Author Archives: Becky Pliego

About Becky Pliego

I am grateful because God, in His grace, called me out of darkness and into his admirable light. When I did not look for Him, He found me. When I was in a pit of sin, He rescued me. I am not walking this road alone, my family is always with me, and we love Him, because He loved us first.

J.R. Miller on Godly Character

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Photo by Annie Pliego

 

We ought to seek to gather in this world — treasure that we can carry with us through death’s gates, and into the eternal world.

We should strive to build into our lives — qualities that shall endure… Yet there are things — virtues, fruits of character, graces — which men do carry with them out of this world. What a man IS — he carries with him into the eternal world. Money and rank and pleasures and earthly gains — he leaves behind him; but his character, he takes with him into eternity!

This suggests at once, the importance of character and character-building. Character is not what a man professes to be — but what he really IS, as God sees him.

A man may not be as good as his reputation. A good reputation may hide an evil heart and life. Reputation is not character. Reputation is what a man’s neighbors and friends think of him; character is what the man IS.

Christ’s character is the model, the ideal, for every Christian life.

We are to be altogether like Him; therefore all of life’s aiming and striving should be towards Christ’s blessed beauty. His image we find in the Gospels. We can look at it every day. We can study it in its details, as we follow our Lord in His life among men, in all the variations of experience through which He passed.

We cannot merely dream ourselves into godly manhood or womanhood; we must forge for ourselves, with sweat and anguish, the beautiful visions of Christ-likeness which we find on the Gospel pages! It will cost us self-discipline, oftentimes anguish, as we must deny ourselves, and cut off the things we love.

SELF must be crucified.

It is not easy to become a godly man, a Christlike man.

 

Character is a process of growth. It is like fruit—it requires time to ripen. Different kinds of fruits come to ripeness at different seasons; some in the early summer, some later, and some only in the autumn. It is so with Christian lives—they ripen at different seasons. There are those who seem to grow into sweetness in early years, then those who reach their best in the mid years, and many who only in the autumn of old age come into mellow ripeness.

All of life is a season of character-growing! We are left in this world, not so much for what we may do here, for the things we may make—as that we ourselves may grow into the beauty of mature Christian character. In the midst of all our occupations and struggles, all our doing of tasks, all our longings and desires, all our experiences of every kind—there is a work going on in us—which is quite as important as anything we are doing with our mind or with our hands.

 

The object of life—is to learn to live. We are at school here, and shall always be at school, until we are dismissed from earth’s classes to be promoted into heaven! It is a pity if we do not learn our lessons. It is a pity if we grow no gentler, no kindlier, no more thoughtful, no more unselfish, no sweeter in spirit, no less worldly, if the peace of our heart is not deepened—as the years pass over us.

 

Old age should be the true harvest time of the years. Life should grow more and more beautiful, unto the end. It should increase in knowledge, in wisdom, in all the graces of the Spirit, in all the sweetness of love, in all that is Christlike. Aged Christian people, should be like trees in the autumn, their branches full of ripe fruit to feed the hunger of those who live about them.

 

We have but one life to live; we pass through this world but once. We should so live—that every step shall be a step onward and upward. We should strive to be victorious over every evil influence. We should seek to gather good and enrichment of character, from every experience, making our progress ever from more to more. Wherever we go—we should try to leave a blessing, something which will sweeten another life or start a new song or an impulse of cheer or helpfulness in another heart. Then our very memory, when we are gone—will be an abiding blessing in the world.

 Soli Deo Gloria

Becky


*These quotes were taken from J.R. Miller’s articles: The Ripening of Character and What is it for You to Be a Christian?

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Saturday’s Seven -Our Favorite Breakfast Cake and Some Book Recommendations-

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My friend Hollie is sharing today on her blog a list of seven things –happenings– in her family, I decided I will jump in and share the Saturday’s Seven around here…

1. Today is one of those quiet, slow Saturdays in which we had breakfast at noon.

2. Talking about breakfasts, a favorite breakfast cake in our home comes from Alexandra’s kitchen: Buttermilk-Blueberry Breakfast Cake. Note that I always double the recipe and we eat it all during the weekend. I also like to make scrambled eggs with pesto,  or with goat cheese and herbs, or chives and cream cheese, or even with sun-dried tomatoes and grated manchego cheese. Bacon or breakfast sausages on the side are most welcome.

Coffee, of course, is always ready when the sun starts to come in through our windows.

3. I have been enjoying the new blog that some of my friends started a while ago. It is called Out of the Ordinary, I would like to encourage you to subscribe to it and read it on a regular basis. There is so much that I have to learn from God-fearing, Word-loving women like them.

4. It is really sad to see how many young evangelical women are embracing feminism. Some of my friends and I have been seeing this problem in our different countries, which tells us that it is an issue that we need to be ready to address no matter where we live. Feminism is a disease that is creeping into the church and we need to stand firm against it.

I just finished reading Women, Slaves, and the Gender Debate: A Complementarian Response to the Redemptive-Movement Hermeneutic by Reaoch. This is a book that you don’t just read, it is a book that you study. You need to sit down with a notebook, a pen, and your Bible. I recommend this book to those women  who really want to understand the gender debate and are willing to go deeper.

This week I started reading, The Feminist Mistake by Kassian, I will perhaps, write a review (only if time permits it). Some other books on this topic that are highly recommended are:  God’s Good Design: What the Bible Really Says About Men and Women by Claire Smith; What’s The Difference: Manhood and Womanhood Defined According to the Bible by John Piper, and Radical Womanhood: Feminine Faith in a Feminist World by McCulley.

 

5. A wonderful book for children that I am loving is Wise Words: Family Stories that Bring the Proverbs to Life.  The description says (and I agree),

“In the tradition of Grimm’s fairytales, Peter Leithart has produced a wonderful collection of whimsical, yet meaningful, bedtime stories. The characters in each story are as varied as the biblical proverbs they reveal. Meet a chatty squirrel with a secret, or find out what happens when you run up against the Ministry of Nasty Smells. Sure to delight children ages five and up, but no promises they’ll be asleep by the time the story’s over.”

6. I can’t believe I am already on day 52 of my photography challenge “100 Days of Books.” It has been so much fun!  Many of you have been visiting me there… Thank you!

7. I am thinking about having someone redesigning my blog. I have an idea in my mind that I know you all will love. Sometimes changing the look of a place is good, don’t you think? We’ll see if it happens soon.

Happy Weekend, my friends!

Becky

 

@ The Dermer Family

How to Be Persuasive with our Words

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Whoever gives thought to the word will discover good,
and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord.
The wise of heart is called discerning,
and sweetness of speech increases persuasiveness.
Good sense is a fountain of life to him who has it,
but the instruction of fools is folly.
The heart of the wise makes his speech judicious
and adds persuasiveness to his lips.
Gracious words are like a honeycomb,
sweetness to the soul and health to the body.

Proverbs 16: 20-24

Not one harsh word, not raising my voice, not many words…. Help me, Lord.

Becky

Praying the Psalms -Psalm 61-

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Psalm 61
To the Choirmaster: With stringed instruments. 
Of David
Hear my cry, O God, listen to my prayer;
from the end of the earth I call to you
when my heart is faint.
Lead me to the rock that is higher than I,
for you have been my refuge,
a strong tower against the enemy.
Let me dwell in your tent forever!
Let me take refuge under the shelter of your wings!
                                                          Selah
For you, O God, have heard my vows;
you have given me the heritage of those who fear your name.
Prolong the life of the king;
may his years endure to all generations!
May he be enthroned forever before God;
appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over him!
So will I ever sing praises to your name,
as I perform my vows day after day.

Father, sometimes you bring us to situations in our lives in which we feel like we are at the very end of the earth, in a desolate land, where not only our body feels weary, but also where our heart faints. But right there, in the middle of our sadness and our confusion, your Spirit within us draws us to call to you, and You hear us.

God, our God, where shall we go when our little ones are fighting cancer, when we bury our spouses and our children? Where do we go when our daughters are in a hospital bed asking questions? Where do we go when there are tears we want to wipe off but they keep coming back? Where do we go when the marriage vows seem to be crumbling down? Where do we go when our songs are not anymore? Where do we go when we see injustice in this world?

We go to You.
We run to You.
We go to you:
our Rock,
our refuge,
our strong tower.

Oh God! That we may dwell in your tent forever! Safe from our thoughts, our own doubts, our fears, our own foolishness. Safe from the enemy of our souls that wants to devour our trust in You.

Oh God! Let us take refuge under the shelter of your wings! There and only there can we be safe. No enemy will be able to find us when our lives are hidden with Christ in You.

Thank you, that you hear our voice, Father.
Thank you because you have put in my heart a fear for your Name.
Thank you, Lord, for the wonderful promises that you have given us.
Thank you, because you look down to the ends of the earth
and see everything under the heavens.
Thank you because your dominion knows no limits.
Thank you, Father because even from the end of the earth,
You bring us to you,
and you wipe our tears,
and heal our diseases,
and mend our broken hearts

Father, let my praises to you reach to the end of the earth!

Amen

“Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.” Isaiah 45:22

Becky

Sola Scriptura and Prayer

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Shiloh Photography



Sola Scriptura is one of the 5 pillars of the Reformed Faith, and it means that the Scriptures, God’s infallible Word, are the uttermost authority in our lives, in the Church. It means there is nothing above them, that the Scriptures are sufficient. The Scriptures were breathed by God, and therefore are the very speaking of God.

Now, we also know how important prayer is in the life of the believer. Prayer and a desire to learn the Scriptures are the natural responses from those who have been born again. Both draw us to the Throne of Grace.

Have you consider how Sola Scriptura applies in the life of prayer? Many times, we simply don’t know how to pray, we are short-sighted. We say we want God’s will to be done, but as we pray we pray hoping that ours may be done. We sometimes pray as if we were trying to persuade God to do what we think is the best for us, for our children, for our husband, or for our friend.

Bringing our theology to our mundane life is what we ought to do; we need it when trials come, we need it when life is good, we need it when we do dishes and bake a cake, and when serve our family and the needy among us. But we also need it in our prayer closet.

When we pray, let us pray the Scriptures. Let the Word of God guide us to the Throne of Grace. Let the Word of God be our most wonderful prayer companion. When we don’t know how to pray (and also when we think we know how to pray) let us turn to the Word of God, and let us make it our utmost prayer book.

M. Horton has said it well, “There can be no communication with God apart from the written and living Word. Everything in the Christian faith depends on the spoken and written Word delivered by God to us through the prophets and apostles.”

This is another reason why we (my friends from Doctrines in the Kitchen, Out of The Ordinary, and Desiring Virtue) are always trying to encourage women to love the Word, to study it, to memorize it, to make it our supreme rule of life. Sisters, if we want to be women of prayer, we need to be women of the Word; if we want to become “warriors” in the prayer closet, let us learn how to use The Sword. There are no shortcuts.

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky

Saul Was Not Alone

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Saul was a humble man,
Until he realized that he was not alone.
There were more warriors,
More men in the fight.
He was a king,
But not The King
And he had forgotten that.
Saul’s eyes looked at the young man,
And his heart was hardened.
One sling, five stones,
And Goliath, the man who feared not the Lord,
Fell and his spear brought his death.
Saul’s heart did not rejoice.
The glory was not his,
The songs were not for him.
Pride found its way into the man,
Rage and Envy took over Saul’s heart.
And he did not have eyes to see that
He was falling like the Philistine,
The warrior who did not fear the Lord.
Saul looked at himself in the mirror,
And only saw what he wanted to see,
A fake image of himself.
He kept deceiving his heart,
But the Lord was not with
Him anymore.
Pride anticipated his fall,
He did not hear the warning,
He rejected the voice of the Lord.
Pride had dominion over him,
He died imprisioned by Rage,
And Envy ate him alive.
The young man kept
Hiding in caves,
Playing the harp,
Sharpening his sword,
Singing to the Lord.
The Lord was with David,
He waited and prayed,
And did not lose hope.
The shepherd of the sheep,
Became the shepherd of a nation.
The slayer of bears and lions,
And Philistines,
Became king.
The story lies there for us
To read,
To learn.
Pride precedes the fall of all those
Who reject God’s Word.
Who think they are alone,
And welcome Pride
And Envy,
And Rage,
And look in the mirror
And find only
What they want to see.

 

Becky