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.

A Song That Makes Me Close My Eyes When I Listen -Cara a Cara by Marcos Vidal-

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Marcos Vidal has composed some of my all time favorite songs. He is an wonderful Spanish musician and the words to his songs are incredibly rich. I  can just listen to some of his songs over and over again without getting tired and then, in a minute, I find myself crying.

I have tried to find the lyrics to some of his songs in English to share with you, but I have not had any success. So I have decided I would do this for you -and especially for my Spanish students who are a joy for me to teach-

 

 
Solamente una palabra
Solamente una oración
Cuando llegue a tu presencia O, Señor
No me importa en que lugar
De la mesa me hagas sentar
O el color de mi corona
Si la llego a ganar
Only one word
Only one prayer
When I come to your presence O Lord
I don’t mind which place
You want me to sit at your table,
Or the color of my crown…
if I even get to have one.
Solamente una palabra
Si es que aún me queda voz
y si logro articularla
en tu presencia.
no te quiero hacer preguntas
sólo una petición
y si puede ser a solas mucho mejor
Only one word,
If I still have voice
And only if I can only articulate it
in your presence.
I don’t want to ask you questions,
Just bid you one thing,
And if it could be just you and I alone even better.
Sólo dejame mirarte cara a cara
Y perderme como un niño en tu mirada
Y que pase mucho tiempo
Y que nadie diga nada
Porque estoy viendo al maestro cara a cara
Que se ahogue mi recuerdo en tu mirada
Quiero amarte en el silencio y sin palabras
Y que pase mucho tiempo y que nadie diga nada
Sólo dejame mirarte cara a cara
Only let me behold you face to face,
And get lost like a child in your gaze.
And that time won’t stop,
Not one saying anything
Because I am beholding my Master face to face.
Let my memories be drawned in your gaze,
I want to love you in silence and without saying any word.
And that time won’t stop,
Not one saying anything
Only let me behold you face to face.

 

Solamente una palabra
Solamente una oración
Cuando llegue a tu presencia O, Señor
No me importa en que lugar
De la mesa me hagas sentar
O el color de mi corona si la llego a ganar
Sólo dejame mirarte cara a cara
Aunque caiga derretido en tu mirada
Derrotado y desde el suelo
Tembloroso y sin aliento
Aún te seguiré mirando,  mi Maestro
Cuando caiga ante tus plantas de rodillas,
Déjame llorar pegado a tus heridas,
Y que pase mucho tiempo y que nadie me lo impida
Que he esperado este momento toda mi vida
Only one word
Only one prayer
When I come into your presence O, Lord.
mind which place you want me to sit at you table,
Or the color of my crown if I ever get one,
Only let me see you face to face
Broken and from the ground,
trembling and without breath,
I will still be beholding you, my Master.
When I fall on my knees before your feet,
Let me cry holding your wounds,
And that time won’t stop,
And that no one would stop me,
‘Cause I have been waiting for this moment all my life.

Longing for the day in which my eyes will behold His,

Becky

Memorize by Heart, Live by It -An Introduction to Titus-

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My Moleskine is ready. I am ready. I want to hide these words in my heart, and chew them, and be transformed by them, and be mastered by them.

Are you planning on joining us? May I suggest you two things to help you be ready –besides having your PDF files printed and ready to go; having a Bible commentary ready,  and a journal to copy the Epistle-?

1. Read Titus from beginning to end once this week -in one sitting- and once next week (Our project officially starts on the Lord’s Day February 5).

2. Read the introduction to the book. (This week I am reading from the Introduction of the ESV Study Bible to the Epistle of Titus)

“The theme of Titus is the inseparable link between faith and practice, belief and behavior.”

It is also interesting to find out how Paul referred to Titus in other Epistles, consider for example these two verses:

Titus was a comforter:

“For even when we came into Macedonia, our bodies had no rest, but we were afflicted at every turn—fighting without and fear within. But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus,  and not only by his coming but also by the comfort with which he was comforted by you, as he told us of your longing, your mourning, your zeal for me, so that I rejoiced still more. ” 2Cor. 7:5-7

Titus had a compassionate heart and was willing to serve the Church.

“As it is written, “Whoever gathered much had nothing left over, and whoever gathered little had no lack.”  But thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus the same earnest care I have for you. For he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest he is going to you of his own accord.” 2 Cor. 8: 15-17

I can’t but smile at these words after considering certain words of phrases that we have dismissed from our vocabulary: “thanks be to God, who put into the heart of Titus.”

UPDATE: I forgot earlier to include this quote from J.I. Packer’s book, A Quest for Godliness; The Puritan Vision of the Christian Life

“Before and after you read the Scripture’, says Baxter, ‘pray earnestly that the Spirit which did indite it, may expound  it to you, and lead you into the truth.’

Also, Scriptures teaches us our duty. Its instruction is for practice. It must be studied, therefore, for the purpose of setting our lives in order. And God will only prosper our study if we continually exercise ourselves to live by what we learn. Then our knowledge will deepen and expand; but otherwise it will run out into sterile verbiage and mental error…

He who would interpret Scripture aright, therefore, must be a man of reverent, humble, prayerful, teachable and obedient spirit; otherwise, however tightly his mind may be ‘stuffed with notions’, he will never reach any understanding of spiritual realities”

 

Now is your turn; search the Scriptures and find more about Titus and his partnership with Paul.

Coffee is awaiting as well as a day with 24 hours to do what God has prepared for me to do. Have a most blessed day, my friends!


Under His shadow,

Becky

Clinging to Christ’s Word

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One of my favorite authors, Octavius Winslow (1860) said,

 

“Oh, cling to Christ’s Word, as the mariner to the plank, as the mother to her infant, yes, as a humble believer in that divine and gracious Savior who has said, “Him that comes unto me I will in no wise” literally, “I will never, no, never, cast out.”

And when I don’t know
what is the best advice to give,
what to say or
how to pray;
I meditate on Christ’s Word,
I cling to it.
I repeat it to myself;
because O, how much I need to hear it,
to drink from it,
to be established on it.
There is no other way
to build my trust in Him,
unless I cling to His Word.
Source
Source
Source

Today cling to the Word of God, hold fast to it, embrace it and don’t let it go…

Becky

On Learning the Art of the Handwritten Note -and a Winner-

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The journey on the Vast Ocean of Words continues and I am so happy that I am not sailing alone. Thank you, dear Friends, for joining me. You make it even more special.

Among the books I have planned to read on this journey is the one I started reading yesterday evening with one of my daughters: The Art of the Handwritten Note; A Guide to Reclaiming Civilized Communication by Margaret Shepherd. We enjoyed the preface and the first chapter so much that I just thought I would love it if you and I could have the opportunity to sit on a beautiful café to talk about this. Oh how I would love it if I could read some parts of it aloud to you (Yes, and you would finally get to hear my Mexican accent!) But well, let us pretend we are there… a little street in San Miguel de Allende in Mexico, and you are listening to me as I read to you…

“The handwritten note has so many virtues that you ought to reach for pen and paper first, before you pick up the phone or move the mouse. In contrast to a phone call, a handwritten note doesn’t arrive demanding to be read when you’ve just sat down to dinner; it courteously lets you know who sent it even before you open it; you won’t be annoyed by the sounds coming from the pens of compulsive note-writers at the next table in your favorite restaurant… And in contrast to e-mail, a handwritten note looks beautiful and feels personal; you won’t get an electronic virus from opening a handwritten note nor find a list of last week’s lamebrained jokes. You can still write a note by candlelight when your electricity fails, and mail your note while your server is down.”

“When a handwritten note comes in the mail, people pay special attention to what it says. It announces beyond a doubt that the reader really matters to you. Your handwritten insures that your words will be read and thought about in a way that can’t be mimicked by print, e-mail, or voice.”

 

“Furthermore, the handwritten note does more than inspire the reader who reads it; it inspires the writer who writes it. Your words not only look better when you write them, but the act of writing them enables you to choose better words. You’ll probably be pleasantly mysteriously surprised to find that the flowing line of pen and ink lets you express yourself in ways that key tapping just doesn’t allow.”

 

“A handwritten note is like dining by candlelight instead of flicking on the lights…”

 

What do you think? Do you have the habit of writing handwritten notes? Any thoughts on this?

*********************

As I promised, today I am announcing the winner of Douglas Wilson’s Book, Wordsmithy. Are you ready?

The winner is:

SUZANNE!
Suzanne, please send me your mail address at dailyonmywaytoheaven at yahoo dot com; I would love to send you your book soon.

Have a joyous week and take the time write a few beautiful and thoughtful handwritten notes.

Always under His shadow,

Becky

Grateful for Changes to an Unchangeable God

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“Holy Spirit, influence my heart, and tune my tongue, that I may gratefully give thanks unto the Lord, praising him not only with my lips — but with life. O for grace from God, that I may daily give thanks to God, and speak of his goodness, and celebrate his mercy, in every possible way!” James Smith (1858)

1475. I am filled with gratitude to my Unchangeable God because in the different seasons of our lives, through all the daily changes that happen as our children grow and as we become, in a sense, only spectators of what the Lord is doing in their lives, we can trust that His plans for them are unchanging.

 

1476. I am grateful for those songs that you can sing all day long, over and over again (and children that just smile at you… and by now also know the words for the songs by heart)

1477. Surprises.

1478. Friends over for lunch.

1479. Healthy parents.

1480. Sunlight coming through my window as I read my Bible.

1481. The expectation of doing this.

1482. The best comfort food ever (and always satisfying).

1483. These words spoken by one of my dearest friends, “You become afraid of the future, only when you start trying to look beyond today” So true. Didn’t Jesus said it too: “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.“?

1484. A mid-term exam week over.

1485. Long conversations and longer hugs.

1486. Our family devotional book: We Shall See God

1487. That He hears me and hides me under His wings.

1488. My life, how He has changed me and how He has given me the desire to “daily give thanks, and speak of his goodness, and celebrate his mercy, in every possible way!”

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky

Praying the Psalms -Psalm 17-

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@Shiloh Photography

 

Psalm 17
A Prayer of David.
Hear a just cause, O LORD; attend to my cry!
Give ear to my prayer from lips free of deceit!
From your presence let my vindication come!
Let your eyes behold the right!
God of Mercies, how I thank you that your mercies are new every morning,
that I can come to you, before the Holy, Holy, Holy,
through the blood of the Lamb.
Thank you for Jesus, 
Thank you, because if what He has done  for me,
you turn your ear and hear my cry.
Thank you because you turn your ear ti my prayers.
Lord, cleanse my lips.
You have cleansed me, and that is a miracle!
That with your eyes you see not my sin, 
but the righteousness of Christ in me…
O Lord, there are no words to express my gratitude.
You have tried my heart, you have visited me by night,
you have tested me, and you will find nothing;
I have purposed that my mouth will not transgress.
With regard to the works of man, by the word of your lips
I have avoided the ways of the violent.
My steps have held fast to your paths;
my feet have not slipped.
Thank you for Jesus. My Lord and Saviour,
the only One who has never sinned,
who when in the midst of a heavy suffering,
did not opened his mouth to sin!
Father, forgive me, forgive those hidden sins in me,
and teach me, 
and help me.
You have visited me at night, 
in my bed, you have reminded me of your Word 
that pierces the hearts of men.
Your Spirit has stirred up my conscience, 
Help me to hold fast to your paths,
Help my feet not to slip.
I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God;
incline your ear to me; hear my words.
Wondrously show your steadfast love,
O Savior of those who seek refuge
from their adversaries at your right hand.
God, what a wonderful thing this is,
that I can call upon you and know that you will answer me!
father, incline your ear to me;
hear my words.
Wondrously show your steadfast love,
to me, to my husband,
to my children, to my children’s friends.
Stretch your hand and save us from our sins;
stretch you hand and hold our lives…
Keep me as the apple of your eye;
hide me in the shadow of your wings,
from the wicked who do me violence,
my deadly enemies who surround me.
Father keep me, keep my family, your Church;
keep us as the apple of your eye.
Hide us, hide us, hide us,
in the shadow of your wings,
from the wicked, 
the temptations of our heart,
the lust of the flesh,
the desires that are not according to You.
O God, hide us under your wings,
that we may be safe,
and find perfect contentment there.
They close their hearts to pity;
with their mouths they speak arrogantly.
They have now surrounded our steps;
they set their eyes to cast us to the ground.
He is like a lion eager to tear,
as a young lion lurking in ambush.
Arise, O LORD! Confront him, subdue him!
Deliver my soul from the wicked by your sword,
from men by your hand, O LORD,
from men of the world whose portion is in this life.
You fill their womb with treasure;
they are satisfied with children,
and they leave their abundance to their infants.
Father, let me not forget my enemies,
those who have wronged me,
I pray for them.
I pray for those who are like lions,
trying to destroy your Church,
Father have mercy on them and save them.
As for me, I shall behold your face in righteousness;
when I awake, I shall be satisfied with your likeness. 
This promise, these verses,
Lord, how comforting they are.
To behold your face in righteousness,
to be satisfied,
to fight sin no more.
How I long for Heaven, for You!
In Jesus, my Righteousness,
Amen

Becky