Category Archives: Exhortations

Quiet Times in the Morning

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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

As For Me, I Will Meditate on Your Precepts.

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If you need encouragement to purposely meditate on God’s Word, please read Psalm 119 -today-.

I have been reading it and the more I read it and the more I consider it, I keep seeing that there really is no other way to meditate on God’s Word all day if we are not purposely doing something about it. It has to happen in real time. And how do we do it?

We could carry verses in our purses, inn our car, put them on the fridge, or hang them on our walls, and then we should not forget that they are there, but instead it would be good if we could make halts during the day to read and consider them, and pray them and then, live them while driving through the busy streets, or the moment we cook breakfast, or when we explain Math to our children or talk with them about their future, or when we are at Starbucks having coffee with our friends, or the times when we are with our husband in our room with the door closed.

Or we could also start (or continue) memorizing the Scriptures. This is a perfect way to meditate on the Scriptures all day; and yes, it is challenging, but so rewarding!

Consider what the Psalmist says, and after reading each verse ask yourself, “What am I purposely doing to -keep, seek, meditate, etc… ?”

 

“Blessed are those who keep his testimonies,
who seek him with his whole heart…” (v.2)
“I will praise you with an upright heart,
when I learn your righteous rules.” (v.7)
“With my whole heart I seek you,
let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I may not sin against you.”  (v.10-11)
“With my lips I declare
all the rules of your mouth.” (v.13)
“I will meditate on your precepts
and fix my eyes on your ways.
I will delight in your statutes;
I will not forget your Word” (v.15-16)
“Your testimonies are my delight;
they are my counselors.” (v.24)
” [I] find my delight in your commandments,
which I love.
I will lift up my hands toward your
commandments, which I love,
and I will meditate on your statutes.” (v.47-48)
“When I think of your rules from old,
I take comfort, O LORD.” (v.52)
“When I think on my ways,
I turn my feet to your testimonies.” (v.59)
“…as for me, I will meditate on your
precepts.” (v.78b)
“I will never forget your precepts,
for by them you have given me life.” (v.93)
“Oh how I love your law!
It is my meditation all the day.” (v.97)
“Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light to my path.” (v.105)
“You are my hiding place and my shield;
I hope in your word.” (v.114)
“I open my mouyh and pant,
because I long for your commandments.” (v.131)
“I rise before dawn and cry for help;
I hope in your words.
My eyes are awake before the watches of the night,
that I may meditate on your promise.” (v.147-148)
“Great peace have those who love your law;
nothing can make them stumble.” (v.165)

Let us encourage one another to abide in the Word.

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky

*Please, feel free to download the image on this post for your personal usage (including your blog). I just ask that you don’t modify it and link to this blog. Thanks.

A Project for the Busiest Months of the Year: Memorizing the Sermon on the Mount

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This is crazy, I know. But I need it. I need to be drawn (and at times even dragged back) to the Word of God, especially when my mind and heart want to go wild. The busiest season of the year is coming; Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, family, friends, planning, traveling, food, feasting, all of that is right at the door (and I am pretty happy and excited about it, don’t take me wrong!), but in the midst of all that, I don’t want to be like Martha, caught up in the many distractions that surround this season and then forget what really matters, that one thing: taking time to sit at the feet of Jesus to listen to His Word.

So I contacted my friend Elizabeth Hankins (whom I met while memorizing Philippians in 2011, and with whom I have been memorizing several passages -and books- of the Scriptures since then), and we decided that it was time for us to work on The Sermon on the Mount. So here we are, two moms with kids, crazy schedules, books to read, meals to cook, brownies to bake, papers to grade,  tired feet, and Facebook accounts, ready to memorize, by God’s amazing grace, 111 verses by the end of January 2013, which means that we will have to cover about 8-9 verses per week.

The thing is that we would love for you (yes, you!) to join us in this crazy endeavor. It will take some extra effort and discipline, but I am sure we can do it if we ask the Lord to help us choose wisely how we spend our time during this coming season. We must learn to make wise and simple choices, for example, limit the time we spend on all social networks, don’t read all the many blogs out there (even this one, forget about it!) choose only two, maybe?  Avoid Pinterest (once you know what crafts you are making and what are you cooking, stop looking for more ideas to pin). We should ask ourselves, What if instead of checking my mobile every 10 mins.  I’d review my Bible verses with the same urgency? This is not an impossible thing to do, you can carry the Bible verses you are memorizing with you at all times (I always have them in a Moleskine that fits in my pockets), you can repeat them in the shower, while doing your hair, while driving. You can pray over them while cooking breakfast and cleaning after dinner. You can mutter them in the car, or on your bed at night. Be intentional. Don’t forget about it. Don’t set it aside. Don’t leave it for later. You will be so blessed after persevering day after day.

We are about to enter a season of feasting, why not make it a time for feasting on the Word of God. Let’s be filled with it, let Him fill our cups until they overflow!

I always encourage my friends who memorize a large passage of the Scriptures to study it in depth while doing so. It helps enormously to know what the passage means when you recite it. It also helps us not to memorize a book -or passage- for the sake of just memorizing it, it helps us meditate on it and be convicted and challenged by it.

I recommend these resources to help you study The Sermon on the Mount (read only the commentary on the verses you are working in a particular week. You don’t want to be overwhelmed).

An Exposition of the Sermon on the Mountain by Pink.

The Sermon on the Mount: The Character of a Disciple by Daniel M. Doriani

The Sermon on the Mount: Expositional Commentary by James Montgomery Boice

You can also read Thomas Watson’s exposition of The Beautitudes at Grace Gems.

Or if you prefer to listen 30 mins. sermons  (that is what I am doing this time), you can download and listen to John Piper’s series here or you can choose from many other sermons at Monergism.

I am excited for a season of feasting in the Word!

Becky

When My Mind Wanders

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You know how it goes, one day -almost without noticing- you entertain one thought, one worry, one doubt, one fear, one question, one… and then two days later, and then three days later, and the next week, and the week after that you have a wandering mind, with no limits whatsoever, your spirit is troubled, and of course, you feel heavy burdened.

What to do now?
Go back to the Word of God.

Go back to the Scriptures and mediate on them day and night.  Memorize God’s Word, pray it, recite it, mutter it. The Word of God will dissipate all doubts, all fears, it will strengthen your heart. It will help you fight those vain thoughts.

James Smith said,

“We must mix faith with the Word; seek to hold fellowship with God through every portion; and realize the presence of the Holy Spirit, who alone can render the Word profitable”

How true this is! Let us come, to the Word. Let us abide in it, let us persevere with all diligence to keep it in our heart and mind.

Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.”  How do we come to Him? We come to Him in prayer and we find Him in the Word. It is there where we hear Him speak to our need, to our troubled soul.

Is your heart troubled and your mind wandering today?

Go back to the Word of God.

Under His sun and by His grace,

Becky

Recommended article:

Profiting from the Scriptures by J.C. Ryle

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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

Come Ye Children, a Book by C.H. Spurgeon (Mandatory Reading for Parents and Teachers)

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37/100 Days of Books
There are some books that I love to revisit once in a while. It is great to read my notes, and the parts I highlighted. Yesterday I pulled out from the shelves a little book that to my surprise I read in 2009 (I couldn’t believe it had been such a long time since then!), the book was written by C.H. Spurgeon and is entitled, Come Ye Children: Practical Help for Telling Children About Jesus. This is a book full of practical help based on biblical principles to encourage us (parents, teachers, and pastors)  to do well and with passion, the task we have before us of training our children in the Truth.

Here are some quotes that I am sure you will appreciate:

 

“As we sow we reap. Let us expect our children to know the Lord. Let us from the beginning mingle the name of Jesus with their ABC. Let them read their first lessons from the Bible. It is a remarkable thing that there is no book from which children learn to read so quickly as from the New Testament: there is a charm about that book which draws forth the infant mind. But let us never be guilty, as parents, of forgetting the religious training of our children; for if we do we may be guilty of the blood of their souls.”

 

“Believe me, your children need the Spirit of God to give them new hearts and right spirits, or else they will go astray as other children do. Remember that however young they are, there is a stone within the youngest breast; and that stone must be taken away, or be the ruin of the child. There is a tendency to evil even where as yet is not developed into act, and that tendency needs to be overcome by the divine power of the Holy Spirit causing the child to be born again.”

 

“Teaching is poor work when love is gone, it is like a smith working without fire, or a builder without mortar. A shepherd who does not love his sheep is a hireling and not a shepherd; he will flee in the time of danger, and leave his flock to the wolf. Where there is no love there will be no life; living lambs are not fed by dead men. We preach and teach love: our subject is the love of God in Christ Jesus. How can we teach this if we have no love ourselves?”

 

“There must be doctrine, solid, sound, gospel doctrine to constitute real feeding.”

 

“Lay much stress upon this; tell your children that the Word of the Lord is a pure Word, as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Let their esteem for the Book of God be carried to the highest point.”

 

“This book is the Word of God, and if we teach it, we teach that which the Lord will accept and bless. O dear teachers -and I speak here to myself also- let our teaching be more and more Scriptural!” Fret not if our classes forget what we say, but pray them to remember what the Lord says. May Divine truths about sin, and righteousness, and judgement to come, be written on their hearts! May revealed truths concerning the love of God, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the work of the Holy Ghost, never be forgotten by them!  May they know the virtue and necessity of the atoning blood of our Lord, the power of His resurrection, and the glory of His second coming! May the doctrines of grace be graven as with pen of iron upon their minds, and written as with the point of a diamond upon their hearts, never to be erased! If we can secure this we have not lived in vain. The generation now ruling seems bent on departing from the eternal truth of God: but we shall not despair if the gospel be impressed upon the memory of the rising race.”

 

“God blessing your efforts, dear friends, your children may know all of Scripture that is necessary to their salvation.”

 

“We cannot advance a step by doubt; our only progress is by faith… Believe God and and thou hast made progress. So let us pray for our children, that constantly they may know and believe more and more; for the Scripture is able to make them wise unto salvation, but only through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Faith is the result to aim at; faith in the appointed, anointed and exalted Saviour. This is the anchorage to which we would bring these little ships, for here they will abide in perfect safety.”

 

“Sound Instruction in Holy Scripture, when quickened by a living faith, creates a solid character.”

 

“Children need the gospel, the whole gospel, the unadulterated gospel; they ought to have it, and if they are taught of the Spirit of God they are capable of receiving it as persons of ripe years… Be encouraged; the God who has saved so many of your children is going to save many more of them, and we shall have a great joy as we see hundreds brought to Christ.”

 

“It is not your instruction that can save the souls of your children; it is the blessing of God the Holy Spirit accompanying your labors. May God bless and crown your efforts with abundant success! He will surely do so if you are instant in prayer, constant in supplication.”

“I beseech you, never treat child-piety with suspicion. It is a tender plant; do not brush it to hard.”

 

“Mothers, the godly training of your offspring is your first and most pressing duty. Christian women, by teaching children the Holy Scriptures, are as much fulfilling their part for the Lord, as Moses in judging Israel, or Solomon in building the temple.”

 

“Your business is not merely to teach children to read the Bible, not barely to inculcate the duties of morality, nor even to instruct them in the mere letter of the gospel, but your high calling is to be the means, in the hand of God, of bringing life from heaven to dead souls.”

Let us not grow weary, friends, let us preach the Word of God to our children from the moment they open their eyes to the moment we kiss them good-night.

In God we hope.

Becky