any more than I could count the sand of the sea. Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you! 19 And please, God, do away with wickedness for good! And you murderers - out of here! - 20 all the men and women who belittle you, God, infatuated with cheap god-imitations. 21 See how I hate those who hate you, God, see how I loathe all this godless arrogance; 22 I hate it with pure, unadulterated hatred. Your enemies are my enemies! 23 Investigate my life, O God, find out everything about me; Cross-examine and test me, get a clear picture of what I'm about; 24 See for yourself whether I've done anything wrong - then guide me on the road to eternal life.

This psalm is a wonderful prayer to begin each day!

Passionate Devotion

This morning I read through the 23rd and 24th chapters of the book of Jeremiah. These verses are full of God's passion both good for His chosen people and bad for those who have led them astray. God shows Jeremiah two bowls of figs. In one, the figs are perfect, ripe and ready to eat. The other is a bowl of rotten, disgusting figs. Rotten ones are those evil shepherds who have led God's chosen astray and He has no kind words for them, but the beautiful ones represent God's people. Here is what He says of them,

" 6 My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back
to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and
not uproot them. 7 I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart."

God really wants the very best for His children - His chosen. All He wants in return is their hearts. He even says that He "will give them a heart to know Me." How awesome!

This is a beautiful reminder to me today that God wants to be my FIRST love and devotion. He wants MY heart! Then He will gladly care for me and will "build me up and not tear me down." What a peace and comfort that is!

Psalm 127

I began this blog mostly as a tool for myself. I am finding that the exercise of studying scripture, waiting on the Lord and learning from it important for my spiritual growth. The act of trying to put into words what I am learning is a good tool for myself. It helps me to internalize what I am learning. If someone else happens upon this and finds something in this meaningful, that is wonderful. My fear is that someone will stumble upon this blog and find it meaningless dribble. ;)

Anyway, this morning, part of my "Bible in a Year" reading was Psalm 127:

1 Unless the LORD builds the house,
its builders labor in vain.
Unless the LORD watches over the city,
the watchmen stand guard in vain.
2 In vain you rise early
and stay up late,
toiling for food to eat—
for he grants sleep to those he loves.
3 Sons are a heritage from the LORD,
children a reward from him.
4 Like arrows in the hands of a warrior
are sons born in one's youth.
5 Blessed is the man
whose quiver is full of them.
They will not be put to shame
when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

This chapter spoke to me in so many different areas.

First, verse 1, "Unless the LORD builds the house, its builders labor in vain." Of course, this has special meaning since we are in the process of building a new home. We HAVE really tried to commit this whole process as well as the physical home itself to the Lord. We have prayed about our decisions every step of the way. It is "God's House." Perhaps we need to post this prominently in our home along with Proverbs 16:3 "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed."

The second part of this verse says, "Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain." This is a great reminder that no matter what we do or how hard we work, ultimately, the Lord is our watchman and our protector. Unless we look to Him for support first, our efforts are futile.

"In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat— for he grants sleep to those he loves. " It is good to remember that God doesn't expect us to drive ourselved into the ground with work. Of course, He doesn't want us to be lazy either. But what a comfort to know He WANTS to give us rest.

I had to set this aside to attend to my family and never got back to it. I don't know if I will get a chance to finish it so I will publish it as is.

Titus 2

Every morning I try to read the "Bible in a Year" at www.crosswalk.com. It gives you a little Old testament, New testament and a bit of a Psalm or Proverb. If you are consistent and do this for a complete year, you will have read the entire bible. I sheepishly have to say that I have used this site for a couple of years and still have yet to complete half the days (it keeps track of what calendar days you have read) It tells me "According to your progress chart you have completed 103 days of reading." I tend to use this until something in particular comes up that I want to study each morning.

Anyway, this morning's reading included chapter 2 of the book of Titus. If you are not familiar with it, it is instructions to Titus on how to lead and direct the church where he was(which I think was Crete). Let me quote a few verses:

"Guide older women into lives of reverence so they end up as neither gossips nor drunks, but models of goodness. 4 By looking at them, the younger women will know how to love their husbands and children, 5 be virtuous and pure, keep a good house, be good wives. We don't want anyone looking down on God's Message because of their behavior." (Titus 2:3-5 The Message)

I have heard this verse quoted many times. There are Titus 2 women's groups that promote the art of godly womanhood, motherhood and the art of homemaking. Today, I was struck with something new as I read this. I have always considered myself one of the "younger" women who should look to the example of the "older" women, but the thought hit me today that *I* could be considered one of the "older" women. I still have MUCH to learn from those more experienced than I, but with 17 years of marriage, 11 (almost 12) years of parenting under under my belt, and raising and homeschooling 4 children, I have some wisdom of experience that could be an example to those new to marriage and motherhood. *I* could actually be a person that someone looks to for wisdom in the areas of homemaking and being a godly wife and mother. How scary is that!?! So often I feel like my actions at home are not really of consequence. I am talking about the day to day drudge work. You know, the cleaning, laundry, cooking.... But what if they are not? What if everything that I do is being watched and observed? Would anyone be "looking down on God's Message" because of my behavior?

This passage today really reminds me that my job as keeper of the home really matters. It IS seen by others. Perhaps the best way to handle this is to be honest about my struggles and how the Lord has and is helping me to overcome them. In all honestly, keeping a home clean and organized does NOT come naturally for me. I LOVE a clean and organized home, but I struggle with the process and discipline of keeping it that way. Over the years I have improved immensely, but we keeping adding more children and activities and stuff to our household so even though I am more efficient with my homemaking skills the net results in our house have remained pretty much the same. Things are not as clean and organized as they should be.

Within a week, we will be moving to a new beautiful home. It is twice the size of our current one and laid out exactly the way we wanted it. This has come about only because God's hand was in it. We have been calling it "God's House." I really think he wants us to live in it in such a way as to paint a picture of God through our home life. I know that sounds odd, but I really am getting this from Him. We cannot do his in a home full of dirt and chaos. While I do not want to become overly focused on cleaning, I do want to become more efficient and organized in this area and teach this to my children. They have not seen the best examples of this so far in their lives. Since I know that I fail miserably in this area, I am looking to the Lord for wisdom and guidance. "Direct my footsteps according to Your Word; let no sin rule over me." (Psalm 119:133)

So while I am still looking to those with more experience for their example, I am striving to be that godly example myself - to love my husband and children, be virtuous and pure, keep a good house and be a good wife.

In His Image

During my quiet time this morning, I was browsing through the articles at www.crosswalk.com and found one titled, "The Power of a Good Example." One part of it really struck me,

"Some people may never open the Bible and read John 3:16. They may never look to see what the Scriptures say to them. But they will watch you. They will take note of the way you live, the way you treat your family, the way you do your job, and the way you function as a follower of Jesus Christ. And they will make their evaluation about God accordingly."

So, the question immediately to myself was what kind of example am I setting? Lately, I have been feeling like I am just trying to get through my days working to get stuff accomplished. When I am stressed and extra busy, I tend to let my sinful nature come forth. You know the one - the selfish, impatient, easily angered one. The one that will speak harshly to her children - the ugly one. Lately I have been stressed and busy and she has made her appearance far too often.

So, this quote above really hit me hard. If someone were to peek through my windows into my life, what would they see? Would I paint a picture of a godly life? I am afraid not. First, they would see chaos. I am not a disciplined, organized person by nature and with packing and sorting for moving, my house appears that it has had an explosion of stuff inside. There are piles and boxes everywhere! 1 Corinthians 14:33 says, "For God is NOT a God of disorder, but of PEACE and ORDER." If you peeked through my window right now, "peace" and "order" would definitely NOT be the first words to come to mind! I really intend to be better in this area in the new house. It is bigger and I should have places for everything, but I do realize that my habits still need to be adjusted.

Next, what would you notice about my interaction with my family, especially my children? One thing I have learned about myself is that I have a hermit personality. I require a certain amount of quiet awake time to myself or I find I get sorta irritable. I do come by this naturally as I believe that I have descended from a long line of hermits. This in itself is not bad, but when I have much to do and am feeling stressed, I do not work well with others, especially my children. I just want them all to be somewhere that I am not. Having 4 young children, this really isn't realistic! I am impatient with them and catch myself using the electronic babysitter (i.e. TV) instead of engaging them in conversation and directing them to something productive. (sigh)

So, here I sit, contemplating my short comings, wondering what to do about them. I have come to the conclusion that I do not have the strength or the discipline to be that beautiful example of Christ that I want to be. But, I do know that God does have that strength and discipline. The key is turning to Him CONSTANTLY throughout my day and leaning on Him. He alone can make my life paint a beautiful picture of Him. I rest in the peace of that and commit to allowing Him to use me each and every moment of the day!!!

Aaaaaahhhhhhhh!

It is after 9 am and I have been trying to carve out 15 minutes of quiet time since before 7 am. Why? Why oh why must there be constant interuptions in my home?!? All I want to do is have a few minutes to read God's word, pray and think through our day. Instead I am badgered by 4 year old boy, my daughters fighting, my husband needing things from me, the phone ringing, children needing things and much much more. Everyone in this house knows how important having this quiet time is to my countenance, but yet here I sit in sheer frustration! I don't want to feel this way. I hate feeling this way. I could be the poster child for the "Calgon - take me away!" commercials. I know that Calgon is not the answer. Time with my Lord is. Teach me, o Lord, how to seek you and find you amidst the chaos. Teach me to find a quiet place amidst the noise and activity. I know that all things are possible with you, dear Lord.