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.

Praying the Psalms -Psalm 103-

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©Shiloh Photography

 

Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and all that is within me,
bless his holy name!
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits,
who forgives all your iniquity,
who heals all your diseases,
who redeems your life from the pit,
who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy,
who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

The Lord works righteousness
and justice for all who are oppressed.
He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the people of Israel.
The Lord is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in
steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.
For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust.

As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field;
for the wind passes over it, and it is gone, and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
to those who keep his covenant and remember to do his commandments.
The Lord has established his throne in the heavens, and his kingdom rules over all.

Bless the Lord, O you his angels,
you mighty ones who do his word, obeying the voice of his word!
Bless the Lord, all his hosts,
his ministers, who do his will!
Bless the Lord, all his works,
in all places of his dominion.
Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Father in Heaven, Lord of all, what an amazing thing that you incline your ear to hear me when I come before you in prayer. Thank you, Father.

Father, my Father, many times I am more prone to listen and to pay attention to all the voices inside my heart, inside my head, to all the doubts, the confusion, the plans, the joys, the sorrows, the worries, the lists, the longings, the times. Help me, help me, to quiet those voices, to speak to my soul and say,

“Bless the Lord, O my soul….”

Father, what if…

Instead of worrying, I would not forget all your benefits…
Instead of the guilt of my sin, I would remember how you have forgiven all my iniquities…
Instead of lamenting of all my weakness, physical and spiritual, I would remember that you heal the brokenhearted…
Instead of crying in the pit as if there were no hope, I would lift my eyes to my Redeemer who lives…
Instead of wearing a cloak of self-pity, I would remember how you crown me with steadfast love and mercy…
Instead of being satisfied with what the world offers, I would be satisfied in you…
Instead of worrying about the times, the seasons, I would remember that you renew my strength like the eagle’s…

Help me, Lord. Help me to preach the gospel to myself, every day, every hour.  To see your righteousness, to remember the way you have dealt with your people. How you have always shown yourself merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

Oh, Lord, when the enemy comes and tries to place the heavy burden of guilt on my shoulders, help me speak to my soul and say, “Remember, remember, your God, O my soul, He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities…”

Father, let me lift my eyes to the heavens above the earth and be reminded of your steadfast love toward those who fear you. That I may never forget how far you have removed my transgressions from me. How you deal with me full of compassion, always remembering my frame, that I am but dust.

Lord, one day I will not be here, but You always remain. I pray for my children and my children’s children. Lord, make yourself known to them. Know their names and call them unto you. I pray that in your steadfast love will draw them unto you. That they will fear your name and be established.O Father, that they will fear you, keep your covenant and remember your commandments.

My King, my Lord, let me rest today in the fact that you reign sovereignly. How amazing it is to now that your kingdom rules over all. Over all. Over all.

How can I not bless you, Oh Father? Let my voice join today the one of the angels and the saints in praises to you.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!

Amen.

Becky

Praying the Psalms

Because of His Grace…

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©Katie Lloyd Photography

Because of His Grace I live.
Because of His death on the cross.
Because of His conquering of death.
Because He lives,
I live.

I live in a battle
Against the sin
That still wants to reign.
I depend on Grace,
Because without Grace
I could never win.

But I have to be reminded
That Grace never,
Never,
Denies,
Ignores,
Condescends,
Overlooks
Sin.
Never.

Grace confronts sin.
Grace battles sin.
God’s Grace for His own
Brought His Son
To the Cross.
Sin bears a curse
And the Son of Man
Wore the crown of guilt,
Because of Grace,
And Grace confronts sin.

God does not,
never,
Deny,
Ignore,
Condescend,
Overlook
Sin.
Never.

Grace has eyes to see
What others would rather deny.
Grace sees the sin,
And also sees hope in Him
Who is able to forgive.

Grace does not ignore sin,
Grace grieves and
Brings us to our knees
In intercessory prayer
For us,
For them.

Grace does not condescend
With Sin.
Grace speaks the Truth,
Unmasks the evil deeds.
It brings God’s Light
Into the darkest room.

Grace does not overlook sin,
It begs for forgiveness,
It restores,
It changes.
Grace,
Once it meets us,
Doesn’t leave us
unchanged.

Because of His Grace I live.
Because of His death on the cross.
Because of His conquering of death.
Because He lives,
I live.

Becky

A Few More Quotes from Joy at the End of the Tether and a Winner

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Annie Pliego Photography

Yes, I am very excited to announce who the winner is of the book Joy at the End of the Tether: The Inscrutable Wisdom of Ecclesiastes by Douglas Wilson. But before you jump to end of the post to find out if it was you… I would like to share with you a few more quotes.

Read Eccl.7:16-22 and then come back… Now:

“What does it mean to overly righteous?… Clearly Solomon here is not addressing genuine pity, righteousness, or wisdom. He is speaking of what too often passes for it. So what does it mean? Not to point a fine point on it, it means… Nice Christian, Priggish Christian, Sanctimonious Christian. Tight-shoes Christian, Pursed lips Christian, Stickler Christian. Insufferable Christian. Prudish Christian. Doctrinally correct Christian. Know-it-all Christian. Ostentatious Christian. Quiet-time-everyday-or-I’ll-go-to-Hell Christian. Conceited Christian. Orthodox Christian. UnChristian Christian.”

 

“What men like in religion is not necessarily what God likes. What men admire is not necessarily what God admires.”

 

“The antidote to this religiosity is the fear of God and not a pagan moderation. If a man fears God sincerely, then he will not fall into religious foolishness (v.18). True wisdom is strength, while the desire to appear wise is suicide.”

Now read Ecc. 8:16-9:3…

“The wise know how to identify what cannot be known. Solomon is is not referring to the actions of God on the other side of the universe (which, of course, no one thinks we could know), but rather His governance of our lives here and now. He sets the limitation upon any man (v.17) and not just upon himself and his own endeavors. Look around as you please, you do not know hat is happening.

Wisdom does not seek to explain this sovereignty of God.”

 

“Always remember that Ecclesiastes is at war with the folly of self-sufficiency. The key to wisdom is coming to understand what we do not know.”

You will have to get this book to fully enjoy it. I am sure this is the perfect kind of book to read around the family table with our grown-up children along with a nice dinner –because this is what the wise do, they enjoy nice dinners with bacon and wine.- I promise you will find in this little book much to consider and talk about… and even laugh.

Well, now the announcement. The winner is Jessica! Yay! Congratulations, friend! And just because books are also a gift from God, and I am happy, and I love my friends… I will give you not only this book but also the other one I am loving… This Momentary Marriage by John Piper. I will contact you soon, Jessica!

Much love to you all and once again, thanks for taking the time to read.

Becky

On Mutual Submission and Unique Roles – From my Reading Corner-

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When my dear friend Elizabeth mentioned that John Piper’s book, This Momentary Marriage, a Parable of Permanence, was perhaps the best book on marriage she and her husband had read, I soon ordered my own copy. And now that I am reading it, I can absolutely say that I agree with her. Thanks for the recommendation, friend!

Here is an excerpt from the chapter entitled, Lionhearted and Lamblike, a chapter in which Piper deals with some of the problems of egalitarianism:

“…[F]ew things are more broken in our day than manhood and headship in relation to women and families. The price of this brokenness is enormous and touches almost every facet of life.”

 

“After declaring that there is mutual submission in Eph 5:21, Paul devotes twelve verses to unfolding the difference in the way a husband and wife should serve each other. You don’t need to deny mutual submission to affirm the importance of the unique role of the husband as the head and the unique calling of the wife to submit to that headship.

The simplest way to see this is to remember that Jesus himself bound himself with a towel and got down on the floor and washed his disciples’ feet (the bridegroom serving the bride), but not for one minute did any of the apostles in that room doubt who the leader was in that moment. In other words, mutuality of submission and servanthood do not cancel out the reality of leadership and headship. Servanthood does not nullify leadership; it defines it. Jesus does not cease to be the Lion of Judah when He becomes the lamblike servant of the church.”

“It is not enough to say, “Serve one another.” That is true of Christ and his church- they serve each other. But they do not serve each other in all same ways. Christ is Christ. We are the Church. To confuse the distinctions would be doctrinally and spiritually devastating. So also the man is the Christ-portraying husband, and the woman is the church-portraying wife. And to confuse these God-intended distinctions, or to abandon them, results in more disillusionment and more divorce and more devastation.”

“The role of the husband and wife are rooted in the distinctive roles of Christ and his church. The revelation of this mystery is the recovery of the original intention of covenant marriage in the Garden of Eden.”

“When sin entered the world, it ruined the harmony of marriage not because it brought headship and submission into existence, but because it twisted man’s humble, loving headship toward hostile domination in some men and lazy indifference in others. And it twisted woman’s intelligent, willing, happy, creative, articulate submission toward manipulative obsequiousness in some women and brazen insubordination in others. sin didn’t create headship and submission; it ruined them and distorted them and made them ugly and destructive.

…Wives, let your fallen submission be redeemed by modeling after God’s intentions for the church! Husbands, let your fallen headship be redeemed by modeling it after God’s intention for Christ!”

May God help us to reflect in our marriages the deepest meaning of marriage, the “drama of the covenant-keeping love between Christ and the Church.”

Becky

The Secret of the Quest

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We cannot find God without God.
We cannot reach God without God.

We cannot satisfy God without God- which is
another way of saying
that all our seeking will fall short unless
God starts and finishes the search.

The decisive part of our seeking is not our
human ascent to God,
but his descent to us.
Without God’s descent there is no human ascent.

The secret of the quest lies not in our brilliance
but in his grace.

Os Guinness*

May the Lord bless us this week as we abide in His grace.
Becky

*Quoted by Tullian Tchividjian in his book Surprised by Grace: God’s Relentless Pursuit of Rebels

Borrowed Words from Joy at the End of the Tether and a Giveaway

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Canon Press

Ecclesiastes has been  my “prayer book” these past weeks. I have been studying it and to help me dig deeper into it, I have been reading Douglas Wilson’s book, Joy at the End of the Tether: The Inscrutable Wisdom of Ecclesiastes. I am half way through it and I can already recommend it to you all. It has been a blessing to me.

Here are some borrowed words from it:

 

“The great Hebrew philosopher who wrote this book called Ecclesiastes calls us to joy, but to a joy which thinks, a joy which does not shrink back from hard questions. He calls us to meditation, but to meditation which does not despair.”

 

“The meaningless of all things, as Solomon presents it, must work down into our bones. We should let the Word do its work before we hasten to make Ecclesiastes a grab bag of inspirational quotes.”

 

“God is the One who gives things, and God is the One who gives the power to enjoy things.. Only the first is given to the unbeliever. The believer is given both, which is simply another way of saying that he is given the capacity for enjoyment.”

“To be wise, a man must know his limitations.”

“We are being told that we have been placed in a world that we did not create or fashion, and that this world has various repetitive cycles, to which cycles we have been assigned by someone else. We are under the authority of these repetitions and have been placed under that authority by the hand and purpose of God.”

“God only promised a way of escape from every temptations, not from every unpalatable doctrine.”

 

“When calamity comes, and the tears follow, the Lord was in it. When rejoicing brings relief, the Lord was in it. The doctrine has a hard edge and more than one person has cut himself on it. But denial of the doctrine does not remove the light and darkness, the peace or evil. It just removes the possibility of finding any solace.”

 

“Relationships which form under His sovereign will, and relationships which dissolve are all from Him as well (v.8). Euodia and Synthyche were close and had a falling out. No longer under the sun, they are together again. The time for the friendships and the time for the quarrels are all appointed.”

 

“Eternity has been placed in our hearts. God has made us in relation to Him, and nothing we can do will alter this. He is always our Maker and we are always made. He is always Creator and we are always created.”

 

“We must begin with God and not just any old divinity.”

 

“Rejoice, do good, eat your bread, drink your wine. Believe in the sovereign God and enjoy these inscrutable repetitions (3:15). This is a gift (3:13). Remember his judgments (3:15) and sit down to your dinner.”

Now, it’s been a while since I have not hosted a giveaway here, and I am thinking that this is the time to do so, and this is the perfect book to give away. So if you want to enter the drawing, leave a comment here. The winner will be announced Wednesday, August 1st.

May His grace abound as we live under His sun and by his grace,

Becky