Category Archives: Daily Life

The Promise of God, a Reality

Posted on by
2

We are reading a little book: According to Promise by C.H. Spurgeon after breakfast every morning because isn’t it exactly what we need as we start a new day? Don’t we all need to be reminded of His new mercies and never failing promises?

Today the words I read were mingled with grateful tears.

“Yes, the Lord means what He says. He never mocks men with barren words and empty sounds. Why should he deceive his creatures, and ask from them a barren confidence? The Lord may go beyond his word in giving more than it might be thought to mean; but he can never fall short of it. we may interpret his promises upon the most liberal scale. He never falls below the largest rendering which expectation can give to promise. Faith never yet outstripped the bounty of the Lord. Let us embrace the promise, and rejoice that it is substance and not shadow. Let us even now rejoice in it as being the reality of that which we are hoping.” (p.47)

Becky

Mid-February-Status from the Big City

Posted on by
2
@Ana Sofía Pliego Photography

Loving… The picture above. Annie captured perfectly a very common expression of her sister. Seeing them having so much fun together makes me smile and want to hug them both!

Watching… The peach and apple trees in our garden blossoming against a perfect blue sky. I love to see the reminders of life all around us. Isn’t this world wonderful? Miracles happen every day in front of our eyes and how I pray that I will have eyes to see them and not take them for granted.

Reading… The Brothers Karamazov and wishing that I was reading it with a group of friends more educated than me. This would be, I am sure, the perfect book to discuss with a friend, or in a class under the instruction of a good teacher (even if that would mean to write a paper about it!).

I just finished reading a wonderful book by Bonhoeffer:  Life Together: The Classic Exploration of Faith in Community. It helped me understand many things that are not always easy to understand in this life under the sun.

With one of my dearest friends I am reading These Strange Ashes, a book by Elisabeth Elliot. We decided to read it slowly and I am sure learning from both, the author and my friend.

My little one and I are two chapters away from finishing reading a fun, fun book: The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. We have had a great time reading it aloud. Thanks to Ink who sent it to us a Christmas gift.  🙂

The Commentary on Ephesians by Chapell and the book on the Sermon on the Mount by Pink, as well as Spurgeon’s commentary on Matthew are being my companions in my morning devotionals. And by the way, have you seen the Journibles? They are a great way to copy the Word of God, jot down study notes, prayers, thoughts, etc. I have been using them for a couple of years now and I love them; right now I am copying Ephesians and the Sermon on the Mount.

Exercising… Yes, I have not quit! 🙂

Listening… To this sermon over and over again. And if you are like me, who sometimes agonizes over relationships and don’t know if it is really possible to set boundaries and standards in our relationships with other Christians without denying the Christan love and grace, you should also listen to it.

Learning… That your own sons and daughters can be your greatest teachers.

Meditating… That when we talk about dying to ourselves for the sake of the Kingdom or our family, we normally think of not doing something or renouncing to do something,  but isn’t it sometimes that dying to ourselves calls us to do the opposite? Sometimes dying to oneself means doing something. Dying to ourselves is not passive, is not a sentiment that only sounds very spiritual but lacks action. Sometimes we need to speak, to act, to move, to choose, to defend, to contend, to do what we would naturally not be inclined to do for the sake of a greater love. And it is not easy.

Counting… The days until I get to see my sister and some of my dear friends in NC! So very grateful for that opportunity!

Embracing… Each day as it comes knowing that our seasons are in God’s hands.

Under His Sun and by His grace,

Becky

Life Together by Bonhoeffer -Borrowed Words-

Posted on by
Reply
 

I have read these words over and over again these past days. Lots to think about, to pray, to consider, to discern.

“By sheer grace, God will not permit us to live even for a brief period in a dream world. He does not abandon us to those rapturous experiences and lofty moods that come over like a dream. God is not a God of the emotions but the God of truth.”

“He who loves his dream of a community more than the Christian community itself becomes a destroyer of the latter, even though his personal intentions may be ever so honest and earnest and sacrificial.”

“Christian community is like the Christian’s sanctification. It is a gift of God which we cannot claim. Only God knows the real state of our fellowship, of our sanctification.”

“Where Christ bids me to maintain fellowship for the sake of love, I will maintain it. Where his truth enjoins me to dissolve a fellowship for love’s sake, there I will dissolve it, despite all the protests of my human love. Because spiritual love does not desire but rather serves, it loves the enemy as a brother. It originates neither in the brother nor in the enemy but in Christ and His Word.”

“Because Christ stands between me and others, I dare not desire direct fellowship with them. As only Christ can speak to me in such a way that I may be saved, so others, too, can be saved only by Christ himself. This means that I must release the other person from every attempt of mine to regulate, coerce, and dominate him with my love. The other person needs to retain his independence of me; to be loved for what he is , as one for whom Christ became man, died and rose again, for whom Christ bought forgiveness of sins and eternal life.”

” [Spiritual love] will rather meet the other person with the clear Word of God and be ready to leave him alone with this Word for a long time, willing to release him again in order that Christ may deal with him.”

“Thus this spiritual love will speak to Christ about a brother more than to a brother about Christ. It knows that the most direct way to others is always through prayer to Christ and the love of others is wholly dependent upon the truth of Christ.”

“Human love lives by uncontrolled and uncontrollable dark desires; spiritual love lives in the clear light of service ordered by the truth. Human love produces human subjection, dependence, constarint; spiritual love creates freedom of the brethren under the Word.”

“Therefore, at the beginning of the day let all distraction and empty talk be silenced and let the first thought and the first word belong to him to whom our whole life belongs.”

“The Psalter is great school of prayer.”

“The more deeply we grow into the psalms and the more often we pray them as our own, the more simple and rich our prayers will become.”

“It is not our heart that determines our course, but God’s Word.”

“Prayer should not be hindered by work, but neither should work be hindered by prayer.”

“The prayer of the morning will determine the day. Wasted time, which we are ashamed of, temptations that beset us, weakness and listlessness in our work, disorder and indiscipline in our thinking and in our relations with other people very frequently have their cause in neglect of the morning prayer. The organization and distribution of our time will be better for having been rooted in prayer, The temptations which the working day brings with it will be overcome by this break-through to God…”

“Real silence, real stillness, really holding one’s tongue comes only as the sober consequence of spiritual stillness… If we have learned to be silenced before the Word, we shall also learn to manage our silence and our speech during the day.”

“The Scripture meditation leads to prayer.”

“Intercessory prayer is the purifying bath into which the individual and the fellowship must enter every day.”

“We should listen with the ears of God that we may speak the Word of God.”

“We must be ready to allow ourselves to be interrupted by God.”

“Our brother’s ways are not in our hands; we cannot hold together what is breaking; we cannot keep life in what is determined to die. But God binds elements together in the breaking, creates community in the separation, grants grace through judgment. He has put his Word in our mouth. He wants it to be spoken through us…”

“Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness of the unexpressed it poisons the whole being of a person. This can happen even in the midst of a pious community. In confession the light of the Gospel breaks into the darkness and seclusion of the heart.”

“The greatest psychological insight, ability, and experience cannot grasp this one thing: what sin is…”

In need of His Grace,

Becky

Late-Mid-January Status – Or Something Like That-

Posted on by
1

How does living a quiet life has been looking like? Well, it sure doesn’t look like a still life. It looks bubbling, alive, productive, happy.

This is some sort of my late-mid-January status:

Blogging: I miss blogging (and reading blogs) on a regular basis, but I have learned that as much as it is important to understand that there are different seasons in our lives, it is also important to embrace those seasons with a grateful heart. So I am embracing this season of less blogging with a grateful and happy heart. Maybe, if you want to keep up with my blog, it would be a good idea if you subscribe to it by email, or become a “follower.¨ You can also like our Doctrines in the Kitchen Facebook page and keep up not only with my blog, but with many other articles that are carefully chosen for you.

Reading: I am currently reading The Brothers Karamazov by Dostoevsky because it is a book that no matter where I looked to, it was always recommended as an important novel for Christians to read.

I just started a little booklet by Beeke entitle, Bringing the Gospel to Covenant Children. I am sure it will build up my faith.

The Family, a book by J.R. Miller deserved a second reading after being on a shelf since 2011. I love how he writes, even though he doesn’t address the basic problem in every family: Sin. I will write a review on Goodreads soon.

This year I will be reading Ephesians once a week (every Lord’s Day) and to study it in depth I am using this book,  Ephesians: Reformed Expository Commenatry by Bryan Chapell. I cannot begin to tell you what a great blessing it has been to my soul.

I am still memorizing The Sermon on the Mount, and for that I am reading (slowly) An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mount by Pink and the commentary of Spurgeon on Matthew. Nothing like eating Heavenly bread every day.

I am reading some poetry from Madeleine L’Engle. I must admit that I just love her writing style even though it is important to practice discernment when reading her books.

Exercising: Yes, a quiet life is a life in which I am learning to MOVE in Him. I am doing Pilates at home and some cardio on my treadmill daily. I feel good and happy as I am a learning to become a responsible stewart of the health God has given me.

Learning: I am so blessed to have friends that encourage me to try new things, like making my own bread! That was a fun experience and my family loved it. I think it will become part of my weekly  routine (that is another reason I need to keep up with my daily workout!).

Grading: Mid-terms exams. What a joy it is to see the fruit of your labor and God’s blessing over it.

Drinking: Coffee as always, but also coconut milk. OH.MY. It tastes so yummy! I love it!

Looking Forward: To a fun, fun trip in March with some girlfriends! Can’t wait! (Plus, my sister will be there too!)

Creating: Still working on some pretty lettering projects. And I am thinking about giving away one here next month, so stay tuned if you are interested.

Holding: My oldest daughter and my son (shown in the picture) who are graduating together this summer. I love having long conversations with them and hugging them tight, and listening to their dreams. So much to treasure.

Counting my Blessings: Yes, I am still keeping track (as much as I can) of  the many, the endless blessings God bestows upon me; I am just doing it on my journal.

Pondering: On how much we need the Gospel to understand the world around us. If we don’t start there we will not end there. We will end far away from it, in a land that knows nothing of the true meaning of hope.


Under His Sun and by His Grace,

Becky

Quiet Times in the Morning

Posted on by
2
Still Life with Bible, Van Gogh

Reading books, listening to sermons, and having conversations that encourage us to grow in godliness is essential, and it is essential because sometimes the easiest thing is not getting up early to pray and read the Word of God. Many times our bodies win the battle, we stay in bed and then the rest of the day we feel like we are dragging our soul through the various circumstances and duties ahead of us.

I am now reading True Community: The Biblical Practice of Koinonia by Jerry Bridges and in it I found great encouragement to keep on waking up early to have quiet times (praying and reading the Scriptures) with God.

Let me share a few quotes with you so that you may also be encouraged:

“Our communion should be more than just having a quiet time in the morning; it should be an all-day affair. In fact, Isaiah and David take us one step further. They talk about having communion with the Lord even in the night. Isaiah said, “My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you” (Isaiah 26:9). David said, “On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night” (Psalm 63:6).”

 

“The morning quiet time lays the foundation for our all-day communion with God because it tunes our hearts to commune with Him for the rest of the day. It is a time when we can concentrate all our faculties on worshiping Him in reverent adoration. It is a time when we can give undivided attention to His Word and talk to Him in prayer.”

“We may have communion with God throughout the entire day, but seeking His face connotes an intensity of mind and heart that is usually possible only during our time alone with God.”

 

“Intense, organized prayer alone with God in the morning prepares us to breathe those quick, silent prayers that are needed so often throughout the day.”

 

“Matthew Henry says that to walk with God is “to set God always before us, and to act as those that are always under his eye. It is to live a life of communion with God both in ordinances and providences. It is to make God’s word our rule and his glory our end in all our actions.”

  

“How do we, then, practice communion with God throughout the day? If the morning quiet time is the foundation of that communion, Scripture meditation and prayer are the framework of it.”

 

“We can meditate on Scripture — think about it and reflect on it — throughout the day only if we have it in our minds. And we have Scripture in our minds only if we have made the effort to just plain memorize it. There is no shortcut to meditation that bypasses Scripture memorization.”

 

“Our emphasis today is on doing things for God, or on believing the right doctrines about Him. But few believers take time to commune with God simply for the sake of enjoying Him and adoring Him. In the church today, there seems to be very little of that thirst for God described in Psalm 42:1: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God.”

Under His sun and by His grace,
 

Becky

One Thing

Posted on by
1

In a year in which I aspire to live a quiet life, I want to keep in mind that there is one thing that should be at all times my motive, my motor, my life: to seek God.

Today I am sharing more about this at Desiring Virtue.

The New Year has begun and most likely you are now starting your daily routine filling in some lines on your planner. Some of my friends like to set new year’s resolutions, others (and this is me), like to have a New Year’s theme, but no matter what our plans or goals are for the days ahead, we should strive with all our heart and might for one thing.

One thing above all else. One thing before anything else. One thing from which all the rest derive: Seek God.
“One thing I ask from the Lord,
 this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.”
Psalm 27:4

                                                                   Continue reading here…

 

Becky